It was hot yesterday … topping out at 80 degrees plus high humidity. After cycling 60 miles and arriving at Mackinaw City we wanted a shower. However, due to the Great American Truck Parade, no motel rooms were available. Luckily after 15 phone calls we scored a room across the Mackinaw Bridge and a couple more miles of cycling.

As we biked through St. Ignace, the parked/displayed trucks were quite impressive. An hour after sunset we set up next to the highway to watch the Great American Truck Parade … and we waited … and we waited … and we waited. It appeared that the only excitement would be when some other folk got drenched by the motel sprinkler system.

Eureka! Air Horn City! All is not lost. The Great American Truck Parade finally arrived at 10 pm. Cool sight … highly polished huge rigs here for a truck show parading through the night with all their lights shining (over 200) and air horns blaring. The entire group went over and back to Mackinaw City on the Straits of Mackinaw Bridge.

Oh yes … this is a bird blog … thus I’ve included two bird pics!! Ducks at Dawn from this morning, and our national bird from three mornings ago. However, I wanted to give readers a taste of the unexpected Molly and I are experiencing on this ride. As of this afternoon we are camped out on Lake Huron about 60 miles SW of Sault St. Marie.

Want more bike touring stories? Molly’s impressions and my daily bike diary.

Photos:

• Great American Truck Parade
• Molly Watching this Morning’s Sunrise
• Ducks at Dawn
• Our National Bird

Molly and I are now five days and slightly over 200 miles into this fall’s self-supported bicycle tour. There have been highs and lows, but mainly highs. Found these mute swans two days ago in a nature preserve near Arcadia, Michigan. My daily bike diary may be found upon the Crazy Guy on a Bike Portal … along with bike tours folks are taking all over the world.

Friends often ask why Molly and I take bicycle tours which last for weeks and weeks, and thousands of miles. Why would anyone want to tour for long periods of time with only two changes of clothes, and multiple jackets to cover varying degrees of cold?

Here are two images from today. In the first photograph Molly caught me enjoying liquid sunshine. In the second image you see our view out over Lake Michigan at sunset. The second view makes up for the first!