Day 40. Bergland to Three Lakes, 73 miles

I set off this morning with more wistful backward glances than usual, after a walk to the gas station for coffee we drink by the lake. I headed out around 9; it’s a longish day, but I’ve been promised a tailwind, and I’m headed to a motel, so later arrival is fine.

The shoulder is variable, and there’s occasional roadwork, but overall the riding is good. It’s the familiar, standard-issue, Michigan riding I love: tree-lined, rolling along mostly undramatically (though I end the day having gained 400 feet), punctuated by sweet roadside parks with vault toilets and water and picnic tables.

This warms my heart (and breaks it a little more).

It’s hot as heck, hot like it hasn’t been since North Dakota, and I spend most of my breaks panting and hydrating in the shade. I do have the promised tailwind in the morning, but it turns to a cross and maybe a bit of a head in the late afternoon. I’m surprisingly unfazed, my mood sailing on its own tailwind from seeing Andrew.

That lasts through the bar & grill next door to the motel—the only dinner option—being closed and the motel having only a (very powerful) fan. A shower and a left-behind cold beer gifted by the owners (who also offer to run me to the market five miles down the road for dinner items ❤️) cure the little that ails me, and I get in a call with mom before bed. A good day.