And we thought yesterday was beautiful. Today’s 45-miler up the Lake Michigan Shore from Harbor Springs to Mackinaw City set the standard for a perfect bicycle ride, weather-wise and scenery-wise.
For starters there was the fabled 25-mile long Tunnel of Trees, that rolling, winding quiet little two-lane that runs on a ridge overlooking the lake known as Michigan Route 119. It gets its name from the towering maples and oaks whose branches touch midway above the road. Dappled sunlight filtered down through the greenery today, providing just enough shade to keep the riders cool under the full sun and 82 degree temps.
One thing, though, about that road. When it rains, we were told in the rider meeting the night before, there’s often a lot of flat tires. That’s because the surface is what’s known as “Glasshhalt.” Actual pieces of glass are mixed in with the asphalt. 
They supposedly to rise to the surface in rain. We thought it might be an urban myth till we looked it up and found, according to Wikipedia: “Glassphalt (also spelled “glasphalt”)is a variety of asphalt that uses crushed glass. It has been used as an alternative to conventional bituminous asphalt pavement since the early 1970s.
We indeed saw several flats today on the stretch, even though there was no rain. Dan, one of the riders with a flat, said he found three little piees of glass in his tire.c
Along a sandune area we parked the bikes and climbed down to the beach, 
tossing off bike shoes to wade in the water and marvel at the beauty of a wild beach and lapping Carribbean-aquablue water.
The ride into Mackinaw City was fast and with a slight tailwind. Back at camp, Blazing Saddles Bike Club regular Pat Benson celebrated his birthday today, complete with a cake and his riding buddies.
Here’s some more pictures and the computer download from my Garmin:
