Michigan/Wisconsin Solo Tour 2011 Week 2

Day 8-Escanaba to Crystal Falls- Good day of riding (80 miles) with decent weather. More stable now when I get up out of the saddle to climb. And climb I did. Crystal Falls sits atop a fairly steep hill. Today's destination was Bewabic State Park, my last Michigan State park. They were all beautiful with excellent facilities. I will miss them in a few days when I stay at my first WI state park.

Day 9-Crystal Falls to Eagle River, WI.- Beautiful, sunny day and crossing back into Wisconsin! Lots of riding thru the National Forest. Last day of following the Adventure Cycling maps. Nice short ride day (65 miles) and fun to be back on roads I used on GRABAAWR in 2006 and 2010. Stayed at the Best Western located in front of the school were GRABAAWR started those years. Had my second flat of the trip (rear again) upon arrival at the hotel. Great place for it!

Day 10-Eagle River to Merrill- Decent weather for an 80 mile day.Used the WI Bike Maps to plot my route to Rhinelander. They were very good guidance for choosing a low-traffic route. After Rhinelander, I used my old GRABAAWR cue sheets to get to Merrill and the Council Grounds State Park. Made it over Father Menard hill with my fifty pounds of gear without walking! Woo hoo! Council Grounds State Park is beautiful, but the facilities were very poor in comparison the MI state parks.

Day 11-Merrill to Stevens Point- 72 miles of GRABAAWR route today. Cloudy and windy. Today was my day to lose things. First, early in the day I shed my arm warmers and stuffed them in a bag with some food that was strapped to the top of my bag in my trailer. The next time I stopped, I noticed that the bag was mostly empty. Arm warmers and sandwich left somewhere on the road behind me. With the cooler temps and occasional rain, I was taking my rain jacket on and off and stuffing in my middle rear pocket. At some point it came out without me noticing. Bummer! I loved that jacket, my second Sugoi Hydrolite. I luckily did not get caught in a downpour on the way to Stevens Point. Bought a cheap vinyl rain jacket at K-mart in Stevens Point. Staying at a Super 8 tonight. The first floor is completely ripped up and being remodeled.

Day 12-Stevens Point to Adams Friendship- Planned on following the GRABBAWR route thru Wisconsin Rapids to Adams-Friendship, but serious thunderstorms are in the forecast so I plotted a more direct route with the WI bike maps(about 55 miles). The route worked out great. A little dull, but low-traffic and easy to follow. Got the last room at the Oak Crest Motel. More of the same in the forecast for tomorrow, so I will be up early to leave at dawn.

Day 13-Adams-Friendship to Columbus- Route plotted using the WI bike maps. Ugly weather on the radar. Pondered staying put for the day, but finally decided to take my chances. Less than an hour out of town and it is suddenly as dark as night and I can hear thunder behind me. And then the unwelcome sound of another rear flat (number 3). Ugh. Unload the trailer, detach, flip the bike, remove the wheel, extract tube, in with a new tube, pump up, reload...all in less than 15 minutes. I was able to get underway, but had no chance to outrun the storm. When the rain and lightning arrived in earnest, I ducked into the woods. This line of storms was moving fast, so I was not delayed for long. That was the worst of the rain for the day, but more strong storms were forecast for the evening, so I poured on the speed. An 85 mile day. A quick dinner at Culvers and then to the Columbus Super 8 (instead of Atisco Park).

Day 14-Columbus to Delavan- 71 miles to the end of my trip. In my mind, this was going to be a relatively flat, easy day. The last time I rode this route, it was the middle of the night at the end of a 400km Great Lakes Randonneurs brevet. Well, I was wrong. This was very much not flat, especially lugging my trailer. And my knee started being wonky. And then I had my last flat (rear, number 4) just 10 miles outside of Delavan. Finally arrived in Delavan to meet up with my wife and some very welcome refreshments.

Best piece of gear: Garmin GPS. Never missed a turn!
Second best piece of gear: Vinyl tarp. A true multi-tasker. Covered the bike over night, dry surface for staging/packing gear in the morning, wrapped my shoes in it and bungied them to the top of the trailer for quick access during the day.
Total mileage for the two weeks: 1086 miles

Michigan/Wisconsin Solo Tour 2011 Week 1

Day 1-storm damage from the night before. Tree down over Racine county trail. I was able to just squeeze by. Then a large limb that three of us trail users managed to drag off the trail. Made it to the ferry at about 11:00, very chilled. Lake Michigan was quite rough,with six foot seas. Many passengers were seasick, myself included. Very happy to make landfall and start cycling. There is a bike path in Muskegon that takes you all the way around the harbor and ends on the road that leads to Muskegon State park. Wildlife: 6 rabbits, 2 deer, 1 turtle

Day 2- Muskegon to Ludington. Followed the League of Michigan Cyclists Shoreline tour route to Ludington. Route runs mainly along the shoreline (duh!) of Lake Michigan. Lots of fancy lakefront homes and little touristy towns. Towing my BOB trailer for 90 miles was exhausting! Not to stable getting out of the saddle, so climbing has to be done seated. Really need more gear (more teeth) to get over some of the steeper hills. Happy to see the Super 8 in Ludington after a long, rainy, chilly day of riding.

Day 3-Ludington to Interlochen-waited out the rain. Much happier cycling with dry feet. Moving inland today, following the Adventure Cycling route. Another 90+ mile day made longer by a detour near Garlets Corner due to a bridge out. The detour was pretty scenic (and hilly!) Overnighting at Interlochen State Park. Facilities at the MI state parks are really great.

Day 4-Interlochen to Boyne City-Nice and sunny (finally!) Some potentially dangerous riding today on the "Breezeway" between Ellsworth and East Jordan. No shoulder, steep hills, fast traffic...bad combination. Luckily, I made it thru safely. Had to walk three (yes, three!) hills. A first for me, but towing an extra fifty pounds really slows you down. Great burger and banana split in East Jordan. Little did I realize that I had 10 more miles of hills to traverse before getting to Young State Park just outside of Boyne City.

Day 5- Boyne City to Mackinaw City. Five star cycling day. Beautiful weather, beautiful route. Helped that it was a short day of only 65 or so miles. Incredible sand dunes in Wilderness state park. In Mackinaw City I Stayed in the Super 8 Beachside, with nice views of Lake Huron. Scouted out the ferry situation for tomorrow and acquired a tour mascot (a plastic turtle now named Fred). Wildlife: 1 coyote walked out into the road maybe 50 yards in front of me. I yelled at him to send him on his way.

Day 6- Mackinaw City to Germfask. Started with a ferry ride to Mackinac Island and another to St. Ignace. Nice smooth lake. It was another 5 star cycling day. Great sunny, warm weather. Hwy 2, which I would follow most of the day, has a very wide, clean shoulder making for pretty comfortable riding. The shoulder does disappear when in towns, but there aren't too many of those on this end of the UP. Met my first fellow cyclotourist today, Dan and Anna, who are doing the same route as me, but in a clockwise direction. Had a serious mechanical incident today when my chain got jammed between my wheel and cassette when shifting to my largest gear. Tugged and tugged on the chain until I managed to get it loose. Broke one spoke. Luckily, I bought some 32 spoke wheels for this tour, so the broken spoke didn't make it wobble too much. Want to get to a bike shop as soon as I can. Worried every time I shift to my 27 (which I really need to climb). Stayed at Big Cedar Campground, my only private camp on my trip. Facilities were pretty good, but the mosquitoes were awful.

Day 7-Germfask to Escanaba. Brisk tailwind made for fast ride until I had to take an extended break to fix a rear flat. Why did my LBS put an 18-23 tube in my 28 tire? The tube managed to last 500 miles, but then went poof. Quick ride into Gladstone (just outside of Escanaba) and found the bike shop listed on the Adventure cycling map. Great shop. Fixed my wheel and derailleur. I bought a new Road Morph pump, since my old one was not registering the tire pressure anymore. Ditched my prepaid campsite for a cushy Super 8 room in Escanaba (with a recliner!) Wildlife: close encounter with a Turkey Vulture