Livin’ and Goin’ Long

Anxiety is creeping in.

Indecision is taunting me.

My bike tour is just a few days away. I have an important decision to make. Once I cross Lake Michigan on a ferry I’ll be in eastern central Wisconsin. From here, I can follow Adventure Cycling Association maps to the west and north before turning due east for Michigan’s upper penninsula. This is about 330 miles. Some of it hilly. Hills, especially when carrying a load, are not my strong suit.

An alternative is to ride from the ferry northwest to Green Bay, mostly on a rail trail. Once past Green Bay I would turn northeast along the shore of Lake Michigan. This would be only about 150 miles, thereby chopping some 170 miles from the route and saving me 2 1/2 days. I could use that time to doddle about the upper penninsula and to stay on car-free Mackinac Island for an entire day.

Because I am traveling in a counter clockwise direction around the upper half of Lake Michigan, I have to decide my route from day 1. Another issue is getting through the 4th of July weekend when the hotels and campgrounds are likely to be full near the end of day 1’s riding.

On the plus side, I seem to be in top cycling shape (for me at least) heading into this tour. My rides to work have been effortless. This is something of a surprise to me as I was off the bike for most of three weeks about a month ago, and tore a stomach muscle after that.All the walking (and careful eating) I did in Scandinavia took a few pounds off The Mule’s engine.

After weighing the options, however, I am going long. I got this. Bad things might happen. Good things might happen. Hills go up. Hills go down. Bike tours are like life.

As Augustus McCray once said, “It’s not dying I’m talkin’ about Woodrow, it’s livin’.”

Woot!