A Short Dash To Birch Run

Bay City, MI to Birch Run, MI
36 miles
138 feet ascent
115 feet descent
1,361 calories

A confluence of four factors made today's ride short; a dicey weather outlook, motel availability, distance to the next full service town, and the Labor Day traffic.  The stationary front hanging over Michigan brought thunderstorms at night and threatened more rain from dawn into the afternoon.

Threatening Bay City Morning Sky

Given that it was 89 miles to the next full service town with a motel, I found some accommodations in Birch Run, which is somewhat off-route, but 36 miles in the right direction.  It was a good middle ground because some sprinkles hit along the way, and there were lots of cars on the road for the off-route portion.

This part of Michigan, near the "thumb", is very flat, which makes it good for farming.  Lots of corn, soybean, and other fields of crops surrounded the route and drew in some Canada Geese.

Canada Geese

Some of the farms have pretty classy barns, especially this one I passed that was converted into a house.

Deluxe House/Barn

Had I known more about Frankenmuth, MI, I would have stayed there, even though it was only about twenty-five miles from Bay City.  It is a little German town that could almost fool someone into believing they were in Germany.

Frankenmuth, MI, Wilkommen Sign

It is a sister city with Gunzenhausen in Bavaria, and they take great strides to make it look and feel like that part of the world, complete with a replica of the Silent Night Chapel from Oberndorf, Austria.

Silent Night Chapel Replica

Until tomorrow...

Auf Weidersehen

P.S. Those weren't really Canada Geese in that picture.  They were fake!  I was fooled too, but they were so life-long, I had to take a picture.