106: the deluge, batman signal, ddd, bart's brain, paul saves a life, asparagus festival, wear bright colors, sleeping bear, the mortgage, are aliens real?, detour, some poor photography, the burning orb

August 11, 2025

Empire to Leland

I slept great, whether from fatigue or from the coziness of my tent I don't know, and when I woke up I found that I had placed my tent in the path of the rainwater as it flowed out of the park. The declivity was so slight that I didn't even notice it as I was setting up the tent. Consequently, while I was slumbering the Sleep of the Innocent, the water rushed up the side of my tent, applying debris like Post-It notes on an accountant's desk at tax time.

It also flowed under my tent, but when I saw it this time I realized that the floor only appeared wet, and I could touch it without consequence.

The stream created berms of fallen leaves and twigs....

I must've been pretty tired because not only did I leave one of my panniers outside, I didn't close it all the way. There was about an inch of water in it, but fortunately it was the bag with my stove and some tightly sealed dehydrated meals.

As I was chatting with Kevin and Ruth this morning, Ruth mentioned something that didn't register for a full fifteen seconds. In the middle of a completely different topic, my brain shot up a Batman Signal into the sky: "Wait, did she just say it's supposed to start raining around 10:00?!?" I looked at my watch: 9:20.

I started throwing things into my panniers. There was no way I was going to be able to wait around to let my tent and rainfly dry, so I shook them out as best I could, then shoved them into my bag. With the small amount of extra water weight I expected it to feel a bit heavier, but was surprised at how much heavier. The footprint, which was not only wet but dirty, I folded up and strapped onto the top of the rear rack.

sorry guys, it's not a bra store... they sell fruit

you can see the pooled water several inches deep from the rain

When I saw this sign that said "SBD," I immediately braked, crossed the street, and documented it with my camera for all the people like me who have the sense of humor of Bart Simpson.

Just before I started to pedal away, the store owner opened her second-floor window and called out to me, "Can I help you with anything?"

I was sort of stuck, because how DO you answer that?

"Why yes... I was hoping to get a tour of the local Whispers of Doom. I've heard the Air Biscuits around here are fantastic and, in fact, my buddy was just telling me that the Gas Grenade Tour you took him on was the highlight of his week here. Also, are you an actual Anus Whisperer like he said, and can you really do a Backdoor Burp on command?"

All of this went through my childish, immature brain, and I finally fumbled out a response, "No, I'm just taking a picture of your sign.... Thanks!"

Then I sped off just as the rain started falling again.

There's a bike path just off the road, but no way to get to it.

I finally just walked my bike through this section to get on it.

The rain was actually pleasant, and certainly better than the oppressive heat that's been hollowing me out the last few days.

In a conversation with Buddy Hall I mentioned that one of the reasons that I decided to get rim brakes instead of disc brakes is that it's pretty unlikely that I'll ever be going down a steep grade on a fully-loaded bike in the rain. Well.... time to see how good these Paul brakes really are.

I passed through Empire this morning, which owes its name to not one, but two stranded vessels. In 1849, a side-wheel steamer named Empire ran aground here, and in 1865 a schooner named Empire became icebound.

Just like every other town in the country, this tiny burg of 356 people has an annual festival. Empire's is called the Asparagus Festival, and I'd think up silly events they might have, but don't need to - they've done it for me.

Each May, there's a Miss Asparagus on Stilts, in which the winner of the Miss Asparagus pageant walks around town on stilts. There's also the Kick-Yer-Assparagus 5K Fun Run/Walk, and the Ode to Asparagus poetry contest.

Although it's not May I wrote a haiku, and plan to enter it next year:

This Asparagus,
Edible and delicious,
Makes my urine stink.

I think it's a winner, but Heather says to "keep my day job."

It's like Mark M. commented: It's interesting how it appears to be the responsibility of the cyclist not to get shot.

Sleeping Bear Dunes is just off the route. I pedaled around in the parking lot some but, unfortunately, couldn't leave my bike to explore any further.

I wondered if you're allowed to take a toboggan.

after continuing along the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail there were sections like this, but no place to hide my bike

I stopped briefly in Glen Haven, a historic village with a handful of buildings. No one lives there, but it draws thousands of visitors each year because of the old-fashioned feel of the place.... a blacksmith shop, a cannery, and a few historic homes, all from the 1800s. It was nice, not only because they didn't call it a "Blacksmythe Shoppe," but also because there weren't souvenir shops every thirty feet strategically extracting every last dime they can from tourists.

From there, I continued on to Glen Arbor where I made a brief stop at the bank to mortgage my house in order to buy a sandwich for lunch. After that, I went next door to the ice cream store where, fortunately, they accepted plasma for payment since the mortgage money was gone (I shouldn't have asked for silverware or condiments).

At the ice cream shop there were two families with small children sitting in the shade with me. Unlike me, the little girl talking to her dad was managing to eat an ice cream cone without getting chocolate all over her face:

“Daddy, I know there aren’t minions, but are aliens real?”

“I don’t know. I think so. Space is really big.” Then, because this is now where we get our opinions about science, the mother added to the general conversation:

“Have you seen Men In Black?” All the adults commented about what a great movie it was, after which the topic went to Jim Carrey's run of cinema.

"I can’t believe he released three in one year. That was a good run."

Everyone murmured their agreement as the little girl continued eating her ice cream in silence.

I tried following the Trail, but there was no way to get around this construction site without strapping the bike to my back and swimming, so I had to travel on the road for a bit until the Trail crossed the road again. Drivers were polite and respectful.

These three pictures illustrate examples of poor photography.

This tree looked amazing, with its angles, split trunk, and varied tones of brown....

....and yet, somehow, I just made it look, well, judge for yourself....

The sky was overcast all day today, with a temperature right around 76F during most of my riding time, and I wondered "Why is there such a difference in yesterday’s 76-degree temperature and today’s 76-degree temperature??" The humidity is the same or higher today (90%), so it isn't that. Could it simply be that the sun isn't shining? It seems unlikely that a giant 10,000F/5,800C burning orb radiating heat toward me would have anything to do with it, but you never know.

again, I wonder: were there really cracks there or was the person just having some fun?

As soon as I arrived at my Warm Showers house, I spread out my wet gear to dry.

then walked over to the beach for a little while

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Today's ride: 36 miles (58 km)
Total: 2,832 miles (4,558 km)

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