Day 39
Our last day in the states...oh, that water isn't the ocean?

Yawn, it was an early get up this morning since breakfast was scheduled to be at 6:00.  We loaded in the dark at 6:00 to allow people time to go eat, but some took advantage of the breakfast at the motel which opened at 5:00 and were on the road as the sun peeked over the horizon.  It was a pleasant ride out of town as they rode along the endless fields that glistened with fresh morning dew and listened to the sounds of farm dogs, song birds, and wild geese that broke the monotone of the whirl of their chains through their rear derailleurs.  There was a light fog lurking over the fields which gave the departure a sense of eeriness over the landscape. These are things you come to appreciate on a bike ride...things that you would miss if you were driving a car along the same route.  We had a pretty easy 88 miles to Port Huron even with the winds forecast out of the south...they were light most of the day.  We expected rain showers in the afternoon, but since everyone got in by 3:00 all all stayed dry.

The roads out of Birch Run were quiet country roads that were varying levels of smoothness.  Some sections were smooth as silk while other sections had weather cracks that would rattle your water cages...and your eyeballs.  For the most part, it was a good surface and the riders made good time until reaching the first SAG at about 29 miles out.  I was in the van today and didn't ever see the front of the group...they were gone early and too far for me to ever get to them.  The only hiccup I heard of was Mike missing the first turn after the SAG and riding 10 miles south before he caught his mistake.  He had been trying to get in early to meet with some of his family, but it put him behind the power curve to say the least.

There's still a few of the gang who are pushing to get the ride over with during the day, but I think there are more who are seeing that the end is near and are starting to throttle back a bit to enjoy the moment.  There were a few different riders near the rear of the group today which is usually an indication...that's a good thing and it usually happens about now.  We only have 11 more days after today...only 10 riding days.  We're almost down to single digits.  In route rap I mentioned a side trip to view Lake Huron and I think several riders took the diversion.

Our first SAG was out in the country at an Artesian well (above right) spewing fresh drinking water which most of the riders used to fill their water bottles.  By the time everyone got to the well, they were in high spirits.  Last year a rider summed it up by saying he was energized by the state of Michigan...a much different attitude than we had the first year we rode across Michigan.  Since then, we've changed a large portion of the ride to more back roads.  The second SAG was in a city park just inside the small town of Yale.  The park had bathroom facilities and shade...two major ingredients for a successful stop.