thevcblog: Michigan 26 Day 2 - Christmas to Newberry

I rode 64 miles today. All of it on state route M-28. It looked exactly like the picture above, except a lot of the time the shoulder was narrower, and there was more traffic. And sometimes the rumble strips were in the middle of the shoulder instead of by the white line.

It was a great day, though. Perfect weather, not many hills, and a tailwind. I left at 8:30 and was in by 3:00.

I always measure hills based on my own idiosyncratic metric, the Lawyers Hill Road Equivalent, or "LHR". My house is at the top of Lawyers Hill, and the climb up Lawyers Hill Road to get there is 240 feet in 0.6 miles, which is about 6%.

There was only one big hill today, which was about 6 miles in after Munising, MI. It was one LHR. Then it was totally flat for 40 miles. Near the end there were a few smaller climbs, but none of them were even half an LRH.

I'm camped at a very nice former KOA ($60) near Newberry, Michigan.

For $60, you do get a pool, where I had a nice soak in the afternoon, but you don't get coffee until 9:00 when the office opens, which is way after I will be gone. So I went by the office after dinner and took the leftover dregs of today's coffee, which I will drink cold tomorrow morning.

My tent is so nice and serene. This is great. So much better than the America's Best Value Inn up the road, and half the price.

I'm feeling really good. I'm sleeping well and eating well, which feels great after a week of eating chips at the cabin in Michigamme.

Lunch was a bowl of Mac'n'Cheese covered in crumbled bacon at Andy's Bar in Seney, Michigan, 40 miles into the ride.

There were a lot of miles in that mac and cheese.

You don't think Andy's looks very nice from the outside? Well too bad, it's the only choice other than Slim Jims at the gas station next door. For 20 miles in any direction. Not much up here.,

Andy's has a remarkable collection of stickers on the wall behind the bar, most of which have to do with guns.

Dinner was a mile up the road from my campsite at the Joshua James Bar and Grill. The best thing you can imagine hearing when you sit down is "We have a fried walleye basket special today."

All Right!