June 6, 2024
Mount Pleasant to Midland
Another excellent trail
More tailwind, a shorter ride, and no threat of rain made for a much more relaxing ride today. We were on the Père Marquette trail for about half the ride. It is in the Rails to Trails Hall of Fame, quite deservedly so. My only first cousin, now 94, lives in Midland, and I think everyone he knows now knows that his cousin was biking through. We had a very nice dinner and visit.
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Morning ritual—checking bikes and helmets, making lunch after we’ve stashed our gear in the van.
After yesterday’s energetic ride, John S. needed a snooze at a rest stop.
The little town of Coleman, population 1200, does a nice job of promoting the rail trail that runs through it. We have frequently heard people comment that small towns on trails get an economic boost from the trails.
The Père Marquette trail felt more like a road. It the widest trail I can recall riding.
The trail had a model solar system that stretched down about five miles of trail, giving a scale of distances and relative sizes of the sun and planets. The planets were too tempting, as several of them, including Earth and little Pluto, have disappeared.
We walked through some of an outdoor museum in the village of Sanford. The buildings are all freshly painted after a nearby dam burst in 2022, bringing the river up 38 feet. If you look closely at the right side of the church, you can see a line indicating the water level. The tripod/corkscrew in the third photo is a device for extracting tree stumps.
Dinner with my cousin Gilbert and his caregiver. Gil still tells a good story.
Today's ride: 36 miles (58 km)
Total: 543 miles (874 km)
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