Day 27: Inn to Inn to Inn

In bike touring, there are three broad categories of support: self supported, van supported, and inn to inn. My trip would be categorized as self supported (full camping gear, haul all your own stuff). However, the past few days I’ve been self supporting myself from inn to inn. It feels very luxurious: comfy bed, lots of pillows, big hot breakfast, hot shower, air conditioning, a roof, oh my.

This morning, I woke up well rested after having fallen asleep before the sun even set last night (I was exhausted 😴). I went and ate the hotel buffet breakfast, then went back and lounged in bed a bit before meandering out a bit after 9.

Yesterday, I used my last tube patch and I had half a spare tube on me (one I’d patched/repatched, but didn’t fully trust. So I was just hoping and hoping that I’d make it the 25 miles to the bike store in bay city. Thankfully, I did. Bubba now has a new, heavier-duty front tire and I’ve got two fresh spare tubes and lots of patches. Maybe this will ward off the flat tire demons.

At the bike shop, I was chatting with one of the guys there and he recommended a different route to Midway than the one ACA sends you. It was a bit more direct and he said the shoulder was better and it was his preferred route there. I took his word and headed west (after a leisurely picnic lunch in the park across the way). The road was very quiet and overall a nice ride (though there was a road closure I snuck around at one point). This route led me to a bike path into town and by lots of Dow properties. It seems Midland is a company town and that company is the Dow chemical company.

The route change also saved me a few miles, which I didn’t mind as the headwinds were still really strong today. It looks like they’ll break and shift tomorrow 🤞.