June 27, 2022
Lake Michigan Tour Day 9: Manistique to St. Ignace, MI
This was a long day – not necessarily a bad one, but it didn’t start out fun.
The temperature started around 51, and all morning didn’t get too far from that. At one point it was down to 48, and the spitting rain kept starting and stopping, so I wasn’t sure if the softshell jacket I was wearing was enough, or I should pull out the rain jacket. Every time I thought about it, the rain paused.
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The whole morning was cold and gray, and I didn’t see much of the lake, so there aren’t any pictures other than this, which was all I saw.
My whole route was on US-2.
I stopped for lunch in a tiny town called Naubinway – which is officially the northernmost point of Lake Michigan. The snowmobile museum sign made me laugh – I’m not sure who would go see that, but then I’ve never been into snowmobiles much. I had a sandwich and a chocolate malt (since I was cold, it was weird, but tasted really good).
After that, the sun began to break through the clouds, and the scenery improved.
I stopped several times to take pictures, even though I felt pressure to keep going.
Overall, it wasn’t a bad day – despite starting out cold and damp, the day got progressively better. The wind was ostensibly supposed to help me, but the whole day felt just gusty and swirly, and I rarely felt as if I had a tailwind for long. At least it wasn't against me!
About 5 miles before the end, I finally caught sight of the Mackinac Bridge – they won’t allow bicycles on it (I think there is no shoulder, and it’s officially part of I-75) so I need to take two ferries tomorrow to get across.
I rolled into St. Ignace about 4pm. It has a touristy vibe, and you can tell the town pretty much shuts down in the wintertime.
This is St. Ignace Lighthouse – it doesn’t lean – I think the wide-angle setting on my phone just makes it look like that. In the background you can see Mackinac Island, where I am headed tomorrow.
There were too many good songs today. Standouts include Max Richter’s recomposition of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons – the rhythmic strings went really well with cycling, and the shifting light patterns as the sun tried to break through. Others were For Once in My Life by Stevie Wonder, and Melody of Love by Hot Chip.
Stats: 88 miles, 1751 vertical feet, 14.4mph average.
Tomorrow is my official rest day – about halfway through the riding. I’ll take a ferry to Mackinac Island, ride around the island (8 miles!) have lunch, and then take another ferry to the lower peninsula. I'm also going to tour a Coast Guard icebreaker which is now a floating museum in Mackinaw City.
Today's ride: 88 miles (142 km)
Total: 604 miles (972 km)
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