Jim's ride around Lake Michigan, August-September 2018

Day 1 - New Carlisle, Indiana to Griffith, Indiana

Home to Griffith, 58 Miles

Monday August 20, 2018, 58 miles (58 miles total). Left home around 8am. Stopped for lunch at McDonald's in Chesterton. Heavy rain started up near Hobart Indiana, stopped under a shelter at Robinson County park to avoid the downpour. Diner at Wildrose Brewery, pub burger and garlic fries. Back tracked a little bit to a warm showers spot, generous hosts offered a nice spot to camp in their side yard, more rain came during the night.

Day 2 - Griffith, Indiana to Chicago, Illinois

Griffith to Wrigley Hostel - 40 miles

Tuesday August 21, 2018, 40 miles (98 miles total). Breakfast at Burger King in Griffith. Stops in Chicago included Trader Joe's for groceries, Cloud Gate the photo opportunity below, and REI. Diner at Cozy Noodles and Rice, Thai Chicken and Rice.

Cloud Gate

Wrigley Field

Day 3 - Chicago, Illinois to Racine, Wisconsin

Wrigley Hostel to Cliffside Park Campground, Racine - 73 miles

Wednesday August 22, 2018, 73 miles (171 miles total). Left Wrigley Hostel approx. 7:00am, rode Clark Street north from Wrigley Field to Evanston, then Chicago Ave., & Sheridan through to downtown Winnetka. Had my pedals replaced at Green Bay Cycles in Winnetka. Stopped for Coffee at Reprise Roasters then picked up the Green Bay Trail near Glencoe, then Robert McClory trail at North Chicago and on through Kenosha and Racine.

Baha'i House Evanston

Coffee at Reprise Roasters Winnetka

Evanston

Racine

Day 4 - Racine, Wisconsin to Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Racine to Kohler-Andrae state park, Sheboygan - 78 miles

Thursday August 23, 2018, 78 miles (249 miles total). Ozaukee Interurban trail north from Downtown Milwaukee. Met Vince near Cedarburg WI, he was riding a fat tire bike up ahead of me and slowed down to chat. Said he recently retired and was planning a three week tour in Germany near where he was stationed while in the military. Stopped at Kohler-Andrae State Park, nice couple invited me to the campsite, enjoyed a cup of tasty hot chocolate she made up using her jet boiler.

Milwaukee

Kohler-Andrae state park

Day 5 - Sheboygan, Wisconsin to Maribel, Wisconsin

Sheboygan to Devils River Campground, Maribel - 51 miles

Friday August 24, 2018, 51 miles (300 miles total). Nice inexpensive campsite near a stream and waterfall, historic buildings nearby including a grist mill.

Jim at Kohler-Andrae State Park

Devil's River Campground

Day 6 - Maribel, Wisconsin to Oconto, Wisconsin

Maribel to North Bay Shore campground, Oconto - 72 miles

Saturday August 25, 2018, 72 miles (372 miles total). Started out in a Northwesterly direction towards Green Bay, but after stopping for breakfast I opted for county roads Westerly to pick up a north-south trail to downtown Green Bay. Stopped for lunch at McDonalds in Green Bay, stopped again in Oconto for groceries. The host at North Bay Campground gave me a discounted rate for the night.

Green Bay

Day 7 - Oconto, Wisconsin to Peshtigo, Wisconsin

Oconto to Peshtigo - 8 miles

Sunday August 26, 2018, 8 miles (380 miles total). Rest day, including an 8 mile ride to Peshtigo City Campground. Walked to the Lee's Family Foods grocery, and purchased a Macaroni stuffed pizza for dinner at the deli.

Day 8 - Peshtigo, Wisconsin to Escanaba, Michigan

Peshtigo to Escanaba - 71 miles

Monday August 27, 2018, 71 miles (380 miles total). Stopped around 3:30pm at OB Fuller campground to inquire about camping, decided to take advantage of the strong tail wind and continue another 20 miles or so to Pioneer Trail Park campground in Escanaba.

Menomonee River

Sand Point Lighthouse, Escanaba

Day 9 -Escanaba, Michigan to Manistique, Michigan

Escanaba to Manistique - 50 miles

Tuesday August 28, 2018, 50 miles (501 miles total). Breakfast at McDonalds in Gladstone, dinner at Burger King in Manistique. Nice new modern campsite at Manistique located near the Lighthouse pictured below.

Manistique Light House

Day 10 - Manistique, Michigan to Bervort Lake, Michigan

Manistique to Brevort Lake - 72 miles

Wednesday August 29, 2018, 72 miles (573 miles total). Rode most of the day on a nice 10 foot wide shoulder along US 2. The Bridge over Cut Bank River was under construction, and the detour included a side road with heavy traffic and no shoulders, but they had quite a few share the road signs posted along the way. Nice campground at Brevort lake, friendly hosts. A couple invited me over to their campsite to talk, they had a warm fire going. Said they lived in St. Petersburg Florida and were on a 90 day driving trip around the US camping along the way.

Hog Island Campground

Brevoort Lake Campgound

Day 11 - Brevort Lake, Michigan to Cheboygan, Michigan

Brevort Lake to Cheboygan - 42 miles

Thursday August 30, 2018, 42 miles (615 miles total). After lunch at Subway in St. Ignace I noticed my front tire was flat. I found a bench nearby, took the tire off and while searching for the source another touring cyclist stopped by. Young fella, a recent graduate of the Civil Engineering program at University of Wisconsin. We talked for a bit and after I patched the tire we rode down to the Mackinaw Bridge Toll Gate together. When we arrived a worker yelled out from a toll both for us to take the elevated foot bridge across to the office. We did, payed the $5.00 fee and a pickup arrived shortly there-after. The driver helped us lift our bikes up into the pickup bed, and we hopped into the truck and away we went across the bridge. Across the bridge we unloaded our bikes, said our farewells, and I continued along a bike trail to Cheboygan. I stopped at Walmart for groceries and noticed I had a message from my Son that he was coming to join me for long the weekend. so I decided to get a hotel room for the night.

Mackinaw Bridge from atop the toll gate

Day 12 - Cheboygan, Michigan to Wolverine, Michigan

Cheboygan to Wolverine - 32 miles

Friday August 31, 2018, 32 Miles (647 miles total). My Son would be driving from Indiana to meet up with me today. I took a walk around Cheboygan and had breakfast at Alice's restaurant. Started out towards Indian River around 10am. We met up at Burger King around 2pm and rode the N Central State Trail south to Haakwood State forest Campground together. Set up our tents and then rode a few more miles down the trail to enjoy a great diner at the Hungry Sturgeon Restaurant at Wolverine Michigan.

Cheboygan

William

Haakwood State forest Campground

Day 13 - Wolverine, Michigan to Gaylord, Michigan

Wolverine to Ostego Lake Campground, Gaylord - 27 miles

Saturday September 1, 2018, 27 miles (674 miles total). William and I packed up our gear and headed south on the N Central Trail. Strong headwind and steady uphill climb to Gaylord Michigan, slow going. Stopped to take shelter from the rain under a church alcove and decided to try to locate the source of my consistently deflating front tire. Google maps showed a bicycle shop nearby and William rode over to buy a new inner tube for me. Put it back together, stopped at Aldi's for groceries and continued on to Otsego Lake County park. Showered, called in for a pizza delivery, and we built a nice camp fire.

Otsego Lake County Park

Day 14 - Gaylord to Indian River Michigan, Gaylord to Mancelona Michigan

Gaylord to Indian River, Gaylord to Mancelona - 56 miles

Sunday September 2, 2018, 56 miles (730 miles total). William and I headed back north to his car. Stopped for coffee in Gaylord, learned that Gaylord is the highest town in Michigan (1348' amsl) from a local bicyclist that stopped to chat with us. Nice tailwind and downhill today, stopped at the Hungry Sturgeon for lunch. Arrived back at Williams car around 2:30pm, packed up the bicycles and William dropped me off back in Gaylord. I headed SW towards Mancelona, stopped at Whispering Pines RV Resort & Campground for the night.

Dead end road, whoopsie

Day 15 - Mancelona, Michigan to Reed City Michigan

Mancelona to Reed City - 83 miles

Monday September 3, 2018 (Labor Day), 83 miles (813 miles total). Breakfast at McDonalds in Kalkaska. Stopped at Family Fare Supermarket in Cadillac for Groceries. Multiple flat tire day, patched 5 punctures.

Kalkaska Shoe Tree

Cadillac

Rambadt Park - Reed City

Day 16 - Reed City, Michigan to Grand Rapids Michigan

Reed City to Grand Rapids - 74 miles

Tuesday September 4, 2018, 74 miles (887 miles total). Breakfast at McDonalds in Reed City. Near Big Rapids the front tire went flat, noticed a wet spot inside the tire around the puncture, covered the inside of the tire with duct tape. Stayed at AirBNB in downtown Grand Rapids., the host was a young mother with two small children. Walked to market for diner, a Meijers store with all self check out lanes.

Big Rapids

Grand Rapids

Day 17 - Grand Rapids, Michigan to Glen, Michigan

Grand Rapids to Glenn - 54 miles

Wednesday September 5, 2018, 54 miles (941 miles total). Stopped at Speedway in Grandville for coffee, waited for the bike store across the street to open. Purchased a new tire at West Michigan Cycling and Fitness. Stopped for lunch at subway in Holland. ate Diner at Burger King in Saugatuck. Located a secluded nature preserve south of Pier Cove on google maps. Bicycled in at dusk, pushed my bike off trail and set up for the night in a grove of pine trees.