Cadillac

July 14 was our day to receive presents. Anyone familiar with American holiday shopping knows that there are often lots of people returning gifts a couple of days later.

It's not that we were unhappy with any of our gifts, but Viktoriya would have been even happier with her new black bike shorts if they didn't bleed quite so much black color when they were washed (or worn next to brand new yellow jerseys). We are hoping a couple more wash cycles will solve the issue.

Kerry put a lot of effort into mounting his new front fender. It wasn't a happy feeling when a piece came off only 50 feet after we started our ride this morning. But he'll figure out a way to make it work.

What happened to the fender? The car in the background is in front of the hotel where we started out this morning.

Yesterday team A+ showed us a beautiful biking trail. Today we returned the favor by taking them up a long hill with no shoulder and some impatient drivers. After all the polite drivers in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin, it came as a bit of a shock when drivers felt the need to race past us when there was oncoming traffic, or to tell us to ride on a bike path (meaning don't ride on their road). It's especially surprising in a spot like Traverse City where 90% of the people are here on vacation. Presumably they are here relaxing, escaping their stressful lives. I wonder what they are like when they are tense.

The ride became enjoyable once we got to Garfield road, which had a nice shoulder and much less traffic. Team A+ escorted us along Garfield road as far as a Subway, where we had some refreshments and said farewell for now to team A+.

It was uphill most of the way here, so it should be downhill on the way back.

Last chance to turn left for Cadillac instead of right for Traverse City.

Team A+ reported that when they got back to Traverse City, avoiding the road with no shoulders, they enjoyed a ride on the TART trail and managed to get to the best cherry pie shop in TC while it was still open.

After we parted from team A+, our next break was at a dollar general store about a dozen miles before Cadillac. The forecast had called for a chance of rain, but at this point the sun was out, and it was getting hot. After knocking back some ice tea in the dark interior of the store, we emerged to find that dark clouds had appeared. It soon began to sprinkle - enough to cool us down a bit, but nowhere near the threshold for declaring a rain day.

Several times it rained on an area minutes before we arrived. The pavement was not wet enough to test out team S's new fender, but it was least 10 degrees cooler than the pavement that had not been rained on. This was one of the few times we were glad to see some rain drops.

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