Day 41 - Isheming to Wetmore, MI - 64 miles - 1220 feet of elevation gain

This morning a hotel guest asked if we were “crushing” it today. I, of course, said yes. Then she started talking about all of these roads and trails and stuff. We soon discovered that she was talking about an event called “The Crusher” and I was just thinking she meant crushing our ride. We crush it everyday!

On our way to dinner last night we took the route we had planned on biking. Turns out while dinner was not the best, the route scouting saved us from hitting a major construction project. And the re-route led us to a paved trail, which we love! It was a great trail that led us into Marquette and then along the Lake. When we turned to follow the shore line, the wind turned too and was a strong crosswind/headwind. The lake looked more like the shore of an ocean with waves lapping the edges.

We had our first water refill stop at a visitor’s center right before the trail turned to a hard packed crushed stone trail. The wind was so fierce that some made attire changes. I added legs, well leg covers actually. It’s always a battle of staying warm but not sweating too much on the uphill climbs.

Before we reached the next water stop it started to rain, so maybe mile 38. It was 53 degrees and cold. At this stop everyone, but Monny, started adding more layers. I added gloves with fingers and switched jackets to the waterproof one. I was tempted to break out the rain paints but I was concerned that I would get too warm. We had a few hills to climb so that took care of any chill in the bones. Eventually the rain stopped and I took off the gloves that were now soaked.

The roads were good today, with a little more climbing than I was anticipating. Right before the hotel we had a 1.6 miles steady climb. Everyone was ready to get to the hotel and not linger too long on the roads. The hotel graciously left us have lunch in the breakfast room and hang out until the rooms were ready. We even had some time to play a little basketball. It’s been so long since I’ve played, that the first few shots went wonky. When I did sink one, Zach looked super surprised. Tomorrow before we ride, we might play a little HORSE.

We had dinner at a restaurant tucked back in the woods. It was very good! We returned for devotions, a discussion about the game plan for tomorrow’s ride, and stories about riding and animals.