Day 28: Trail Riding In Michigan

 

Ludington to Grand Rapids, 105 miles, 1500 feet of climbing

We had a great day of riding today, starting out on somewhat quiet roads for the first 15 or 20 miles out of Ludington. We then shifted over to three trails (the Montague Bicycle Trail, the Muskegon Lakeshore Trail, and the Musketawa Trail) plus a few other short connectors for 80% or so of the rest of the ride. We had the trails (which were pretty well maintained) to ourselves = maybe weekends would be a bit more crowded. The scenery was basic but nonetheless beautiful - farms, fiefds of corn and west, large groves of fruit trees, some farm houses and barns and windmills scattered throughout for good measure. It made for a fun day. We rode through Whitehall, a small resort-like town about 50 miles south of Ludington, where we stopped in a bike shop for supplies (tubes and CO2 canisters) and the use of bicycle pump. Very friendly and helpful staff. In addition, we stopped for lunch today at Pekadillos, a small lunch shop with a huge outdoor garden for dining, at the recommendation of some folks that we met at the bike shop. It took a little longer than a quick stop at a gas station but clearly worth it.  We got spoiled sitting at a table in a garden instead of on a curb near the service center.

We really enjoyed riding so far on bicycle trails today.  It takes some of the edge off riding on the road with cars and semis, and makes navigation a little easier as well (all you have to do is follow the trail signs). Michigan takes a lot of pride in its bicycle trail system, which doubles as snow mobile (and we hope also cross country skiing) trails in the winter. It calls itself the “Trails State” and must have some good natured competition with Minnesota and Wisconsin, which also put a lot of effort into their trails systems (unlike, say, North Dakota).

We rode into Grand Rapids on a Friday evening. The place was hopping - really. A pretty lively downtown.  We found a nice place to stay, had a nice dinner  and walked around town a bit.  Grand Rapids makes it onto the list of places we’d like to visit again - perhaps combined with a trip back to Green Bay when tryouts for the Packers start later this summer.

We continue our journey through Michigan tomorrow, heading southwest toward the Ohio border, which is more than a day away.