Day 38

Miles: 129

Mileage from start: 3,410

Those loud teenagers raged into the night with music, fireworks and revving engines. Eventually, they went to sleep, and then so could we.

We got breakfast at a convenience store (ice cream and burritos — it’s the best biking food you can find at a gas station) then continued working our way southeast.

Most of the day was biking past small lakes and between stands of hard and softwood trees. While many dogs barked at us, none chased us. The folks in Michigan seem to fence or tie up the runners. Any dogs I saw walking off leash didn’t care about us at all.

We spent more than 30 miles on a rail trail that was fairly well maintained. Then stopped for dinner at a smoothie shop.

The “rail trail” we took later through Bay City was horrible and not a trail at all. It was a poorly maintained sidewalk that someone had painted the words rail trail on. It could have been called a bike route but it seems irresponsible to increase hazards in the attempt to make a bike route or trail.

Putting cyclists on sidewalks increases the chance of accidents when cyclists cross intersections. Motorists are not looking for cyclists coming into the road from sidewalks. And there is not room on a standard sidewalk for bikes and pedestrians.

I do not recommend the Bag City Bike Loop to anyone. The pavement is broken up, the signage is hard to read and it winds through highly congested pedestrian areas with sharp turns and blind spots. Very poorly done, Bay City.

I understand that Michigan has harsh winters that eat pavement, but so do a lot of states. Bike-swallowing potholes are dangerous for riders and motorists.

After that, we continued on more of Michigan’s broken roads to Frankenmuth, a town that has decided to pretend it is in Bavaria. It’s cute.

Sorry that this post is so complainy. We have been having great weather since the thunderstorms, fewer bugs and are making great progress.