Vacation 2012 Day 6

So today was going to be an easy day and some rest for tomorrow's race. So Raymond called around 10am and asked me if I wanted to go for a ride. We set off for the South Marquette trails from the hotel around 10:45am and had a great ride. We rode a small section of trail and then went on the gravel service road to attempt to climb to the top of Marquette Mountain. Well we hit around 1025 feet and called it quits. The grade was pretty steep and with the race tomorrow decided it was not a good idea. We even took it easy going down hill so we would not crash and ruin the day.

So I made it back to the hotel and got cleaned up and we all headed out for lunch. The four of us went to the Border Grill. The food was ok, just an unusual set up for ordering, etc. Just wouldn't recommend this place. Thought it was going to be more like Qdoba, which is one of my favorites. So then we were off to the beach on Lakefront Boulevard.

The waves were incredible.

Brendan got knocked down.

A man in a cape made an appearance.

There was a lighthouse.

We then went to the Presque Isle. We always have a great time there.

JJ and Alexander on the rocks.

Stone Hunters!

Braving an angry Lake Superior.

We then made our way to the prerace spaghetti feed and package pick up. The food was great as always and the whole family eats for $20. The Lions Club of Marquette is excellent, many thanks. The lines were long for the packet pickup as always and we made our way through and wandered the expo for a while. I will say the expo was much smaller than years past and the sway in the packets was not what it used to be. I did however get a couple of Bontrager Jerseys at a great bargain and some free t-shirts from Bike Marquette. This is a very bike friendly community and I applaud them.

SISU bikes, now in carbon.

Fat Bikes by 616 Fabrication. A Michigan Company.

And my favorite of the day by 616 Fabrication!

A Fatbike Tandem, Awesome!

So we departed from the expo and headed back to the Holiday Inn. Brendan went with Angel and the girls back to Preque Isle for some more rock hunting. JJ and Alexander went to the pool, Michelle relaxed in our room and I cleaned and prepped the bike for tomorrow. After this Michelle and I went to the lounge for a drink. When Brendan got back from the Isle Michelle took him to the pool and then we all settled in for the night. It will be an early morning.

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