First days on the UP

Our Route: St. Ignace - Gould City - Nahma 

The first section along US Route 2 presented several surprises. After that it became a heads-down grind until we reach Manistique

Total Miles: 116
Max. Grade: 3%

Surprises

Last view of the Mackinaw Bridge as we head west along the
Lake's northern edge

Whatever I expected to see riding on Route 2 across the Upper Peninsula it was not what I found – at least not for the first 40 miles coming out of St. Ignace. Remember I said that we’d be leaving the dune country behind once we got to Mackinaw City? WRONG! Remember I feared that we’d have no place to eat, little water, few rest areas and nothing but endless vistas of trees? WRONG! The road from St. Ignace at least to Naubinway surprised me completely. We road through miles of gorgeous, untouched dunes with spectacular views of Lake Michigan to our left.

Stopping for a short break along Route 2

The day – perfect: sunny, warm enough and with that most beloved tailwind to push us along.  The road, while busy with truck traffic (some rather LARGE) sported a nice, wide and very clean shoulder.  And while it was true that services come less frequently than in other areas, we still had plenty of food and rest stops.

Northern Most Point

Just before reaching Naubinway we crossed the Northern Most Point on Lake Michigan. Aside from its geographical significance, it also marked the politicalboundary of what Congress declared "Michigan Territory" in the 1806. All else to the west was designated "Indiana Territory."  Ten years later, in 1816 the boundary was push further west to the Mississippi in a move consistent with the US policy of pushing the Indiana tribes further and further away from white settlement areas. But, to us the point marks a significant milestone on our journey. Two weeks ago we were near the southern most point while at the Indiana Dunes State Park. Surprisingly this northern point is almost as sandy as its southern counterpart. The vegetation is a little scrubbier, a little shorter, but similar in type despite the fact that their climates have to be drastically different, particularly in the winter. 

Along with reaching the Northern most point, we crossed our mileage half way point somewhere around Manistique. In many ways it seems unbelievable that we've come all this way just one pedal stroke at a time. When we look at the distance on the map, when we compare where we were from day to day it doesn't look that far. But, when we have the opportunity to gaze across the vast water scape to places past, they appear SO FAR AWAY!!! Hard to image that we actually were there not long ago. 

These days our orientation is in constant flux. The Lake is no longer stable in one place. It has moved from being on the east when we left home, to being north then west for a long time and now generally south. Yet its direction moves more frequently than that we we go up and down various small peninsulas and around large and small bays. The sun being out until almost 10:00pm doesn't help much either and stays mostly to the south. My traditional sense of direction is getting turned topsy-turvy for sure. 

Robb fixing my flat tire & battling bugs along Rt 2

The Long and Tiresomeness of Route 2

Once we left Naubinway the road turned straight west and moved away from the shore. And I mean STRAIGHT - miles and miles of STRAIGHT, FLAT and busy road. The body gets weary of riding in the same position mile after mile, with little visual distraction and no hills to climb or descend. We long for the steeps of the earlier days. The riding becomes more of a mind game than a physical one. We take whatever chance we can get for even a small break. Thankfully the weather has co-operated and we haven't needed cover from either rain or heat. But still the road goes on. 

Riding the boardwalk along the shore near Manistique

Getting to and around the Straights of Mackinaw

Our Route: Harbor Springs - Mackinaw City  - Mackinac Island - St. Ignace

The Tunnel of Trees: Harbor Springs - Cross Village: one of the most beautiful bike rides I've ever done.

Departed:	May 29, '15, 09:26AM
Starts in:	Emmet County, MI, US
Distance:	40.0 mi
Elevation:	+ 1260 / - 1311 ft
Max Grade	7.2 %
Avg. Grade	0.3 %

Total Duration:	05:58:35
Moving Time:	03:06:01

Max Speed:	31.3 mph
Avg. Speed:	12.9 mph

Our 8 mile perimeter ride around Mackinac Island

Photo Disclaimer

Now that we're on the UP internet is a little slow and I'm having trouble uploading photos. I hope that somewhere else along the line we'll have better communication and I can add them to this post. - Sorry

Approaching The Mac

When I posted the other day that we'd made it to "The Mighty Mac" several people asked, "But, did you go through the Tunnel of Trees?" The answer - yes, of course we did, its one of the most famous and now I can attest, the most beautiful bike rides I've ever done. Just didn't have time to do it justice yesterday. So, here are some photos from the day. If you ever have a chance to be in this part of Michigan, by bike, by car or on foot, take this in. The combination of lake views, forest, wild flowers is stunning.

Robb and Will riding through the Tunnel of Trees - somewhere south of Cross Village

After leaving Cross Village we headed east and more inland passing through the beautiful Wildness State Forest. More dune area than forest, it will be, I think the last of the large dune areas we'll pass through as these giants only occur on the windward, eastern, side of Lake Michigan. From here on it will be more Limestone cliffs and possibly some granite outcroppings

The Straights of Mackinaw

We stop for the night in Mackinaw City and board the ferry the next day for Mackinac Island (don't ask me why they're spelled differently - must have been one of my direct ancestors that did it because as those of you who know me well can attest, spelling is NOT my long suite). A dry but cold and windy day on the island gave us some magical sights and some interesting history as we visited first rode the 8 miles around the island then visited the outside of the Grand Hotel and the inside of the fort. Another ferry ride and we finally arrived on the Upper Peninsula (da UP).  The island presents an interesting contrast of tourist hordes -vs- elitist luxury; modern commerce -vs- historical lumbering, fur trade and wars. It leaves one much to ponder.

Encountering History

In St. Igance, a much quieter cousin to Mackinaw City, we find two places to study the history of this extremely important area. From the beginning of human history in the area to the early 1600s to well into the 1900s, the Straights of Mackinaw were the center of Inland Commerce in North America. First for Native American trading then for the French with their missionaries and fur traders, then the British again with furs, then lumber, then the Americans with every time of industry you could think of. The Straights was the sight where EVERYTHING that went by water crossed paths. So until the late 1800s and the rushing advent of the railroads, Mackinaw was the center of cultural and economic exchange.  More on all that later. But, for me at least, its a very exciting place to be and very moving to think that such ancient and important peoples looked out on these same waters, these same islands, these same forests as I do today.

We've Made it to "THE MAC"

The Straights of Mackinaw and the Mighty Mackinaw Bridge that is. 

The Mighty Mackinaw Bridge as seen from the ferry dock in Mackinaw City

Tonight we'll "officially" finish Stage 2 of our ride around The Lake as we roll off the ferry into St. Ignace, first stop in the "UP" Upper Peninsula of Michigan. But when I caught my first sight of the top of this bridge from Wildness State Park, miles to the west, I suddenly realized that by putting one pedal in front of the other for 14 days and almost 600 miles we've arrived at this most important spot in Lake Michigan's history without hardly knowing it. Sort of just crept up on us.

While this is not half way in terms of either miles or days, psychologically it is. We're leaving civilization behind, heading to a wild and almost empty land before dropping back down into Wisconsin and known territory. We don't expect much in the way of services, food, housing or communication, but we do expect to see some gorgeous scenery of The Lake and, as my friend Diana points out, LOTS of trees.

So, its off to Mackinac Island today (by the way, no matter how its spelled, Mackinaw, Mackinac, Millimak … its all pronounced the same "Mac'-in-awe"). See you in da UP!

Three days around Grand Traverse Bay

Our Three Day Route: Glen Arbor north through the Leelanau Peninsula, south to Traverse City, then north to Torch Lake and Charlevoix, east past Bay View and Petoskey and finally west to Harbor Springs.

Some beautiful scenery both along the lake and up and over the inland backbones of these peninsulas. Once again dodged the threat of thunderstorms, but hit an hour here and an hour there of rain. Feeling lucky. 

Total miles all three days: 158
Maximum grade: 17% (phew!)

My All Time Favorite Trip Photo - Sculpture in Harbor of Traverse Bay 

Highlights

Don't have much time to described all the wonderful things we've seen, so for now I'll just put up some photos. Make sure and also check out  "Lovely People Who We've Met" on the ride side of the blog. One of the best parts of this trip for me has been meeting all kinds of people, hearing their stories and then finding out the surprising connections between us.

But Here are a few of my favorite photos from this, the middle part of our Stage 2:

Glen Arbor - Traverse City:

The epitome of adventure

Climbing up over the backbone on Leelanau Peninsula

A beautiful little village a top the ridge on Leelanau

Lunch along side Grand Traverse Bay

Inland Seas Education Center

Information center along the TART coming into Traverse City

A foggy night in Traverse City

Fog in Traverse City Harbor

Traverse Bay to Torch Lake

Our Traverse City hosts, Julie & Bill 

A serindipidious Find "Bicycle Art"

Elk Rapids

Torch Lake - Harbor Springs

Suzie taking pictures of the Mushroom "Hobbit" houses in Charlevoix

Antrim Creek Nature Center

Mushroom House with grander ambitions

Opening the draw bridge in Charlevoix for the Coast Guard

Lunch spot in Charlevoix - designed by the same guy that did the mushroom houses

Harbor in Charlevoix

Another great bike path 

Add caption

Petoskey Clock Tower

Ojibwai quill art work at Blackbird Museum - Harbor Springs

Chief Blackbird

Day 2.1 - Sleeping Bear a Great Start for our Next Stag

Our Route: Watervale Inn - Glen Arbor

Again the threat of thunderstorms diminished to an hour's worth of light rain as we headed out for a day exploring Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Park

Departed:	May 25, '15, 09:52AM
Starts in:	Benzie County, MI, US
Distance:	44.8 mi
Elevation:	+ 2128 / - 2106 ft
Max Grade	33.6 %
Avg. Grade	0.3 %

Total Duration:	08:35:56
Moving Time:	03:54:52

Max Speed:	33.0 mph
Avg. Speed:	11.4 mph

Highlights

We'd prepared ourselves for heavy, day-long rain on this our first outing without support. But it seems, the heavy downpours overnight played themselves out and we were left with a warm damp day. Got a little rain mid-ride. Caused two flats, one for me and one for Robb. Small stones, glass, bits of sharp things stick to tires more easily in the wet than in the dry pavement. Its a double frustration. But luckily it did not rain while Robb and Will set about fixing them. I must admit to be an observer in the game of changing tires when surrounds by experts.

Despite the rain and the two flats we arrived safely in Empire, the entrance to one of Lake Michigan's great treasurer, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We rode through the park in what has to be one of the best and prettiest bike paths I've ever experienced - Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail.

Robb and Will decide to tackle the challenging Pierce Stocking Drive with its beautiful overlooks but 12% - 14% grades. I give that particular folly a pass and head to the Dune Climb and to the beach at the northern end where we meet up with our friend Bill to explore the Plover nesting area.

Enjoy the photos - I have few words to add:

Those tiny little dots on the dune are PEOPLE

A slightly distorted, panoramic shot of the Dune Climb

I've always been a bit jealous of long-distance cyclists when I've seen them with their
gear at national or state parks. Today I realized - I ARE ONE!

Riding the Heritage Trail was like hiking in the woods -
only better because I was on a bike.

Plovers, one of our most endangered species, make their nests right on the beach. 

To protect the Plovers during mating and hatching season, volunteers rope off areas
and place predator-proof cages around the nests

A Plover nest momentarily abandoned by the father. Mother seems to have gone AWOL