The Dress Rehearsal

[Originally posted Jun 8, 2014]

Practice makes perfect.  Or so they say.  Actually (and that's a word my nephew Charlie loves), perfect practice makes perfect.  So we figured we would put some gear in our panniers and our rubber on the road and see if our dear Primera was ready to roll.

The Dress Rehearsal Route

We planned a nice casual tour through Northern Michigan.  We rode a loop, averaging about 50 miles a day, the same mileage we plan to ride everyday for the 9 months we will be out touring.

Weather was beautiful each day.  Sunny and 70 degrees.  The first night we stayed with the Swabash's - parents of medical school classmate.  They were awesome.  Fresh cherry oatmeal for breakfast.  Couldn't have been more pleased.  The ride was great.  Camped the night at Wilderness State Park - got to try out all of that new camping gear.  The morning was more oatmeal and off to Mackinac Island.  A beautiful place all around.  Then headed back to the mainland to be hosted by some Warmshowers Hosts - Connie and Dale Rieger.  They were wonderful.  We had a great conversation that evening that really challenged us to think about what we hope to experience on our tour.  Breakfast of oatmeal - it's kind of the gold standard of bike touring breakfast.  And then back to Petoskey to wrap up a great weekend.

Departure on Day 1. Just keep it steady.

A tough day of cycling requires calories.

The Mackinaw Bridge.

Our secret power: Google Glasses

Our GearZero Solar Panel - more to come on this.