I got up this morning to find my tire still holding and my glue cured. I rummaged around for breakfast, an orange and cheese and peanut butter on bread, and then chatted with Jeanine briefly when she got up, and headed out. I got to be on a single, 60 mile stretch of bike trail for the whole day. It was nice and quiet and occasionally offered some very nice scenery. It was also downhill almost all the way...though that was countered by a not insignificant north wind. What the trail was not though was paved, instead it was standard crushed limestone, sometimes a little rocky or sandy. And normally that woulsn't bother me in the least, but I was concerned for the tire, after a patch of gravel had broken the seal before with the jolt of it. It was a practical demonstration of whether my fix would hold.
...It didn't take too long for the glue to start dissolving and being abraded away. My efforts last night seemed in vain. And yet...the tire was still holding. I did my best to just enjoy the ride and worry about a leak if it happened. It was a good ride. I saw farmland, plenty of woods, and a few marshes. Along a marsh I encountered a turtle on the trail. I stopped for a picture. A guy came racing past on a cyclocross bike, and I remarked about the turtle, but he didn't pay it, or me, a moment's look. He was riding to ride, not out to see the sights like me. The view along Mullet Lake, north of Indian River, was also pretty, with lots of private beach and dock property just off the trail.
Today was littered with little chance encounters. I ran into another bike tourist (though going much shorter distance) who was coming from Mackinaw. I learned from him that apparently TODAY, of all days, is the ONE day a year that bicyclists could bike across the bridge, though just in the morning. I'm not even going that way now, but the thought I missed such a chance by only a day grated at something in me. Then at one point I came up to a woman pedaling furiously to go tediously slow (and this from the guy loaded down and traveling at no more than 12mph today in the wind) and zigzagging all over. I should have announced I was passing, but I tend to figure I'm easily enough heard on gravel. As I got close she suddenly freaked out and veered wildly, nearly falling off her bike. I yelled humoredly as I passed that she didn't need to go quite that far over for me, and she responded that she thought I was a car. I would be awfully surprised if it wasn't one of her first times on a bike. I felt bad for scaring her, even if I was also chuckling a little at the thought of her thinking I was a car trying to run her down on the bike path. And lastly, on the way from Cheybogan I came on a boy trying to lift a tree that had fallen on the path. I offered my help, of course. We tried, but it was still attached to its base, and we couldn't lift it up enough. We snapped off some of the top of it, difficult with green wood, so we might have a chance. His dad came biking toward us and the boy said he'd probably be able to help us do it. Instead he just yelled at his son for wasting time and told him to keep riding. With a smile, the lad said, "Well, we tried," and was off. The kid was trying to do the right thing, and his dad couldn't care a bit. There was no way I could do it on my own, so I had to lift my bike over and ride on myself. I gave the kid a smile as I passed him.
I reached the campground, paid my $19 (which for a spot of wifi (and yes, just a spot, 30 minutes free before you have to pay), a view of the lake, a camp store, showers, a pool, and at a tourist trap location, seems damn reasonable really), and got to work setting up. All the glue I'd used on the slit in the tread on my tire was gone, and I had a tiny bit of rock I had to get out with my tweezers. I said why not, and decided to try again, but do a better job. We'll see tomorrow if it works at all. But for my failure to glue together the tread, the sealant is at least working. Maybe a mechanic on the bike Mecca of Mackinac can help. I hope it doesn't rain all day as it's supposed to, especially considering the $34 I'm eating to get on the island and back.
I must say, I did miss having a *real* meal today. Istopped to eat peanut butter on bagels in Cheybogan, and I got cheese filled breadsticks from the camp store, but that was it beside granola bars. But some days are like that. I get a real meal tomorrow night. I look forward to that. It'll be a good day, better even than today. I feel it.
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