Hi Everyone,

This morning we left in fog again, only this time it was heavier
 than I liked because there was more traffic than in previous times.
 The drivers were courteous and there were crazy speeders.

Eventually, the fog cleared then we made a left turn in a small
 town and went right back into the fog.  Then I saw an 18 wheeler
 parked on the road and the driver asked me for directions. 
 I didn't even know which way the house numbers were going down. 
 After all, most houses were farmhouses.

Eventually we got to M115 which others had said had a lot of 
truck traffic but it wasn't bad and there was a good shoulder.
 Also most of the time it was four lanes (two lanes in each
 direction with no median strip). However as we got some 10
 miles from Clare, there was a sign warning about construction 
on M115 and recommended taking US 10 which we couldn't do since
 it is a freeway and bicycles are not allowed on freeways.  

The gas station cashier said to turn left at Surrey to the end
 at Jakes and then go right and that would take me into Clare. 
Well, after a coulee of miles, I stopped at a gas staion and asked
 again about Surrey and they gave me the same directions, only
 this time they said it was another 3.5 miles. This gave me a 
better feeling as I kept thinking that I  should turn right at 
any one of the cross streets. Eventually we got to the intersectio
n and it was Jays and not Jakes.  The road was Clare Road and it 
led into Clare.  Later I looked at Google Maps and my sense of 
directions was wrong because M115 goes at an angle NW to SE and
 the left turn on Surrey got us going east as we wanted but I 
thought we were going north.

Going through Clare was easy with instructions from pedestrian
 but finding the Pere Marquette rail to trail was difficult 
even though we asked at a gas station who could have pointed 
it out to us because it was just across the parking lot.  

The Pere Marquette rail to trail is a 29 mile long old CSX 
railroad track that has been paved over and is now a beautiful
 asphalt 14 foot wide bike path.  It is essential straight and
 flat with very few people on it except near Midland where a lot
 of it is in Midland.

By the way, I did not get a flat today, but had a fast leak.  
I stopped at a gas station for a Coke, felt my bike handle mushy 
and the front tire was soft.  I pumped it up and when I got back
 on it, the tire was soft again.  It was in the same location of
 the stone cut in Havre, ND.  I even put a boot on it and filled
 the cut with superglue.  The superglue was no longer in the cut
 today and if the boot has been cut with a new rock, then I'll
 have to throw the tire away.

Midland is a good size town with the motels scattered about. 
 It is also a major facility for Dow Chemical.


The Statistics:  86.86 miles and 381 feet of climbing.  

It was easier today than yesterday because it went up only 86 today. 
 This morning it was cool because of the fog.  There was also a slight
 headwind but not enough to affect riding.  The Pere Marquette trail 
was lined with trees so it kept the heat down.



Steve and Ruth in Midland, MI
  



Sent from my iPad