Month: August 2025

August 3, 2025

I rode out of town on busy Route 31(US Bike RT 35). The shoulder is wide and the traffic is busy for a Sunday morning. A few miles up the road I turn left to stay on US Bike Route 35. If you travel on a bicycle you know that there is a network of bicycle friendly roads across the country. These roads are strung together and given a US Bike Route number. Most intersections have this signage posted making it easier to travel on bike friendly roads. If you follow a US Bike Route you may be on a State Highway with a wide shoulder, a small country road, or a bike path.

I am now off the busy road and riding through farmlands and forest. I’m rolling up and down hills without the sound of steady traffic.

This back road ends onto another busy State Road. This time I crossed it after a long wait for the traffic to break. I speed across in the opened window to the opposite shoulder to a Trailhead of the T.A.R.P Trail. I will follow this trail all the way to Suttons Bay thirty miles away.

An ice cream shop is open, I stop for a milkshake. From here I cruise into Traverse City along the City Beach.

Once more I am back in the country.

I stop at an intersection to photograph a carved statue.

Dan coasts over and stops to talk. He is interested in touring and feels like he need a push to begin. We talk awhile and I share my experiences and stories with him. He is out for a ride, he lives near by and knows the area so he offered to ride with me and guide me to my Warmshowers house.

After I arrive we talk a bit more, he is anxious to get home and follow our tours.

I try a local beer offered by Pete I head to the shower while he begins preparing our dinner, pasta with fresh vegetables, sauce and local sausage.

While setting up the poles for the tent a section broke. So I had to take the pole apart to put the repart piece in place.

This morning my day began with brewing coffee, Elbow Room, from beans I carry with me while on tour. After a nice breakfast of hard boiled eggs and oatmeal I begin breaking camp and packing panniers. Last night I was unable to find a place to camp in a fifty mile range. So I opted to head to a State Park twenty-five miles from here.

After all was set to go I took a walk to the beach.

Ten miles from the chosen State Park I got an email from a Warmshowers Host accepting my request.

This just added another forty-five miles to my day.

I arrived about 6:30 PM, dinner was about to be served. After we ate I showered and settled in. Tonight is Harbor Days, fireworks will start at ten.

The show.

July 30, 2025

An option to get to Mackinaw City by bike was to ferry to Mackinac Island and then ferry over to the city. Or, Nancy could bring me over the bridge so I could get back on route. The island looked like an interesting place to visit so I suggested that we both ferry to the island and then return to our campsite and tomorrow ride with Nancy over the bridge.

We booked a ferry to check out Mackinac Island. This thirty minute ride gave us a voyage across the water. Moe was a bit unsure at first, this was only his second ferry ride. His first was in 2022 in the State of Washington.

Touring the island by foot is the only way to get around except by bicycle or horse. Cars are not allowed on this island. It was a wonderful feeling to walk the streets and get the sense of life pre-automobile.

Arched Rock

Back at the campground and ready for bed, tomorrow we pack up and continue our tour down the east shore of Lake Michigan.

July 31, 2025

We leave at noon for St. Ignace and the bridge that will take us to Mackinaw City. I have a campsite reserved at Wilderness State Park, six miles out of the city.

I unload and settle into my site, Nancy drove off to her Campground on Otsego Lake.

Early evening Troy, a bike tourist, rides up to my site. He is also camping here a few sites away. Later I walk to his site and we visit until sunset. He has ridden this area a few times and suggested places to camp and interesting places to visit.

The sunset.

The moon.

August 1, 2025

This morning I was not in a hurry. Good thing.  As I was breaking camp and packing up people stopped by to ask about my tour. One at a time I talked extensively about how I started touring, my history cycling, and describing many benefits of seeing the country on back roads at ten miles per hour. I did finally click in to kick off for another day on the road.

I rode by a section of sand dunes that are high enough to block the lake. Back in camp a Park Ranger stopped to see if I was riding through the “sand dunes” and the “tunnel of trees”.

The Sand Dunes

The Tunnel of Trees

Riding through nice small towns.

I rode into Petoskey State Park around 5:00PM. Michigan is one of the States that will guarantee any cyclist riding through a site to camp the night when there is no vacancy. The State saves a sites only for this purpose.

I am now showered, fed, and resting.