Lake Michigan 2023 – Day 36: Michigan City, IN

Finished!

• Friday, September 8, 2023
• Michigan City, IN
• Lodging: drive to Comfort Inn, Toledo, OH
• Miles: 34.7 @ 9.7 mph
• Total  Miles: 1,287
• Vertical (from Strava): 346′
• Start: 10:15am. 63°, cloudy, spitting rain.
• End: 3:58pm. 67°, overcast.
• Elapsed time: 5:43 (includes lunch)

I finished! What a great last day for a great ride!

As with the last several days, it was incredibly flat!

Look, ma! No hills!

The weather was a little pissy when I started riding, but the precipitation soon stopped, and although was forecast to restart, it never did. It was overcast all day, and breezy, 65° to 72°, but not uncomfortable.

Much of the day was spent on bike paths. Before lunch, it was the paved Oak Savannah and Prairie Duneland Trails, for 15 miles.

Back on the bike path this morning.

Riding underneath the road home!

Lunch was just off the path at Val’s Famous Pizza & Grinders in Porter, IN. I had a large and tasty veggie grinder.

Val’s Famous Pizza & Grinders in Porter, IN.

Veggie grinder at Val’s.

After lunch, it was the unpaved Calumet Trail for another 9 miles. This was by far the roughest and most difficult dirt trail of the trip. It had lots of big puddles, left over from the overnight rain. At first I was concerned that perhaps the mud would clog up my wheels & fenders, as happened on the Day from Hell (see) on my cross-country ride four years ago. But the mud was not at all sticky, the bike stayed clean, and I rolled right through the water.

The Calumet Trail.

The Calumet Trail skirted the actual dunes in the Indiana Dunes National Park. I could have turned left on any number of roads or trails to get to the dunes, but at this point I was ready to get back to the car. I’ve seen and walked on plenty of dunes this trip.

The day, and the trip, ended uneventfully back at my car, parked in Tom’s driveway. The key was still there and it worked, and when I started the car, it started right up.

I arrived at the car at 4:00. I was unpacked, had the car loaded, changed clothes, used the bathroom, retrieved a couple of Diet Cokes that Tom had left for me in the refrigerator, and started driving at 4:45. It took a half mile or so for the car to run smoothly and quietly, but now it runs great.

Back at the car.

I drove about 200 miles to Toledo before stopping at a Comfort Inn. Tomorrow I will be in Williamsport.

We’ve had a change in plans regarding Knoebels Grove due to the weather forecast for Sunday. So the family is going to Knoebels tomorrow, Saturday. It’s about 400 miles from here. I hope to get an early start tomorrow and meet them there. We’ll see how that goes.

It is not too late to donate to support cancer research at http://www.pmc.org (search for my name). All my donors will receive the ride report, as soon as I complete it. (You can also just ask for a copy, and I’ll be happy to send it to you.)

Thanks for following along.