Today was good weather with not much wind, so it was good for bike riding. We started off with breakfast at the Heirloom Restaurant again, and again, I ordered the ‘Naner bread. Then mid-morning we left on our ride. We had planned to go south today to Jacksonport which is also on the Lake Michigan side of Door County. Just outside the town is Cave Point County Park which is a series of limestone cliffs and caves, thus, a popular kayaking area.

And the cliffs are also good for jumping off and swimming when it’s warm although the water stays cold.

Not so safe for small kids but otherwise it’s an interesting area, good for picnicking or hiking. But going to Jacksonport would have been well over a 30-mile ride and my body was not up to that today.

So we elected to do our “golf course loop” again with a few changes on the return trip. This route is not boring and has a sustained incline that we thought would be good training. We have a bicycling vacation scheduled for northern Italy soon and it’s likely to have gradual climbs. We don’t know for sure whether the Italy trip will happen, or whether we want it to happen, but we need to anticipate a bit. The originally scheduled trip in June of 2020 was cancelled. So we will have to see what the European Union decides now based on increased Covid cases in the U.S.

Here we are still riding slightly uphill and we paused at the intersection to Gibraltar Road where we turned left yesterday.

We continued on to the golf course and our favorite soda machine. I will complain again about the road in Peninsula State Park. We only rode about a mile on it today but it is not good. So much better to ride on county roads around the area.

While we rested, golfers come by to play the sixth hole. The eighth hole on this course is famous because it is only 66 yards long but the tee is located on a cliff 50 feet above the hole.

If the golfers weren’t here, we might see turkeys or Sandhill Cranes; both are frequent visitors.

We went back our usual way on County Road A, then turned on Highland but stopped short of the “little fierce one.” That’s it down the road. Doesn’t look bad here, but it grows on you.

Instead we took a side road, “High Plateau,” and were rewarded with a couple of miles of mostly downhill. Our recompense came when we reached County Road EE, turned left, and went uphill until we reached Red Cherry Road. Red Cherry took us back to the Coyote Roadhouse and we stopped for ice cream. We went home across Kangaroo Lake and took Red Cherry to Summit Road and from there went into Bailey’s Harbor. On the way to the Yacht Club we stopped to take a look at the lake along Ridges Road.

Our total ride today was 25 miles and that was enough for my knees and everything else.

Dinner tonight was supposed to be a casual hamburger at the Cornerstone Pub but it was super busy so we went back to the Coyote Roadhouse and had to wait about 20 minutes for a table there.

During our stay we did less shopping and less hiking than usual, also less reading and relaxing. But we did get more bike riding done. In order to get ready for a group bike tour, we have been trying to overcome our Covid lethargy, lack of exercise, and weight gain. One recommendation for getting in shape for a tour such as we have planned, is to ride 20 miles three times a week for several weeks before going. Another is to ride the average daily distance (ADD) for the trip three times a week including two rides on consecutive days, plus a fourth shorter ride during that week. This should also be done for a couple of weeks prior to the trip. With a calculated ADD of 25-26 miles, our rides in Door County met that target.

One other place we did visit during our stay was the Wood Orchard Market, located just north of Egg Harbor on Route 42. The reason we like to go there is for the free samples of food items. Pre-Covid, you could count on samples of mustard with pretzels, dips with crackers, cherry strudel, cherry salsa, cherry jam, Amish peanut butter, etc., plus all sorts of food items to buy including fresh fruit, fudge, and cherry pie. Now the samples are gone but we still have our favorites to purchase and Ross can get Door County Coffee packs here to take home.

The other critical stop for two reasons is at Al Johnson’s “Goats on the Roof” Restaurant in Sister Bay. The two reasons include (1) to purchase jars of lingonberries to take home although we can usually get those at Wood Orchard Market, and (2) to see the goats on the roof. Quite an operation.

Goodbye to Door County for now.