My Ride Around Lake Michigan

Tarckives Bikes
61

Day 12 (8/15/08) - Manistee, MI. 60.6 miles. ~703.4 miles total.

Today will be a short entry because nothing too interesting happened.

Said bye to Hoover (got a picture) and hit the road. Allison sent home 7lbs of stuff. We had some very big hills during the day – a number of which made me wish for a lower gearing – but nothing too bad. The roads were pretty decent and we saw a few groups of cyclists headed the other way as well as a couple with loaded bikes.

On one of the downhills I hit 40.1mph without pedaling – it was fucking huge.

Our campground was solt out when we arrived, but they allowed us to stay in the overflow area since we’re on bikes. It’s a parking lot.

This campground is like a trailer park. Row after row after row, and very crowded. It’s on the coast, but there’s a big bluff/cliff along it, and the only way down (besides falling) is an enormous staircase.

We went into town for dinner [supplies], cooked under a tree where birds kept shitting on us, and discovered that my tent seemed to be set up on an anthill (so we moved it). The sunset here was just as great as in Empire, but my camera is just as bad at capturing it here as it was there.

Someone is setting off fireworks in the area. Lame.


At a roadside produce stand…


…where Allison got a flat


Me at sunset


The trailer-park like campground

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I agree that the miserable parts made the good parts better. It certainly does make you feel more accomplished to have made it through them and helps put things in perspective (I kept thinking about what it was like for Louis & Clark).

But miserable times are still miserable.

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Day 13 (8/16/08) - Manistee, MI. Rest day. 16 miles. ~719.4 miles total.

Morning: I’m exhausted. We’re taking a rest day.

Evening: I feel completely spent. I’ve felt this way all day.

Went into Manistee. Got vegan jerky and Thai Crystal deodorant. Visited some antique shops. My stomach has felt obnoxiously full all day. Finally got to read some of my book, and now that’s all I want to do. It’s only 7:40pm, but I think I’m going to read a bit and go to sleep. I really hope I feel better tomorrow.

Oh, we had Chinese buffet for dinner again. Lo-mein, rice, vegetables and fruit again. It sucked again. Maybe pizza [next time].


Historic downtown Manistee


This is at the front of a shopping center’s parking lot where the local hardware store set up outdoor furniture to attract customers. I sat on a rocking-bench and read for a while across from the Days Inn


View of the beach at the campground from up on the bluff


Four or five women dressed like this came in to the Chinese Buffet with one older man. I want to think they were his daughters, but for some reason I’m not so sure

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Day 14 (8/17/08) - Silver Lake, MI. 60 miles. ~779.4 miles total.

Silver Lake is weird. It’s a lake, but its claim to fame seems to be the sand dunes along the West side. The town is small, but totally caters to people with boats and – more significantly – to dune buggies. There are some very big trucks here with very big tires.

I feel better today. Pretty bloated, but I think that’s from too many carbs. We rode 60 miles. The first 30 were pretty Quick. My legs felt tired the last 30 though.

We rode over a dam (didn’t know it was there until we were on it) and through a foresty area with winding roads and much appreciated shade.

The headwinds when we rode east were pretty bad, and we did a fair amount of riding east.

This campground, like the other MI state parks, is pricey and very crowded. It’s like a trailer park. But it’s a place to sleep.

Allison is really set on taking a train. We are only 5 days away and I really don’t want to. I set out to ride around the lake. I want to ride around the lake. Especially with only 5 days left.

We’ll see. I may give in since this route will still be 1,000+mi even if we take a train for 50-75mi.

It’s a matter of principle though.

p.s. Stopped at a really cool ‘fruit stand’ market (Allison bought knives)


Jesus


Riding across the dam


View from the dam


Another tank


Our campground


Silver Lake shopping


Typical Silver Lake vehicles

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The lake at Silver Lake


Silver Lake dunes


Sunset on Silver Lake

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Day 15 (8/18/08) - Grand Haven, MI (or North thereof). 68.7 miles. ~848.1 miles total.

I could write about the riding today, but all it would be is my bitching about my aching feet, squeeking shoe, and the conditions of the roads (which just about gave me a headache). The day felt very long, we were on an ~8mi stretch of the worst road I have ever been on – patched and sealed everywhere – even the fucking patches had patches! – -- and it was hot as usual. I woke up early so we were able to leave 30 minutes early, which mean we got started before it got too hot, but that didn’t last long.

I fell and broke the LCD screen on my camera today. It still takes pictures, but I can’t access the menu or see the images.

So the riding sucked. But as the day that would never end was ending, we found ourselves at a confusing intersection. While consulting our book an old(er) woman on a Trek road bike with full cycling kit asked us if we needed help. When we told her what we were looking for she said she was going to ride with us because it was confusing. When we told her we were staying in the State Park in grand Haven she then told us to just stay with her at her “cabin.” A bit taken aback it took us (me) a second [or two] to agree, but we eventually found ourselves following her through backwoods, trails, and into a private neighborhood (the sign says there is a guard shack. there used to be but is no longer). We passed some incredibly big houses – one built about 4 stories up a hill with an entry on the road straight into what must be a huge elevator shaft – to her modest, lakefront house [(not a cabin)].

She took us right in, got us water (with ice), showed us our rooms and the bathroom, and told me to get in the lake. I did as I was told – my first time in the lake all trip – and it was pretty nice (for a few minutes anyway).

Martha (the “old(er) woman”) let us do laundry, fed us edamame, melon, and blueberries, and asked us about the trip.

Apparently she and her husband (though it’s just her up here now) live in San Francisco and have had this house for ~26 years (since it was affordable to buy up here, she says). [She] gre up outside Chicago, has 3 kids, and just had them all here last weekish. She leaves Friday. Only comes out about twice a year. Small place – 3 bedrooms and a living/dining area with the kitchen attached. Huge wall of windows looking out on the lake.

She is a bit hyperactive, but incredibly nice, very fit, and seems really adventerous in spirit. Don’t know what she did/does (retired?), but I’m curious.

We ordered pizza for dinner and watched the sunset with her on the beach.

Tomorrow Martha said she’s going to escort us past the confusing intersection [(bridge)] to where we need to be. Tonight I am going to sleep in a bed.


Yet another tank


Martha’s private beach


The “cabin”


My room


The elevator house

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Day 16 (8/19/08) - South Haven, MI. 70.5 miles. ~918.6 miles total.

Long day. It’s like the closer we get, the longer the days feel.

We’re camped in Van Buren State Park next to a family with kids trying to learn to juggle. All these carbs have ‘clogged me up,’ so to speak, and given me gas. It’s quite uncomfortable.

I didn’t feel so great today. My hands, elbows, feet and butt have all begun to ache almost constantly.

Martha excorted us past the tricky bridge and about 12 miles into our ride today. She’s a pretty strong rider for someone her age, though she doesn’t signal her stops or turns, which is pretty irritating [to try to follow].

Our day was uneventful. Tried to get a train in Holland, MI but we arrived at the Amtrak station around 12:30pm only to discover that there is just one train toward Chicago each day, and it’s at around 8:30am.

Had lunch at Burger king, which made me feel guilty and gross as usual. It wasn’t even nearly as cheap as I thought fast food was.

They should call it “fast ‘food’.”

Our campground was only $21 fas compared to the other MI stae parks which were $27, and it’s fairly empty.

We had spaghetti for dinner again – I think besides rice one night and barley another it’s the only thing we’ve cooked – and I’m probably going to go watch the sunset. These next 3 days will be the longest (feeling) of the trip, I am sure.


I hope I look this good at 63


Martha and Allison


No trespassing without permission


Camp

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Day 17 (8/10/08) - Chicago, IL. 130 miles. ~1,048.6 miles total.

We had discussed riding the whole way back [to Chicago] (we thought it would be ~140 miles) the night before and agreed to wake up 2 hours early, at 5am, to do so.

When my alarm went off at 5 I had no interest in getting up. Neither did Allison. So we went back to sleep. We ended up leaving about 1/2 hour later than usual.

Our ride to the campground was to be about 70 miles, we thought, but by the time we hit mile 60 we were pretty close. Both of us agreed that we felt really good (almost as if we hadn’t ridden at all) so we decided “It’s early, we have energy, the sign said 60 miles to Chicago, let’s do it.”

And we did.

It wound up being 130 miles – more than twice the farthest distance I had ever ridden before the tour (and the 130 were fully loaded, too) – but all told I felt, and feel today (the day after) perfectly fine.

We decided to take Route 20 from Michigan City (where we got lost and ended up at a police station for directions) to where it merged with 41 in IL because Allsion had taken 20 about 20 miles into Indiana before and said it had a big shoulder. Plus it would be a straight shot.

Well, it was a straight shot but for probably 35 of the 45 or so miles we were on it it had little to no shoulder. This road was not meant to be ridden on, particularly thoguh Gary, IN and the other urban/business route places we rode through.

We were cut off approaching an intersection by a guy in a pickup truck pulling a trailer, and I gave him the finger. Later, while still in a shitty mood, we were passed by a woman who quickly cut over in front of us to turn. I would have hit her had I not anticipated it and braked. I gave her the finger too and kept riding. As we continued I could hear her yelling back at us, but I ignored her knowing it would be (as Allison later confirmed) the same old garbage all drivers spew about how bikes shouldn’t be on the road.

Allison asked me why I flicked her off and my answer was that she endangered our lives, I think she’s a shitty person (or at least a shitty driver), and I wanted to express that to her.

The rest of the ride was uneventful, though I did honestly spend much of it fearing I was going to get hit.

We stopped at Subway for dnner in Whiting, IN and was we were locking our bikes a somewhat pudgy guy in scrubs pulled up in his sedan and started asking us questions. Turns out he is a cyclist himself (had a livestrong bracelet on) and was really excited to see road bikes in his town; particularly bikers carrying gear. He seemed shocked we rode through Gary and helped give us an idea of how far we still had to go.

After Subway, it was non-stop to Chicago. I had to go to the bathroom the last 30 miles or so but ignored it so we could get back. We made one short pit stop along the lakefront train in front of a yacht that happened to be appropriately named “Gran Finale,” and then Allison and I parted ways when we got to Lincoln and Montrose.

It was a long day but I’m very glad we did it.

Also really glad we did the ride. I can’t believe it’s already over. It wasn’t the most enjoyable experience of all time, but I have a great feeling of accomplishment from having completed it.

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My butt print on the picnic table at breakfast


Around mile 70


I did not get a good impression of Indiana


CHICAGO!


The Gran Finale


The last picture of our ride


All told I got some pretty nice muscle definition on my legs and a really killer tan

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That was awesome.

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the last two pics are the best. your tat is peekin out.

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is your tattoo of you?

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yes it is.

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That’s how I’ve felt after all my tours (most just a week) but the memory sweetens when most of the miserable times fade.

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yes it is.[/quote]

lol. thought so.

anyway, tour looks like a ton of fun. do you have any elevation profiles for some of the larger climbs?

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No. None of them were really ‘climbs.’ Most of the hilly days were up a big hill, down said big hill, up another big hill, down second said big hill.

I’ll see what I can map out when I find my guidebook.

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That’s because there’s nothing good about indiana.
Fuck that place.

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That’s because there’s nothing good about indiana.
Fuck that place.[/quote]

I drove through there this spring on my way to Evenston, Il.
I can agree with this statement.

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It’s not that he got a bad impression, just an acurate one.