The guy at Bayside (I really should have learned his name) didn’t have a brake lever in stock, so he took one from one of their stock Buddies, without me having to ask, let alone beg pleasepleaseplease. He charged me $25 for it including installation, which was fine with me. He also gave me directions for how to get back to TC without so many hills… just one doozy that I was seriously afraid to ride down… but I did. It was basically an inverted roller coaster, and I reached the top of the other side at a modest 20mph.

I stopped at a Wendy’s south of TC by several miles since it was 2:30 and I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Really should have eaten in Frankfort instead. For one thing it would’ve delayed my arrival in TC, where they’d been enduring some freak downpours. Including one shortly after I arrived. One minute I’m in the sun, the next there’s this big dark gray thing overhead and I’m getting wet. It didn’t last long, but was a good practice at emergency rain protection. I passed, and as the rain let up, I congratulated myself at my readiness “for the previous war” (referring to the classic military strategy blunder) because I just might be done with the rain for a while.

I stopped briefly at the bay in downtown TC, but didn’t stay long. I’ve been there before, and I have miles to go before I sleep. The route from there to Charlevoix is US-31, which is not that great a ride (even without the hills). Too much traffic and not enough passing lanes. At least the road is fairly straight so there aren’t miles and miles of Gandalf Zones (“you shall not pass!”).

I’m in Elk Rapids now, another quaint harbor/beachtown, with both Grand Traverse Bay and Elk Lake to play in and the usual downtown mainstreet district.

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