Pere Marquette Rail Trail and beyond

Caro, Michigan...
Another day of sweltering heat, miles of road construction but bolstering tail winds swept us to the head of the Pere Marquette Rail Trail in Clare, and suddenly we were being led through shady forest and pastoral farmland toward Midland with no sound other than the soft whirr of bicycle wheels and friendly greetings. Hats off  to Pere Marquette (1637-1675), the French missionary and explorer who founded the first European settlement in what is now Michigan, for lending his name to such a marvelous 21st century venture. 

Stopped in at Coleman Auto and Bike (right on the trail) to see if they could tell us why Jean's lower gears were slipping and found this to be the shop most cross-country cyclists only dream of. Even though it was close to closing time, Dean Retzloff, the manager and chief mechanic, wheeled the bike straight into the shop past the shelves of auto parts and up onto the stand. Wthin 20 minutes the problem was diagnosed, fixed and the bike good to go. What's more, we were spontaneously invited to stay at Dean's house, swim in his backyard pool and partake in a feast of steak, homemade biscuits and grilled corn-on-the-cob. We soon discovered that Dean is a man of many talents -- not only the best bike mechanic we have ever met but also a fabulous cook, a gread dad and a former DJ with an encyclopaedic knowledge of rock music and a dream to one day travel to the far corners of the world on a two-wheeled machine. 

The stay at Dean's was so restorative that the next day we found the energy to sail the next 80 miles to Caro. Except for having to negotiate the streets of two mid-sized cities, beautiful roads and rural scenes reminiscent of the French countryside all the way. Perhaps the adventurous spirit of Pere Marquette, whose given name was also Jacques, is alive and well here..