Day 24 - July 15 - Rapid River MI to Naubinway MI "it's always something" Roseanne Roseannadanna

Weather: the searing heat of near 100F yesterday abated overnight to be replaced with a NW wind bringing dangerously smoky air from the wildfires in Canada, that is now covering much of the NE part of the US.  The temperature remained in the low 70sF (24C) during the day under poor visibiity.  It spit a little rain in the afternoon but not enough to warrant a rain jacket  It was hard to tell what was smoke and what was cloud.  The wind was not strong and it was mostly a cross-wind for me

Distance: 87.2 miles (140kms)

Average moving speed: 14.2mph (23kph)

Elevation gain: 991feet (302meters) - only a few small climbs

Calories: 2283

Estimated sweat loss: 4.2liters (142fl oz)

Shvitz index: 2/10.  This was probably the coolest day of the trip and for the first time, my bike jersey was not matted to my back all day.  I saw other bike tourists in the morning wearing rain gear but I was comfortable without any protective over-jackets.


The famous quote from Roseanne Roseannadanna (Gilda Radner's character in the early years of "Saturday Night Live") immediately came to mind when I opened the hotel door at 7am - "if it's not thing, it's another".  The danger from heat had been replaced overnight by dense smoke from wildfires in Canada that had drifted to Northern Michigan by a shift in the wind, now coming from the northwest.

The planned route would follow US-2 highway, now also designated at US bicycle route 10, mostly in an easterly direction along the northern shore of Lake Michigan.


Again since the road closely follows the shoreline, there is very little elevation change and in many places, the highway is in a straight line for miles (or until you lost sight of the road due to the smoke).




The warning about the dangers of the smoke was prominent on all the weather forecast sites.  This sight greeted me early in the morning.  That orange ball in the sky is the sun trying to break through the smoke - it never did and disappeared shortly after this photo.


Unfortunately, about 20 miles of highway 2 was under construction and a massive re-surfacing lasted for 20 miles.  At one point, I asked two bike tourists traveling west about how long would this continue (the shoulder surface had been removed but not yet replaced, so it was rougher than normal) - they assured me that I was almost out of it.  They were right but I warned them that they were just starting on a rough 20 mile stretch.


The road occasionally ran close to the water earlier in the day but most of it was a wide highway that was very busy through the woods.  Luckily the shoulder is wide and by staying on the far right of it, I was a safe distance from all the trucks and lots of recreational caravans.


The Upper Peninsula of Northern Michigan has hundreds of small dated motels, and many are now abandoned and derelict.   I did wonder about the name of this one that seemed to be a thriving operation.  (I wonder would anyone take a shower in their room.  Hint: Alfred Hitchcock's movie 'Psycho'). 


The day ended early enough to watch Argentina beat England at the most northern point of Lake Michigan in Naubinway.  A few sailboats were visible in the water at the harbor at this marker.  I appreciated the outline map of the state of Michigan here.




Outside my room (an updated old style 1940s motel) was this fun weather monitor.



Tomorrow should be my last day on the road on this 'mad journey'.  It's about 75 miles to Sault-Ste-Marie where I will get the bike packed to take back with me on Friday to Colorado.  The forecast is for more dense smoke, unfortunately,




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