After our restful break in Clawson, we set out for Ann Arbor. As we escaped Detroit, rough suburbs and highways gave way to scenic back roads and nice little towns with delicious ice cream shops. We managed to dodge the only rain of the day as we happened to be breaking for lunch under a patio while it passed through. Before long, we had arrived at the University of Michigan, where my high school friend Ally is getting her PhD. We dropped off our stuff, then took a quick ride over to REI so Deb could get clipless pedals and shoes, and I could pick up some fenders. After showers, we went into town for dinner and trivia, where we got lucky enough to win some extra free food!
The next morning, we headed for East Lansing, where we had found a WarmShowers host. The day started out nice enough, but we soon found ourselves on a gravel bike path that gradually turned into nothing but grass and sand. Once we finally turned off of that path, we were disappointed to find ourselves on a rural dirt road, and not the nice hard-packed kind. We slipped and fish-tailed our way down that for a while, when we encountered a huge tanker truck. Lo and behold, it was spraying the road with water to keep the dust down. Never had I been that happy to experience water that smelled that bad!
We rode on for a while, but stopped at a nice little general store for lunch. We were lounging on the front porch, just about to ride on to our destination, when it started downpouring. Once again, we had gotten lucky and escaped the rain during a lunch break. I decided this would be a good time to install those new fenders. The rain eventually subsided long enough for us to get on our way, but returned later during the ride. We didn’t mind though, it cooled us off and didn’t slow us down. We made it to our host just in time to enjoy the awesome dinner they had prepared! Our host Eddie and his girlfriend made us feel welcome, and had a wealth of knowledge to share. We enjoyed hearing about Eddie’s ambitious tours through the US and Asia, and got some good advice on what roads to take next. Eddie was the house manager for LXA at Michigan State University, so this was actually the second fraternity house we stayed at!
Deb’s cousin lives in Grand Rapids, MI, so we set out for their place the next day. It proved to be a long and grueling ride, with a 15mph headwind for miles on long, straight farm roads. We pushed through though, and were that much happier to be greeted by fresh baked cookies and words of encouragement in the driveway of their home. Deb’s cousin Dawn, her husband Dave, and their two daughters Katiri and Ella were incredibly hospitable, sharing a filling dinner, good conversation, comfortable beds, and tons of snacks. It was exactly what we needed after the day’s tough ride!
We wanted to go to Madison, WI, so rather than bike all the way down around lake Michigan, we decided to cheat (we’ll make up for those miles later) and take the high speed ferry. The ride to the eastern side of the lake was beautiful, almost exclusively on bike paths. We got there with some time to spare, so we ran some errands and grabbed lunch before the ferry departed. We hopped on the ferry and, after securing our bikes, enjoyed the excuse for a break from cycling. The ride afforded some nice views on our way out, and carried us through our first time-zone change of the trip.
Once we arrived, we used that extra hour to make our way over to Waukesha, MI, where another WarmShowers host was waiting. Like the morning, the ride was almost entirely bike paths, and before long we were at our host’s. Chad and Amy, and their two kids Madalyn and Bryson welcomed us in, and had food, showers, and a bed ready for us. They shared stories of their own touring adventures, and told us about RAGBRAI, something we’d hear about a lot in later days. The next morning, we got to check out Madalyn and Bryson’s sweet rides before they left for bike day at their school. Chad and Amy joined us for the first third of the ride, so we got to learn about the area and the best places to ride.
The rest of the day was again almost entirely bike paths, and brought us our first real rain storm. After taking shelter for lunch, the rain subsided and we were pretty much dry by the time we got to Madison, ready to take a weekend off and enjoy the area.