Day 26 – Lake Gogebic to Wakefield (Total Miles = 446 Miles)

Let me start out saying, we are having a blast!  Really!!  But, this was another doozy of a day!  Good thing was…no greenheads.  Bad thing was…Highway M28…for starters.  It kicked off with beautiful weather after we had the rain during the night.  We met Hannah in the campground. She too, is a triathlete missing the race season. She was going to do the Ironman race in Madison WI, but of course it was cancelled. It’s hard to maintain one’s motivation, but sometimes it allows your mind to open up to new possibilities. Hannah is thinking she may get into mountain biking. Just keep going Hannah! She loaded us up with granola bars for the road and we said goodbye.

We were riding along Lake Gogebic.  Not hilly, no buggers, not much traffic.  Then we hit Highway 28.  I guess this was another bad decision.  In order to get to the campground at Lake Gogebic, we had to veer off the original route as designated by Tour Da Yoop, Eh (they never would have taken the Twilight Zone route).  Again, we thought we could take a shortcut and get to our next destination by taking M28…we knew it was paved afterall.  This was not on the original route either, and we found out why.  The speed limit was 65mph, it was only 2 lanes, and the shoulder was one of those that just barely fit our bikes in.  The worst…this was the route for 15 miles.  The white knuckles came out and we struggled with the cars, trucks, and RV’s whipping us about like batter in a bowl.  Ugh!!  I was so tensed up, and stressed out, I had to keep stopping to gain my wits.  On one of these stops, just past an old unused railroad track, a truck pulling a trailer streaked by and we heard zzzzzziiipppp, crack, like one of those fireworks you set off at home, and then rubber was being launched all around us.  He blew a tire, and the truck just kept right on going.  By the grace of God, we were not hit by any of it, with most of it landing just feet from us.  Then, before we could react, cars were swerving to avoid hitting the huge rubber alligators in the road.  We got out of there quick, and continued down the road.  Let me tell you, riding that road was like watching a clock dial turn, time and distance never seemed to change, but we finally reached our camping destination in Wakefield.  We brushed it all off by taking a nice swim in the lake.

And then, like Deja Vu, the campers started coming by, one by one, to let us know another storm was in the making.  We thought, yeah, okay, we’ve weathered these before, no problem.  Oh…my…goodness!  The wind blew over that lake like a tornado.  For a few seconds, the tent literally laid flat, then popped back up again.  I gathered my computer, phone, money belt, and warm shirt and made ready to run to the bathroom for cover.  It lasted for about an hour, and again, that darned little tent kept standing.  I video taped it again.  It was scarier than Storm I.

In the morning the campers came by again…one by one…all concerned as to how we made out in the storm.  Strangers caring about strangers!

Before Highway M28

Where The Rubber Met The Road

Beautiful Lake For A Swim

The Calm Before The Storm

https://youtu.be/Kl0H6Gmh7lg

Video Of Storm II