GreatLakes

Day 12

Monday, 8 Jun 2009
Tawas City, MI to Au Gres, MI
20.1 miles, 1h24m, 14.3 mph
Elapsed Time: 1h52m, Max speed: 18.3mph
Total Climbing: 181ft, Max elevation: 648ft
Total mileage: 711.4

It wasn't raining when I woke up, but it was coming down good by 8:15 when I left. The Doppler looked pretty grim. It looked like it would rain all day. Nevertheless, I needed to cover some miles if I'm going to make it to Lake Ontario, so out I went into the rain. My goal was to make it to Bay City, 60 miles away.

A rainy morning in Tawas City.

After about 3 miles, I decided I wasn't going to make it all the way to Bay City, I'd settle for half that distance. Conditions were pretty miserable. Sometimes a truck would come by and just blast me with a wet, diesel-tinted mist. Then I crossed the county line and this county retardedly places the wake-up strips right in the middle of the inadequate 3-foot shoulder. That put me in a right foul mood. Either I had to ride nearly in the road or weave my way through the gravel that encroached on the shoulder. According to my map there was an EconoLodge in Au Gres--and there it was. So, I pulled in and grabbed a room.

The rainy view from my room. I'm happy to be inside.

Drying my crap.

What to do with a whole day stretching out before me? I had to dry all my crap. I did laundry. I walked across the street to the Subway/convenience store during a break in the rain and grabbed lunch. If the weather permits, maybe I'll treat myself to McDonalds for dinner--but hopefully I can do better.

In order to make up for the short day today, I'll have to do about 115 miles tomorrow. It's supposed to be a nice day, so we'll see.

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