I got on the trail early so I would have time to experience Ann Arbor. On this day I was riding on trails more than 50% of the distance. Michigan has a long established bike culture and has done a great job developing bike trails.
At Stockbridge, the first town I came to, about 14 miles into the day, I wanted to make sure I filled my water bottles to the top so I didn’t run out of water like I did yesterday. But the gas station/ Convenience store where I stopped didn’t have tap water that was potable. I was talking to the cashier about my options, she said they sold gallon jugs of water and offered to buy me one. I said thanks for the offer and bought it myself. I went outside and was in the process of filling my water bottles and chugging the rest of the gallon of water when I met Chris. He was hanging out in a patch of sun out front of the store in a kilt. We probably talked for 20 minutes about a range of topics and traded some opinions on what the world needed. He told me he was in a terrible car accident and has been on a long road to recovery. He also shared with me how as a child he saw a blacksmith working and thought that some day he would like to learn the trade. It was great to hear that he followed through on this dream and is now a blacksmith.
I peddled through Chelsea without stopping because google told me there were pastries to be had in the next town. So when I got to Dexter, I stopped at the bakery and enjoyed a treat in some outdoor seating. I saw there was a bike shop across the street and I had been thinking ever since John, my Warmshowers host in Traverse City, shared his special Wolf Tooth chain lube, that I needed to upgrade the Tri-flow lube I was carrying. So in I went. No Wolf Tooth but they set me up with a small bottle of their finest chain lube. They actually filled a tiny bottle that had a metal applicator tube and wouldn’t let me pay for it. Bike shop folks are the best. Thank you Destination Cyclery.
I rolled into Ann Arbor about 1:00 and decided to get lunch downtown before I rode to my Warmshowers host’s house. I settled on eating at Cafe Avalon. They had an interesting menu and the food was very good. They seemed to be all about developing good community. But it was going to be hard for me to not like them when I saw the home made Detroit bread map on the wall.
My Warmshowers hosts were Elsa and Eric but the funny thing was, I never got to meet them. They were in Asheville, North Carolina house sitting for some friends that were on a bike tour. Instead of turning my hosting request down because they were out of town, they had a neighbor hide a key for me and said call when I got there so I could have them orient me to their house and answer any questions.
As I was riding through their neighborhood, it was looking like a typical suburban neighborhood with houses built by a large scale developer. I could see the repeated house models and the universality of building materials. Then I came to the address and saw that Elsa and Eric’s house did not fit the mold, it was definitely one of a kind.
Later I was talking to Elsa on the phone about this and she referred me to a Manila envelope on one of their book shelves that had some information about the house and its builder. Alan Robuck built the house circa 1980. He was a resourceful fellow that found used building materials he could creatively reuse in building his house. There was a lot of heart and soul in it. And there was a five foot square skylight! And I bet there wasn’t another house in the neighborhood (or maybe even the country) that had three interior doors that all closed onto the same salvaged post.
Thank you Elsa and Eric for hosting me from afar.
Slow and Steady 
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