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Oh well, another shower at night, so that means wet roads again. Weather prediction holds true with temperature in the 50's and mostly cloudy until afternoon.

This was a switch for me, rolling my gear out on a cart instead of fully dressing in the room. I haven't quite got the transition from Crocs to cycling shoes down yet. I also seem to be overloading the rear pockets of my cycling jersey with all of my personal items - phone, camera, wallet, extra clothing apparral, first Cliff bar of the day, extra batteries, Yakima keys.







A brief flash of sun on the TART trail boardwalk glares at me.


Looking to the east, a storm is dropping sleet. I planned my departure to miss this, but forgot to factor in the angle of the sun in the morning, so although it was clear overhead, the clouds obscured the sun and kept me in a damp chilly environment for most of the morning. The headwind of around 10 mph didn't make matters any better, especially since over most of the last three days it was at my back.


With more sun, the roads starting drying out. Fall colors are still a bit rare, but frequently worth a photo when encountered. The warmth of the sun in the afternoon was welcome, so a stretch of road sparse of trees offered it own rewards.







At around the 50 mile mark, I entered a little hamlet called Norwood, which was not much more than a church, historic schoolhouse, and some houses. I called Karen and arranged to meet for lunch in Charlevoix.








Couldn't resist a photo at this street sign just one block south of the restaurant we ordered take out from.


Scenes along the LTW bike path from Charlevoix to Petoskey. It freature a boardwalk segment of close to 3/4 miles











The bike path ended abruptly and forced a recalculation of my route to the motel. Of course, I rode through the barricade until I could not proceed further. The resulting detour featured an unexpected 200 ft climb to finish off the day - the most challenging of the day.