Nearly to Canada: Batman Joins the Cause

Lake Erie Connector-Dan's Current Route

Batman Helps Out in the Ride Across America Cause

I was a little tired and he showed up and helped me pedal for awhile. It was very nice. Batman is a very nice man.

I am almost into Canada now where I will ride above Lake Erie to Buffalo NY.

Today is Sat. Sept 5 but I won't get far today. I lost my windbreaker and stopped in Midland, MI to find another one.

I had to buy a bicycle bell to go into Canada. Apparently they require them there.

I also stopped at Midas Brake shop to clean up my derailer and gears. They let me use some brake cleaner. I had a lot of grime and grease on my derailer and it wasn't working too well. I am also a couple of days late in my emails so I am taking time to send a note home so I will be lucky to get in 50 miles today. Oh well. I got 105 yesterday at least.

Later, Dan

Neenah WI to Manitowoc WI to Ludington MI --- Thurs Sept 3 and Fri Sept 4 (64 miles)

Had a nice stay with Adam and Brandi Benzaquen (Kye’s friends). They were very kind and gave me a great bed to sleep in and I got cleaned up and did laundry.

Got an early start and rode to Manitowoc to catch the S.S. Badger Ferry. Beautiful day with great weather and just a slight breeze. You can guess which way it was blowing. It’s a good thing I left on time today. I took a wrong turn in Appleton and went a few miles out of my way and then a nice highway 10 detour took me 8 miles or so out of my way. I could have saved a few miles if I knew the country roads better or if I was smarter, but you know how that goes. I learned after I rode the extra miles. Oh well – I need the exercise.

Still traveling through beautiful country and farmland with some cool looking old barns. I got to the ferry and paid my passage and when I was tying my bicycle to the ship rail, the Chief Engineer (Bill Klutz I believe was his name) came up to me and asked me where I was going etc. We spoke a few minutes and I told him I had to purchase a Michigan map when I got to Ludington because I did not know exactly how I was getting through Michigan yet.

He said he had plenty of maps and took me up to his cabin in the upper part of the ship and gave me 3 good maps. He then went back to work and told me I was welcome to use his shower and get cleaned up. He said he used to ride bikes quite a bit when he was younger and he said he knew that showers were sometimes hard to come by. Pretty darn nice of him. I got a nice shower 2 days in a row. Can’t beat that!

Some of you may be wondering just how Gross and Dirty I get while riding across America. Well don’t worry. I don’t really like being gross and dirty. So here are the tricks I have learned. # 1. I have discovered that you sweat a lot when you pedal a bicycle all day long.

However, I have also learned that for a FAT GUY – I don’t sweat much and I am pleased to announce when, on occasion, I do sweat – my Sweat NEVER STINKS. So that is very good news.

Other than those very fortunate things, for me, I have also learned the following. When you stop at a gas station you can wash your hair in just a few minutes with the squirt soap in the sink. 10 fingers make a great comb. The next time I stop at the gas station I take my wash rag in the restroom with me and take my shirt off and wash up and then wash my shirt in the sink with the squirt soap. 5 minutes and I am spic and span from the waist up. I wear my wet shirt and it dries in about 20 minutes when I am riding my bike.

The next time I stop – well you guessed it. I wash up from the waist down, change my riding shorts, and wash them in the sink with the squirt soap. I strap my freshly washed bike shorts to my bike panniers and they will dry in a few hours on my bike. If there are not enough gas stations well then I use my small Tupperware wash basin with cold or hot water if I can get it and wash up at night while I am camping in the woods somewhere. If the worst happens then I wash up with baby wipes which I also pack on my bike. Always clean – Spic and Span.

The ferry ride was pretty interesting. 5 hours and 60 miles across Lake Michigan. The S.S. Badger was built and commissioned as a transport ferry in 1953. It is a coal fired steamship and is pretty impressive. A lot bigger than the ferry boat in Port Townsend, WA. Don’t quote me but I think I remember the ship size as 405 feet long and it used to carry railway cars across the lake. It could hold 43 loaded railway cars. It had a nice movie theater, game room, bingo hall and two food galleys. All in all it was a pretty good sized row boat.

Made it to Ludington, MI and rode about 10 more miles before quitting for the day. It was dark by then. I was looking at my map to see if I could find a campground marker on it and a guy rode up on a bike to ask if I needed help. He directed me to a nice campground about 3 miles from there so I went to check it out. It was nice but they wanted $22 to pitch my tent and I already got a shower a few hours before so I just went down the road a mile or so and camped in the woods. The woods are fine for me. I thought it was interesting as I rode up to the campground that several people were in the campground with their RV’s and they put their lawn chairs next to the highway and sat their looking at the traffic driving by. Not my idea of a great camping trip. The woods suit me much better.

Friday – Sept 4th. (105 Miles)

I got somewhat of a late start today, but the days was nice and calm with very little breeze. I made pretty good time and got to another Rails-to -Trails road from the old railway bed (The Pere Marquette Trail). I rode 30 or so miles on that rails trail. Saw several deer, rabbits, and chipmunks on the trail.

Somewhere today I lost my yellow windbreaker. I don’t know where. It must have fallen out of my pannier somewhere when I was digging through the pannier and I didn’t notice. I wear that windbreaker every morning and night. I’ll have to figure that out. Nothing special today. Just a few more miles. More pretty country, lakes, and a few animals. I rode just past Coleman, MI and found another spot in the woods and went to bed. The dew is so heavy here that when I get up in the morning, my tent is soaking wet like it had just been in a big rain storm. I have to put away a soaking wet tent every morning, but there are worse things.

I have ridden about 2600 miles now. I think I am getting in a little bit better shape now because when I wake up in the morning, I don’t hurt as bad as I used to and my legs don’t start hurting until I have ridden 3 or 4 miles down the road. So I must be getting more studly. Yeah that’s it. I am getting more studly. I will be a “Stud Muffin” before you know it. Pretty soon I will be able to ride 5 or 6 miles before it starts hurting. I am well on my way to Stud-Hood.