71.1 Miles
15.4 mph average speed
121 bpm average heart rate
2420 calories burned
1795 ft elevation gain
10% max grade
After some rain in the early morning hours, things settled down around breakfast time and we had cloudy skies with cooler temperatures for the rest of the day. I woke up early because there were 2 assholes who decided to get up and take their tent down at 5 am. They were in the tent immediately beside me. They completely ignored the quiet hours restrictions which were in effect until 6:30. The inconsiderate jerks even talked in a loud voice while they were tearing their campsite down. I decided to let it go and not start a fight. I never got back to sleep. Breakfast was disorganized and started 30 minutes late. The line was incredible and the food wasn’t very good. Some sort of goulash that they called a breakfast casserole. The food last year was much better.
We traveled through the farmlands of Western Michigan and were blessed with a nice westerly breeze which pushed us along nicely. I just love to have a decent tailwind where I can fly through the route at 20+ mph and that’s what I did through many of the roads. Not too many passed me for sure.
The optional route took us around Gun Lake which was a big, beautiful place with lots of huge summer houses and even more pontoon boats. The scenery was great. I stopped at Yankee Springs Recreational Area state park with a beach, boat launch and lots of people. This portion of the day was a bit tougher with some significant hills and some rough road. Even so, the trip was interesting and I’m glad I took it. There’s a few pictures in today’s gallery.
Tomorrow will have some big hills and the long route will be about 65 miles. Weather looks promising. Not much more to say. Sorry it’s so boring but it’s hard to make it interesting. See you tomorrow.