Today was a great day. 60 miles to Charlevoix, but it felt so much easier than the 55 to Traverse. I credit the elevation, or lack thereof.

I truly was refreshed from the day off yesterday. My legs felt strong again, and I had no problems with any of the hills we did today.

The weather was beautiful as well. There was a cool breeze, and the sky was a lovely blue. Could not have been better for riding.

We rolled out at our customary 8-ish, and the route turned onto the TART trail soon after. So we enjoyed a traffic-free paved bike path for many miles leaving Traverse City.

From there we cut east, then jogged our way north up to Elk Rapids. There wasn’t much to do there except for a sag stop since it was only 10am, so we proceeded northeast, turning to slip between Birch Lake and Elk Lake at Kewadin. then it was over to the shore of Torch Lake, where we were just able to glimpse the incredible blue of the lake between the ginormous homes. This is not just wealth, but incredible wealth. For instance, we came across this house (?) that is impressive and also perplexing.

We managed to find a break in the homes large enough to snap a team photo, which happened to be right where these science fiction looking mushrooms were growing.

We got to spend a good amount of time on the lakeside road, but then had to cut over to US 31 for several miles. It’s very busy but fortunately has a nice wide shoulder. On the way over to 31 I saw this street sign and had to stop. Juvenile I know, but it struck me as funny.

We were also treated to a steep climb on the way to 31, with this fun sign at the top.

Not long after getting onto 31, it was time for the lunch stop. We went here last year as well. It’s a lovely nursery, gardens, gift shop and cafe. They knew we were coming and had box lunches for us.

After about 5 miles we cut west off 31 and again we’re riding near the shore of Traverse Bay. We went through a lot of beautiful rolling farmland today, cornfields and fruit groves, with the ever present wildflowers blooming everywhere. It seemed everywhere I looked there was something beautiful.

Probably our best sag location to date was this afternoon at Norwood Park. The water was so many different shades of blue, the wind quite cool and rippling through the tall grasses. Exquisite.

After that stop we had only had about 13 miles till the end of today’s route. It was pretty smooth sailing approaching Charlevoix.

We wanted to get into town and visit the bike shop, so instead of stopping at the school we’re camping at, we proceeded on. Charlevoix has a great little downtown on the water, so we parked and locked up by the bandshell and headed for the bike shop. They didn’t have anything we needed, but the owner was super nice. I noticed this awesome koozie made like a handlebar grip, and he said to take it; he’d been trying to give them away. They are too small to hold cans, but at the canal-side bar we went to later, I discovered its perfect for bottles.

Kris and I also got ice cream, unbelievably the first of the trip that is rapidly coming to an end. I got cherry and it was perfect.

I spied a sign inviting customers to seat themselves at the outdoor patio, and lo and behold they had the perfect table for us. So we spent some nice time in the sun watching the sailboats come in and the drawbridge raise up. Just a really nice stop.

We headed back up the hill to the school after that, happy with the ride and the sojourn into town. Then it was the standard evening of dinner, showers, and camaraderie in a circle of camp chairs as the sun set.

It’s going to be cool tonight; forecasted low is 55, so I’ll be sleeping in my sweatshirt again. There are two routes for tomorrow as we head for Petosky; a 20 miler (?!), and a 40 mile east to Boyne City and then back north and west to Petosky. We’ll be doing the longer one, and are planning to enjoy Petosky and take a swim at the beach there. That short of a distance should put us to our destination in plenty of time for some fun.

Hopefully tomorrow will be as great as today was!