Wandering Around Michigan

So I've set off on another adventure, nothing went to plan and it is turning out great! First the plan, in July I conceived the notion to journey Michigan's off the track gravel roads via my newest ride, the Salsa Cycles Fargo. Strike one, the Salsa was a demo bike from the shop, a customer wanted it, we sold it. Good enough I was getting a new carbon fiber version of the same bike. Strike two, said bike is not going to be in my hands until November.

 I had recently purchased a bike frame from Surly bikes to build up as a replacement for my very long in the tooth 2005 Long Haul Trucker. That plan was a winter build for spring, so we decided to just transfer parts from the Trucker to the new "Troll" frame. Strike three, the parts were not compatible. So instead we rebuilt the Trucker and I was set to go.

The plan was to go from Midland Michigan to Grayling to Harrisville, to Tawas then Bay City and home. The Midland to Grayling section looked longish to my legs so I left work a bit early on Sunday and went to Clare, shaving about 25 miles off Monday..

 

This in hind sight was an excellent idea. Got to Clare no problem. My friend Mark caught me about 12 miles down the trail and rode with me until the 15 mile mark before turning back. The little city campground in Clare is pleasant and close to everything. I had some dinner a bit of a fire and went to bed.