Day 42 - Imlay City to San Francisco

Last night's tire patching was looking good in the morning.  I think with a stiffer material and better glue just about any damage to a tubeless tire could be fixed this way.  I was concerned that the inner tube patch material was a little too rubbery and might start to stretch into the hole and wear.  I only needed 50 miles.

I was on the road at 7am and since the tire seemed good I pushed it.  Soon I was in Romeo and switched from M53 to bike trails.  I was making great time and just kept thinking all I have to do is get to a place with Ubers.

I had just passed some guy on an ebike when I heard the spray of sealant.  I lost a good amount of air but still had enough to ride.  I slowed it down but kept going.

The trail followed the river so it did not take a direct route but I was still moving and I was good with that.

When it ended I stopped to add some air.  There was some spray but it sealed.  The tire was a little soft but they were still working.  30km to go.  20 of this was on busy steets with no shoulder and it started to pour rain.  This was not a lot of fun but I was getting closer.

I was following Google bike directions and it was doing a pretty good job. The last 10km were along residential streets all the way to the bike shop.

I was soaked when I walked into the Trek store but they were very accommodating.  I sorted my stuff and got changed into dry clothes.  Having them ship the bike was a good deal.  Twice as much as me doing it myself but the same price as taking it on the plane.

It was really raining hard when I left.  Spent the afternoon watching TV at my brother-in-law's.  We got a nice Middle Eastern dinner at Habib's Cuisine in Dearborn and now I'm at the gate waiting to board.  The end.

Day 41 - PAB to Imlay City - It was an Ubly day

I had a bad feeling when my alarm went off and the first thing I heard was thunder and rain.

I spent a week sitting around PAB sleeping a lot and just hanging around with family.  I did ride 60km to Bad Axe and back to get a COVID test in the hopes of getting into Canada.  I spent a lot of last Saturday putting together documents for a travel exemption.  I decided waiting on the response which might not come for 2 weeks and might be denied was not worth it.  Laurie and the boys headed home on Tuesday and it's time for me to do the same. I've been on the road nearly 7 weeks.  Tomorrow I want to be in my own bed.

I meant to leave at 8 but it turned into 9.  Riding south I was into a moderate headwind and was having trouble making much more than 20km/h.  That speed really makes a day long.  At least it wasn't raining.

About 30km along I heard a pisssssss noise and saw some sealant spraying.  My tire went almost flat.  The hole from Frankenmuth was leaking and the sealant was not doing the job.  I pumped in some air and continued on, adding air a few times.  When I got to Verona there was a space beside the tavern so I stopped to install an inner tube.  The inner tube looked good and I was back on the road.

I made the turn at Ubly 3 miles and my tire went flat again.  I found a place by the side of the road and started to get the flat kit out ... that's when it started to rain.  I knew I could not fix a flat in the rain - mostly because I can't see anything when the glasses are all wet and steamy so I started walking.  Fortunately, the rain didn't last long and figured I should give the patch a try.  The new leak had nothing to do with any of the other tire problems and it looked like a faulty inner tube.  At least half of the inner tubes I have used in the last few years have failed almost immediately.  This is one of the main reasons I wanted tubeless tires.

I was able to ride into Ubly and stopped at the first gas station to get a drink and regroup.  I still had 100km to go but my tire seemed to be holding air.  There were no bicycle resources until just before Detroit so I had to make this tire last.  I also needed to eat. This was the slowest 40km I have ridden this trip.

First up food ... not much in town ... Subway looks like the best and fastest option so I head there.  I order a sandwich and sit in a booth eating it.  While I'm there a guy comes in and looks like he wants to order and patiently waits as the girls at the counter have gone off somewhere.  I said they were here a minute ago and they must be around.  He waits.

I pack up and go outside to find my tire completely flat.

Knowing that with the patch kit I have fixing that inner tube will be nearly impossible I go back inside and ask the gas station side of the store if there are Ubers or anything. They report a bus will take you to the end of the county for $1.50 and that Sandusky just got DoorDash but they only deliver McDonald's.

The guy still waiting for at the Subway side says he will drive me.  "What? Really?  Ahh, OK."  The Subway girl finally comes back and I pay for his sandwich ... a small price to for a 60 mile ride.  Mike from Ubly is an interesting character.  Young guy, he

 was in a pretty serious accident and it changed his outlook somewhat.  We threw the bike in the back of the pickup and headed to Imlay City.  We had a fun conversation.

Thanks Mike, you saved the day! 

At my motel I reviewed options.  The best one seemed to be the local hardware store.  Google says a 27 minute walk ... that's when I notice it is pretty hot.  At the hardware store I get some patch kits and a bottle of Slime tire sealant for garden equipment tires.  It should work if I can patch up the big hole.

I patched the tire from the inside - two layers - and used the sealant.  Seems to be holding air nicely.  I only need about 100km out of it!

The inner tube was splitting at the hole I patched.  Faulty inner tube.  I carried that thing across the country and it never would have worked.

I booked a flight out of DTW tomorrow evening ... I really want to go home now.

Day 40 - PAB

PAB stands for Pointe Aux Barques. It is at the very top of the thumb in Michigan, a mile or two from Port Austin.  My wife's family has had a small place up here for years.

I slept in and then drank a lot of coffee and sat around talking.  Finally, I was able to get one of the boys to go for a walk.  Later we all went into Port Austin for lunch.  In the afternoon I attempted to play golf with my brother-in-law.

A pretty lazy day.  Felt kind of good.

Day 39 - Owosso to PAB - Tip of the thumb

Made the Michigan destination in one piece.  I don't know my exact mileage but I think I must have pedaled near to 3500 miles.  Now for a few days off with the family.

I got an early start and was on the road in the dark before 6.  Naturally it was raining lightly.  I had eaten a half rack of ribs and mashed potatoes leftover from last night's dinner.  It fueled me well through the first few hours. 

My strategy for the day was the stick to mostly Michigan state roads as they are smooth and have 2 to 4 foot shoulders but do have a moderate amount of fast traffic.  The road out of Owosso was the only one that needed resurfacing and the first section was pretty rough.  The rest were in very good condition and a smooth road really helps.

At one point I went through a section where they had lots of signs protesting solar power.  Everybody likes solar, right?  I looked it up and some nut is trying to stop a solar farm in the area because it will hurt property values.  I wonder what a pig farm does to your property values?

Coming into Frankenmuth I was in that area where the road transitions from state to local maintenance and those areas always seem to have a lot of debris. I heard a sound like I had a leaf in my wheels.  The tire got soft and I found a big shard of something sticking out.  The sealant in the tire mostly plugged up the leak and the was still some air in the tire.  I pulled into a huge empty parking lot and found a bench at the building in the center.  Christmas music was playing.  I pulled out (or pushed in?) the sharp thing and since the hole seemed bigger than the tubeless tire sealant was able to effectively seal I used my plug kit.  The guy at the bike shop said while expensive the plug kit can save your ride.  It did today.  Back on the road I did stop once to add more air but the tire was fine after that. All these miles and my first flat is on the last day.

The parking lot I pulled into belonged to Bonner's Christmas Wonderland.  The largest Christmas store on the planet.  It was kind of bizarre.

From Frankenmuth I was on a bike route for an hour.  The roads were rougher and slower but it was nice to have a break from the traffic.  The rain was letting up and I started to dry out a bit.

In Vasser I stoped for some bacon and eggs with lots of coffee.  The coffee is better in Michigan but it may be just the water is better.  The thought of Missouri water makes me gag.

Back on the state roads into Caro, then Cass City and Bad Axe. I was just grinding it out.  I wasn't getting wet any longer but heading north there was a bit of headwind.

In Bad Axe I needed to eat again and found a bar on the main street the had burgers and fries.  The 3 people in the bar were very interested in my journey.  Mostly people have trouble comprehending why one would ride across the country on a bicycle.

Leaving Bad Axe I knew I was in the final stretch.  I also knew that Laurie was near by from location sharing so I was not surprised when she and her sisters passed and we had a little roadside reunion.  An hour later I was at the house at PAB.

Day 38 - Battle Creek to Owosso

Today was my recovery day and considering how I felt last night I am amazed I was able to ride so well.

cycle.travel was calling for a 160km day but after it tried to take me off of a nice smooth road with a good shoulder and moderate traffic for a farm goat trail I abondonded its route.  I know Michigan pretty well and have crossed the state and ridden to PAB many times.  The state roads are usually in very good condition and have 3 foot shoulders that are in very good condition.  I can tollerate traffic if I'm trying to get somewhere.  By just taking the best road in the direction I wanted to go I saved over 20km over the cycle.travel route and was on much faster roads.  Also the cars whizzing by reduces the number of bugs trying to bite me.

I got in at 3pm and was not the mess I was yesterday.

In the last 40km there were signs I was heading into bad weather.  Nothing came of it but the front cooled things down a bit and I appreciated that.  About 15km out of Owosso I saw a sign for raspberries at the side of the road.  I pulled in to an little makeshift stand that was being set up.  I devoured a pint of raspberries in front of the couple running the stand and we traded stories.  She had just picked the raspberries and thought they might be too tart, but that's the way I like them.

Tomorrow should be the last day.  I'm about 130 miles/210km from PAB at the tip of the thumb.  It will be a long day but ... how do you eat an elephant?  One bite at time.

I did not even take a picture today so I will just put up the Google enhanced photos from the last few weeks.

Wow ... time travel! Hard to beleive that all happened in a couple of weeks.

Day 37 - Plymouth, IN to Battle Creek, MI

Since the bike shop in South Bend ("Hi, Mayor Pete!) didn't open until 10am, I got to sleep in an hour and left at 7am.  I arrived just after they opened and said I had an emergency.

The folks at Trek Granger got to work on the rear tire immediately.  Oh, no!  Inspecting the rim they  notices that two of the spoke nipples had nearly ripped out.  There were jagged shards of aluminium point out.  The real wheel was toast.

I was offered a loaner from a personal bike, but I declined saying, "Money is no object!  Give me the Bonts!"  I now have a very fancy carbon wheel set, the Bontrager Aeolus Elite 50.  Looks very cool.  Runs nice ... bike makes a swooshing noise now.

Back on the road it was getting hot but many miles did I have to go.  It was not a great afternoon.  Stopped for some lunch arount 1:30pm but otherwise just kept grinding it out.  I was on the road later than I have been all trip and in the heat it hurt. Trading two and a half hours of morning riding for afternoon riding is not a good deal.

I finally got to my motel after 6pm.  The worst thing is it really cuts into my recovery time for tomorrow.  I need to go to bed now or I will be a mess tomorrow.

Day 36 - Watseka, IL to Plymouth, IN

Another state and another time zone.  I lost an hour today. Eastern time!

Just trying to make miles.  It was a nice quite morning ... quiet enough I noticed a noise coming from my bike.  I spent the better part of the first 40km trying to figure out where the ticking noise was coming from.  Seemed to be related to pedaling but that's about as close as I got.

At one country store a guy coming out of the store starts chatting.  He is local and races mountain bikes.  Not many mountains around here.  He tells me the drivers are bad to bikes in Indiana.

I planned to ride for a bit on the ACA Northern Tier Route.  I did about 20km ... mostly because I alredy paid for the map section.

The cycle.travel route was good today until it routed me down a sharp gravel road.  I turned around and a mile up there was a quiet paved road.  Back on the route it tried to put me down another gravel road.  Not having any of that I rerouted.

I noticed that my wheel felt egg shaped.  Looking I see a giant blister.  I continue riding expecting it to explode any time.  A little later I see a second giant blister.

I ride as delicately as possible ride 50km into Plymouth.  In the motel room ... blisters are gone.  My Totonto based remote support team has been calculating the best bike shop for me to visit tomorrow.  This will likely mean a later start than usual.