Ridin' the Trail (August 23, 2010)

Today's ride along the Pere Marquette Rail Trail was a thing of joy ... 34 miles of smooth, relatively flat and car-less riding, under an overcast sky.

Yesterday and today's rides both ended up being in the 75 mile range, even though I had planned on doing shorter rides. Last night I camped at Sunrise Lake Campground ... along with a group of beer drinking, loud-music listening, shouting, staying-up-til-2:00 PM campers. Needless to say, I did not get much sleep. I thought about going up to their camp and asking them to be quiet, but thought that personal safety over-ruled personal sleep. Due to the lack of sleep and general discomfort, I have elected to camp in a hotel this evening. Ahhhh, much better, indeed.

Back to today's ride ... for a good section of today's ride, I was on a "rails-to-trails" path. The State of Michigan is far out in advance of the other states I have been in, in that there are a great number of bike paths running along side of highways, or on former railroad lines. Earlier this summer I talked with a couple from Belgium who spoke of bike paths along side the highways throughout Europe. Great idea for all involved ... drivers do not have to accommodate bike riders, and bike riders do not have to focus on not becoming a hood ornament. Here's hoping more states provide bike paths along the major highways.

I am in Midland, MI tonight ... Midland is the site of the World Headquarters for Dow Chemical Corporation. Most all of the community facilities (arena, concert hall, baseball stadium, etc.) have the name "Dow" emblazoned on the side of the structure. As one local bike shop operator told me, "As goes Dow Chemical, so goes Midland." Midland is a pretty town ... one of many cities and towns of which I have been unaware. One of the true benefits of this summer's ride is having my eyes opened to the beauty of the Midwest (excluding what I saw of Illinois and Indiana).

Short ride tomorrow (I hope); rest these tired legs.