I'm glad you liked the sunrise pictures from this morning. Unfortunately most of that post's text disappeared in transit. Those were the first shots taken with my new Lumix camera. Thanks for the suggestion, Tim!

I took a meandering ride today, starting later than usual after a nice Yoga flow and then catching up on comments from Mitten Pedaler followers and work related messages.

Riding north out of White Rock and into the wind, it seemed hotter today right from the git go.

Due to the bridge north of Harbor Beach being out, I got my first significant taste of dirt road riding. I've done most of my touring on dirt so it felt good to get out there. Even on the high pressure street tires I'm running.

The wind finally shifted direction late morning and began blowing moderately hard out of the west. This occurred at the same time I made it around the northeast corner of the Thumb at Grindstone City, HEADING WEST! Same as it ever was…

I spent a leisurely couple of hours in Port Austin, having lunch, importing photos, attending to some business calls, writing the last blog post, feasting on Mulberries from a local tree, and scouting out the site for Still Point's family retreat this fall. I'll be teaching a class on wilderness survival skills at the retreat and today I was determining outdoor dining fly sizes.

At lunch a young lady asked me about the tour. Nicole (Nichole?) Was surprised to hear I'm from Brighton, as she is as well! She's a customer of Hometown Bicycles and knows Shaun and Dawn.

By late afternoon I was kind of cooked. It felt much hotter today. I took advantage of the beautiful, sandy, and deserted beach at Sleeper State Park and went for a long swim. New motto: Less riding, more swimming!

I passed up a primo campsite near Caseville, but felt like meandering on. Tonight I'm camped a little off the lake, but in the most remote spot yet. I had to work for it! I rode about four miles of sandy two track, then pushed another quarter mile through a stand of Fragmites to get here. My kind of camping!

M-25 has been a fine road to bicycle, with a nice, wide shoulder all the way. But west and south from Port Austin is special. The pavement is pristine, and where it isn't heavily wooded, there are many great views of the lake. I would recommend this stretch to any cyclist.

Looking forward to wrapping up my tour of the Thumb tomorrow and getting some mileage up the eastern shore of the Palm!

Feeling bushwhacked, Jim

Today's Asanas (Yoga poses):
Surya Namaskar – classic Sun Salutations

Today's mileage: 71.29
Total trip mileage: 301

Song stuck in my head:
Once In a Lifetime by Talking Heads