Frankfort - Leland, MI
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 2 | Link |
I have been watching the weather with great interest, afraid of repeating the Andersons' rain experience (deluge, day after day). Today's forecast looked good in the morning, with a higher chance of rain in the afternoon. We negotiated a 9 AM depart. We have ridden together every day of this tour, but haven't left on time once. I told Jacinto I tried to follow his lead in the getting ready process, not wanting to pressure him for fear he wouldn't want to ride with me. Jacinto must have taken that to heart, or perhaps he didn't want to get wet either. He was ready by 8:30!
We had spent quite a bit of time, looking at the route, trying to figure out the Sleeping Bear Trail. Ridewithgps didn't show it at all, except for the one mile inside of the sand dunes. Komoot did show it. We've been satisfied with Bicycle Route 35. Oddly, it didn't take the trail. We decided to stick with 35, since it has been good so far.
Town was sleepy as we rode through. Everyone must have had a good time last night. We had a stiff little climb away from town. Traffic was quiet, the road surface was smooth, and we had a roomy shoulder. What more could we want? Jacinto would like a climb, of course. We deviated from Bicycle Route 35 at mile 6 of the day, to take Sutter Road. We all need a little 10% grade climbing to make the day complete, right?
We were moving right along with a nice tailwind. There were occasional views of the lake through the thick trees and bushes.
Before the sand dunes, we could see the bike path adjacent to the road, so we jumped on. Ha! The trail followed the contour of the terrain, steeply undulating, while the roadway below was nice and flat.
When we arrived at the Sand Dunes, Jacinto turned in to take more photos while I kept riding. We were back on the roadway at that point and stayed on the good road even when we could see the path. The path was mostly paved, but we did see a dirt section. There were a fair number of people on the path. I saw one loaded tourist all day. A trim, tanned woman with rear panniers. I was on a fast downhill and she was climbing. I saw two trikes, a couple. Lots of E bikes. Lots of families on bikes.
Empire looked like a sleepier town, not as touristy.
Jacinto caught up to me at mile 40. I was getting hungry (no surprise), and had a couple of ribs out of the full rack I was carrying. Jacinto was concerned about me eating our dinner early, that there wouldn't be any left. I will say that BBQ ribs are messy to be eating road side. Lots of finger licking was involved. I sure could have eaten more, but two would hold me to town.
We were zipping right along - I wondered what are chances were of getting in the room early. I had tried to call yesterday and ended up sending an email to request an early check in.
We rode along Lake Leelanau for several miles before Leland. For some reason I'm quite taken with all of the small docks and how they are decorated.
Town was VERY busy with lots of people in beachwear, carrying totes and chairs, headed to the beach. Although I couldn't see a beach, there must be one . . . . I rode slowly, slowly along all of the parked cars and people walking in the center of the street. Jacinto was waiting next to the blocked off dumpster - it was the only open pavement for blocks around!
I combed my hair and tried to look respectable and went in the office to see if we could get in before the 3 PM check in. Yes! Double yes because we could take our bikes in the room. We had to carry our bikes down a couple of short sections of stairs. My back complained enough that the first thing I did was lay down on the floor with my feet up the wall. That seems to settle my lower back.
Now we know that our end of the building has level ground access. We didn't need to use those stairs.
This was the most expensive room of our trip, $333. for a room. Basic room. Nothing fancy. It is right next to the water and has a VERY busy restaurant across the way. We are obviously paying for location. This was the cheapest room I could find in town. I booked in January. Who knows what the price is now . .
We've eaten chips and salsa. I did not eat any more ribs because Jacinto wants them for dinner. If we eat the food we have for dinner, then we are obligated to go to breakfast. Who knows if breakfast is available here. Or, we can go to dinner, and Jacinto can eat ribs for breakfast. Let's see what we end up doing.
Later - We sure have a lot of food angst! We ate dinner at The Cove restaurant across the spillway. Having read the reviews, I order the chowder, which was amazing. I then followed that with baked whitefish, which was good. Jacinto ordered a burger, which he said was ok - but maybe not $16. worth.
We have saved the ribs for his breakfast in the morning. You don't eat ribs for breakfast? Me either. I'm having oatmeal . . . I have observed that Jacinto is never hungry until dinner time. His big breakfasts do stick with him all day.
It sounds as if Jacinto is doing his own thing tomorrow. He's going to take the long route (probably) to the end of the peninsula. The biggest difference is that he doesn't want to ride the 17 mile long Leelanau Trail. It sounds nice to me. I'm riding it. It runs from Suttons Bay to Traverse City. Getting to the motel from there looks like a mess and I will probably get lost multiple times. As a reward, there is a gluten free bakery just a couple of blocks from our motel . . . . .
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 1 | Link |
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Radar_dome.jpg
3 years ago
| Heart | 3 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today's ride: 51 miles (82 km)
Total: 198 miles (319 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 5 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 2 |
I'm increasingly willing to pay more for excellent views or excellent nearby services. I hope you enjoy it.
3 years ago
3 years ago
3 years ago
I guess they were more of a surprise. We don’t have many trails, but the ones we do have are former railroad beds and are flat.
Plus, I was carrying all of that extra weight (the rack of ribs!).
3 years ago