Day: 485.6
Trip: 5,730.4
Back to making good miles but Mother Nature had it in store for me today. I didn't sleep well so I didn't get an awesomely early start, rolling a little after 9. Before I left the motel I checked the status of the Mackinac bridge because I discover they post it online. Wind Warning, what I had been worried about. But I was still a couple of hours away, maybe things would calm down? That thought had a weaker hold when I was 30 miles away and met up with the lake (Michigan?) for the first time- windy. Then 11 miles away, still windy. What do I do if its closed? Find a ferry, turn north and go around Canada again through Sault Ste. Marie? I guess I would cross that bridge when I came to... the bridge. It was open, but WINDY. I've done windy bridges before so I did what I always do, close my eyes and gun it. But seriously, I hold the bike more with my knees so I can keep my arms loose and lean into the wind. It really wasn't too bad, the worse gusts were on the far side so I was mostly over. Bridge done.
Next I started making good time south on 75. Not as much foliage in color as the UP had but still a pretty scenic ride. Then it got really cloudy and started to rain. I've had good luck with avoiding rain since Saskatchewan but it all caught up with me today. The good thing about rain is it cleans all the accumulated bugs off my windshield and helmet. That took 5 minutes, the other 55 minutes of rain were kind of overkill. Then it got sunny so I stopped when I had a chance and put my sunglasses back on. Then it got cloudy again and rained on me again. Then sunny.
About here I had to make a decision, turn east in Flint and cut strait across Canada or do a 75 mile boondoggle to Grosse Pointe to say I had been there next time I watch the movie Grosse Pointe Blank. I had made enough miles that Grosse Pointe would work but a couple things gave me pause, the weather was iffy and looked worse in that direction and the further south I went the more construction I hit and the more traffic I saw. So I decided I'd seen enough of Michigan this time around and I do want to do a Great Lakes loop sometime, maybe I'll do Grosse Pointe then. So west I go, back into Canada. Another bridge and some rain, but just a little and I make Canada again.
I'm making really good time. I have 400 miles before 4:30 and I seem to have plenty of daylight to make at least 500. I'm feeling good. I start to wonder, if I push the daylight a little I could be in striking distance of making it home tomorrow. I wouldn't mind a little night riding if I was only an hour or so from home. Then things get ugly. It starts getting dark fast. You know how sometimes you can see it getting darker by shades at a time? Woop, it just got a little darker, there, it did it again. And it's raining harder. It's getting harder to see. Is my face sheild fogged up or is it all the mist being thrown up from cars in front of me? For a while I'm only able to see the tail lights of the truck in front of me and the lines on the road. Now it's coming down even harder and it's not easy to see those. I need to get off the highway, this is getting crazy. No shoulder, I'm in a construction zone. Is that a sign for the exit? How far? Is there a hotel, I see something about Best Western. I *need* to get off the highway and this is my chance. Somehow I navigate the exit ramp and avoid the construction barrels, some are blown over. Best Western 5 km to the right. I head in that direction, I can't stay here. I'm driving 25, or 30 mph but I can't really see anything. I put on my hazard blinkers in hopes that anybody else out here can see me. A car passes me, throws up a spray and I'm completely blinded. I just keep going. The rain iks coming down in buckets and every so often a flash of lightning but the rain is so thick there's no direction to it. I finally realize I must have missed the hotel. With the water on my sheild and on my gauges there's no way to see the odometer, the speedometer is just a blurry guess and it doesn't really matter, I'm not approaching the speedlimit like this. It's lightening up and I finally see a place to pull over. I ask my GPS for the hotel, turns out I passed it 2 miles back. Its lightening up enough I can actually see the road but my nerves are fried, my gloves are sopping and water has run down my neck into my shirt. I have 485 miles and I'm done for the day. The hotel looks pretty fancy but I don't care, if they have a room I'm taking it. And they do. They also let me park my bike under the entryway to try to keep it dry for the night and give me a room where ik can see it.
I get to wear my fancy orange button up shirt to dinner because my other shirts are all pretty dirty or wet now and the hotel restaurant seems pretty classy. A couple that checked in right after I did was sitting a table over and asked about where I had been and where I was going. So I told them. They both seemed intrigued. A few minutes later they left and I started my dinner but theman came back, walked over to me and gave me $20 dollars and thanked me for the story. I didn't know what to say. I didn't want the man's money but I didn't want to be rude towards the kind gesture so I just said "Thank you." I think if the roles were reversed that's what I would have wanted too. Someday they will be, it might even be that same $20 bill I give some traveller I meet.
So I survived the day. I have less than 300 miles to Ithaca tomorrow but I think too many miles to try to make it home. Well too many miles if I want to have any fun and there's still Niagra Falls too see and I'd like to get some Viva Tacoria in Ithaca.
So I'm back in Canada but only a short visit, hopefully the weather tomorrow is less of a factor.
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