Dr. Al’s 2026 Lake Michigan Circle Tour

Miles - 75.7 Trip miles - 347 Check out my ride on Strava: https://strava.app.link/TOd5Ug8u25b It was a good choice to stay in the hotel last night as it rained quite a bit. I enjoyed sleeping in a bed and waking up dry. Also easier to get going when I don't have to break camp in the morning. We arranged to meet Mark and his nephew Neil and head a few miles out to Bob Evans for breakfast. The light drizzle ended soon after we left.  There's a trail out of town and then some great country roads past horse farms,  apple, peach, and cherry orchards. Very rural. The cool temp and overcast skies make for wonderful riding conditions. We went through another picturesque coastal town named Elk Rapids before ending up back on US 31. This is the main route for northwest Michigan in the lower peninsula with trucks and fast traffic. There's a good shoulder and a rumble strip so relatively safe. The 4 of us work together in a pace line to get through it. A good 20 miles. Ugh.  Neil, M...

Miles - 69.3 Trip miles - 271.5 Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/9JuPvwIr15b After the normal morning routine we are once again on the road around 7:15. It's 65 degrees slightly warmer than yesterday. Partly cloudy but rain isn’t coming until tonight. Even though it adds some miles we opt to ride up to Sleeping Bear Dunes. There's a nice path there and some things to check out. Tonight we'll grab a hotel room in Traverse City to stay dry. I'm getting too old to camp in the rain.  The Heritage Trail is paved and mostly flat. There were signs at the little rises saying caution steep grades. Obviously they have never been to NH. We stopped at the Dune Climb which is cool. You scramble up the face of a big dune and then traverse up and down towards the lake. We walked about a mile to a neat overlook. Didn't have all day to go all the way to Lake Michigan. Impressive anyway. Dune Climb  We spent the rest of the morning rolling thru tourist towns. ...

Miles today  - 77.4 Trip miles - 202.2 I awoke at our usual time which is around 5 AM. Tim is asleep early and up early. By 5:00 he is packing up the gear in  his tent and starting breakfast. I'm awake but resisting getting out of my sleeping bag. At some point my bladder refuses to allow me to lay there. Then I start the routine. It must be  possible to go faster but somehow it takes 2 hours to be on the road. For breakfast today we scrambled 6 eggs with milk and cheese and a package of dried potatoes. The other half dozen eggs from the Dollar Store were hard boiled for next day snacks.  Thinking about food is one of the things I do on the bike. I'm trying to avoid the problem of not taking in enough calories. Today we made a stop at a road side diner in Manistee and had pancakes at around 10:30. I ate 2 huge ones. Tim couldn't finish so talked the waitress into giving him a zip lock bag to save it for later.  There's a river walk in Manistee. The fish charters...

1100 miles for NH's Children. Please support CASA NH at this GoFundMe link:  https://donate.casanh.org/1100MilesforNHKids. Miles today - 67.5 Trip miles - 124.8 Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/qznvt8swX5b Today was a great day for riding. Up early as usual we had everything ready to go by 700. There was no one on the road as we began riding north on the scenic coast road. The first car didn't appear for 6 miles. It was pleasant and in the low 60's. We are following US bike route 35 which will be our friend for the next few days all the way to Mackinac.  After passing through some coastal villages we jumped onto another lovely rail trail. Michigan does a great job investment in quality rail trails. Ten feet wide asphalt with apron going for miles all over the state. 23 miles later we are hungry and pull onto a small diner. They're not serving lunch yet. We settle for a elevensies.  Another Rail Trail  The lunch spot Back on quiet coastal roads...

 Miles - 57.3 After a lovely breakfast Tim and I headed over to Charlie and Cathy's place to gear up.  And we're stashing the car here.  They aren't around today but we're kind enough to allow the car in their driveway. A quick rain shower rolled through. At 10:30 we were rolling. My knee hasn't been doing great but thankfully it loosened up after a while.  Ready to roll The first thing was to get thru Grand Rapids. We did some urban riding and then got a bit lost on a gravel track. In time we found our trail that we will take most of the way to Muskegon. The Musketawa Trail is a  23 mile paved trail through rural farm land. We  had it to ourselves. What a delightful way to cover a bunch of miles without worrying about vehicles.  The Grand River Lost in Grand Rapids  Muskegon is a busy Great Lake Port.  There's a nice bikepath along the waterfront that we rode all the way through town. We had a lovely greeting from the locals. 'Hey welcome to...

 Tim and I had the bikes and gear loaded by 4:30 and we're heading west. I'm not thrilled about the long drive but it is the best way to get us and the bikes to the start and end point. We took the Mass Pike to the NY State Thruway to Niagara Falls where we crossed the border. Uneventful but long. The border crossing was easy with no line. In Canada it is the QEW to the Transcanada highway to Sarnia at the base of Lake Huron where we easily passed back into the US of A. Finally we crossed Michigan to arrive in Grand Rapids around 6:00. Thirteen and a half hours and almost 900 miles.  My inlaws John and Theresa gave us a warm welcome and a nice meal. We are crashing with them. In the morning we will get the bikes ready and start the ride. Our aim is to ride to Muskegon about 55 miles away on the coast. There's a state park there which looks great. Us at 4:30   John grilling the pork roast I'm supporting CASA NH on this ride. Please consider supporting this great cause:...