Miles Ridden: 11.9 (to and from hotels and around town)
Avg Speed: 10.0 (street clothes)
Avg Heart Rate: NA
Climbing: 351 ft
Calories Burned: NA
Rest day ... great breakfast ... meandering around Manitowoc ... ferry ride ... dinner in Luddington ... 7th state - Michigan
Today' route and map --
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/41991122
Our 5th leg came to a close yesterday on the shores of Lake Michigan in Manitowoc, WI. I had a great afternoon visit with Kari and Rick. It was a wonderful way to start a nice stretch of rest. Today was officially a rest day, but we did change hotels and locations. There was a 60 mile lake crossing to accomplish ... the SS Badger took care of that. We had a 9:00 AM load and needed to be at the ferry terminal by Noon. I slept in until around 7:30 and then spent some time dropping a few pounds from my luggage (I was flagged yesterday for an overweight primary bag). The hotel provided an old paper box and I was easily able to shed some items I am not using (3 jerseys, cold weather jersey, protein powder, box for new Garmin, box for new camera, cosmetics, etc.). I passed the test when my bags went on the truck.
By the time we loaded, most people had already grabbed breakfast, but I had not. Dave and I headed out around 9:30 and stopped at the Perkins next to the hotel. It was packed with a long wait, so headed to downtown Luddington in search of a diner for me (Dave had already eaten). We rode the 4 short miles downtown and meandered around the town and hit a small, but nice bike shop and the Manitowoc store. The Manitowoc store had a lot of merchandise with the city name as well as die cast cranes and major construction equipment that made the town famous. There was also an Orange County Choppers custom Manitowoc Bike.
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| Downtown Manitowoc |
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| A Few Other Bikers Were In Town |
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| The Manitowoc Chopper |
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| Looking South |
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| Heavy Pedal Bicycles |
Dave found a mail lady and she gave us the name and directions for Warren's. It was a classic small town diner complete with counter seats. It has been serving food for almost 50 years. I had a great hobo omelet and pancakes (huge ... the size of the plate). It was easily the best breakfast I have had in 36 days. After breakfast, Dave and I rode around town and headed to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum. Manitowoc was a major sub shipyard during World War II and made 28 subs. Neat stuff.
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| Warren's ... Great Breakfast |
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| Dave ... A Serious Moment |
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| One of the 28 Manitowoc Made Subs |
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| Me In My Street Clothes ... Notice The Hat Under My Helmet |
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| Wisconsin Maritime Museum |
We all assembled a little before noon for the ferry ride to Luddington. Turns out it left about an hour later than ABB thought, so we just hung out and schmoozed with everyone. I started to take some pictures of the other riders and hope to get at least one of each person over the next few days. The ferry ride was very relaxing. I spent most of time in a lounge chair or hanging out with Joe, John, and Gerard. More rider photos too.
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| Beth And The Swiss Train (Daniel & Bruno) |
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| Nan and Her Friend Debbie Who Surprised Her In Manitowoc |
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| Beth Meditating By Lake Michigan |
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| A Cardboard Cutout? No, Its Me With The Ferry Arriving |
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| Teresa ... Always A Huge Smile |
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| Barb ... Coordinating Logistics For a Future Day I Am Sure |
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| Mike Found A Loose Cable on Ellen's Bike While We Waited To Board |
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| ABB Bikers Loading The Ferry |
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| John ... Westlake, Ohio |
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| Debbie ... 5th Summer As ABB Staffer |
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| Big Don ... Coquille, Oregon (This Was A Play Girl Shot!) |
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| Approaching The Dunes Of Michigan |
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| Margo ... Santa Rosa, CA |
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| Eileen (CT) ... Riding With Us From Rapid City to Niagara Falls |
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| Mike (CA), Mark (NJ), and Sandy (CO) |
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| Tom (WA) And John |
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| Todd (Lives In Asia) |
The weather was great and we smoothly made our way to Michigan at at steady 17.5 mph. The trip took us into our 7th state and back into the Eastern time zone. The state pictures were a comedy as Mike Munk kept getting camera after camera as each of us arrived at the sign. Helen, Alex, Katie, Mark (NJ), Jeff, and me made our way to a nice dinner near the marina at PM Steamers. I had my third consecutive good meal ... trout. We pulled into the hotel after 9:00 PM. Back at it tomorrow with a long day (113 miles) to Mount Pleasant.
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| Lighthouse in Luddington ... We All Did The Cruise Wave |
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| Getting Ready To Dock |
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| Not Quite All Of Us |
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| My 7th State ... Michigan |
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| Great Dinner At The Marina |
The American Lung Association had another care package waiting for me on arrival. New socks and more energy food to keep me going. Thanks guys! Karen also talked with Alan Davis at Princeton Sports today. Princeton is the official bike store sponsor of my ride. Thanks for all the help guys ... look for a picture of me in full Princeton kit soon (I promise to take my vest off!). I also wanted to thank all my other loyal sponsors ... with your help, we really made a big difference!
Good night moon ... good night SS Badger ... good night Michigan ... good night ALAME (you guys rock) ... good night Princeton Sports ... good night
sponsors (thank you!!!!!!)
