The ferry to Muskegon was smooth and uneventful, and a favorite subject of many Michiganites. The people here love to wax poetic of their exotic excursions across the great lake. Definitely worth the price in my book.
Muskegon first impressed me with their Lake Front Path bike trail, then with the fact that no one stole our stuff while we blogged away in the library. Out of Muskegon, we headed towards the Hart-Montague trail to make our way north towards Luddington. A stop a Red Rooster Tavern introduced us to the local progressives. I had to stop for a bathroom break. The rainbow sherbert caught my eye first. The picture of a chicken wearing pasties with the caption "chicken strips" was what made me wave Megan inside. Chatting with the young bartender who reminded us of Falon from CBF, we regained hope in America. Ahhh, socially conscious people in the Midwest, a sigh of relief. The biracial motorcycling couple at the bar congratulated us on embarking on this trip and we were on a way. A quick dip in Duck Lake (a must for future bike riders) and we were on the Hart-Montague bike trail.
Everyone in Michigan knows about the Rails to Trails program. They might not know where they are, or how well maintained, but they do know that many of their tax dollars have gone to make some of the most impressive bike paths I've ever seen. I highly recommend this trail.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
So here's the thing about
Milwaukee. It does NOT have the superfast/easy lake path that I'm used to. I got directions to the ferry from a (very certain-seeming) native and ended up taking in the gorgeous edifice of the milwaukee art museum (http://www.tommcmahon.net/2006/08/the_milwaukee_a.html) The dock for the ferry? Not so much. A pair of extremely sweet middle aged guys out for fitness rides on shiny Giant mountainbikes rode me back to the appropriate location, and I got to see part of indie Milwaukee (in Bay View I passed an anarcho-feminist book shop, a sewing collaborative/boutique, bunches and bunches of coffee spots, and midwestern hipsters galore). Melissa and I ended up crashing in a hotel. Now, after 2 hot showers, 8 pilfered mini-shampoos, half a pineapple pizza, and a lovely two-hour ferry ride during which we subjected Bee Movie to a Marxist critique, we are ready to resume The Ride.
Muskegon has amazing bike trails- kudos to their city planners- and friendly locals with tons of useful information. We're taking a trail to Hart today, and will end up working our way over to Saginaw. I do not yet hate cliff bars. Ask me again in 230-ish miles when we hit Port Huron.
Muskegon has amazing bike trails- kudos to their city planners- and friendly locals with tons of useful information. We're taking a trail to Hart today, and will end up working our way over to Saginaw. I do not yet hate cliff bars. Ask me again in 230-ish miles when we hit Port Huron.
Day Two: Milwaukee Bound (mh)
Saying our final goodbyes to at the campground was bittersweet. Embarking on a the trip of a lifetime but leaving everything behind. The Elite Peloton is now down to three: Megan, Andrea and myself. We headed north towards Milwaukee to make the 7pm ferry.
The Kenosha bike trail is lovely. Trees to the left, trees to the right, nothing but "good mornings" and "oh my you must be going a long way" along the way. Megan even saw an otter! I would prefer pavement to crushed gravel, but what can you do? The trail in Racine is nice as well, but hard to follow. Several times we got on and off Route 32 to try to get back on the trail.
The most hilarious thing happened! We started to wonder whether or not we were going to make it to the ferry in time. The ferry left at 7pm, but that meant we had to check our bikes in at 6:15pm. Andrea was getting tired. We were ALL getting tired. At about 5pm and not having a clue how far away we were, we decided that Megan should go ahead and get the tickets. I would stay back with Andrea. We kept going and going on Route 32, but there was nary a wayfinding sign. Finally, Andrea chatted up a biker on a Specialized racing bike, Will from Oak something, and he escorted us to safety. But Megan had followed the map. The map indicated that we should have turned at Howard instead of going along the lake and wind up in northern Milwaukee, far away from the ferry. Andrea and I got to the ferry and Megan was nowhere to be found. Andrea turned to me and said "It says in the Bible, the last will be first." What a good sport. Megan texted me "You go ahead, I'll take the ferry tomorrow." HA HA HA "You go ahead!" HA HA HA. So I talked to Robyn, the one of very very nice people in Milwaukee, and she said she would change our tickets and waive the fee. So nice! Take that, Chicago! Andrea took the night ferry and I waited for Megan to take the morning one.
Megan felt bad and put me up in a fancy hotel (why aren't there any hostels in Milwaukee???) and bought me pineapple pizza. Mistakes taste good! We had fine showers and loaded up on travel sized mouthwash.
The Kenosha bike trail is lovely. Trees to the left, trees to the right, nothing but "good mornings" and "oh my you must be going a long way" along the way. Megan even saw an otter! I would prefer pavement to crushed gravel, but what can you do? The trail in Racine is nice as well, but hard to follow. Several times we got on and off Route 32 to try to get back on the trail.
The most hilarious thing happened! We started to wonder whether or not we were going to make it to the ferry in time. The ferry left at 7pm, but that meant we had to check our bikes in at 6:15pm. Andrea was getting tired. We were ALL getting tired. At about 5pm and not having a clue how far away we were, we decided that Megan should go ahead and get the tickets. I would stay back with Andrea. We kept going and going on Route 32, but there was nary a wayfinding sign. Finally, Andrea chatted up a biker on a Specialized racing bike, Will from Oak something, and he escorted us to safety. But Megan had followed the map. The map indicated that we should have turned at Howard instead of going along the lake and wind up in northern Milwaukee, far away from the ferry. Andrea and I got to the ferry and Megan was nowhere to be found. Andrea turned to me and said "It says in the Bible, the last will be first." What a good sport. Megan texted me "You go ahead, I'll take the ferry tomorrow." HA HA HA "You go ahead!" HA HA HA. So I talked to Robyn, the one of very very nice people in Milwaukee, and she said she would change our tickets and waive the fee. So nice! Take that, Chicago! Andrea took the night ferry and I waited for Megan to take the morning one.
Megan felt bad and put me up in a fancy hotel (why aren't there any hostels in Milwaukee???) and bought me pineapple pizza. Mistakes taste good! We had fine showers and loaded up on travel sized mouthwash.
Day One: The Send Off (melissa's version)
Thank you everyone who came out to show support for our ride. The first part of the send off was a beach potluck that turned into BYOP: "Bring Your Own Pie." So much pie! You should see Megan's bag after she tried to shove the leftovers in her back pannier (just kidding!) The Chair of my department at DePaul came, my old roommate Elise and her boyfriend Chris, friends Jenny and Suzanne and Carolee and Tony and Mary and her family in town and Emily from MCA and Chad and his friends from Wisconsin and Arline and Alie and the Elite Peloton and you can see the photos of the excitement. Chris Brunn took some great pictures with his new camera: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cbrunn/page1/.
At about 2/3pm, the Elite Peloton (http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=peloton) rode 40 miles north to Zion State Park. The pack consisted of Megan and myself, Matthew from CBF, Andrea from Germany and Stacy from Stacyland. Traveling the very nice bike trail along the metra line was a refreshing change of pace from the downtown streets. Watch out for this bike path, though. It did stop suddenly in the middle of nowhere and we had to stop at a gas station to ask a very nice young man with bedazzled and gilded teeth how to get back on. We went through the Ravinia crowd waiting to see Lyle Lovett and stopped at a lovely gazebo that was a memorial for an 11 year old girl who died of leukemia. We arrived at the park exactly at sunset with the sky a beautiful stratification of gold and blue. Dave F. had ridden his motorcycle ahead of us to reserve a space and prepare the campfire for our arrival. Steph L and her boyfriend Dave reserved a campsite nearby and came over to join in the festivities. Later, Nick and Aaron B arrived on their motorcycles, killed a bottle of whiskey and put out the fire long after everyone went to bed. Or should I say, went to Thermarest.
Contest!
Try to guess how many mosquito bites I (melissa) got at Zion State Park. Post your guess here and the person who is closest will get a postcard!
Lessons Learned
Melissa's ongoing list of things we learned along the way.
1. When camping in Zion State Park, forget everything Rachel Carson (Silent Spring) says about saving the environment and bring vats of DEET. Kill! Kill!
2. If you are going to the ferry out of Milwaukee, do not follow the map. Take 32 north, but at Howard, instead of turning left to follow the road, turn right towards the lake and continue north. You will eventually see signs for the ferry.
3. When you make a budget, double it. That will be about how much you need.
4. Don't take alot of food in the beginning of the trip. First of all, if you are buying food in Chicago, you pay over 10% tax, so you will save by buying food out of the area. Secondly, it's heavy and you will build muscle and grace after being on the bike a few days.
5. Always travel with someone younger, preferably with a student ID, so you can get the discounts.
1. When camping in Zion State Park, forget everything Rachel Carson (Silent Spring) says about saving the environment and bring vats of DEET. Kill! Kill!
2. If you are going to the ferry out of Milwaukee, do not follow the map. Take 32 north, but at Howard, instead of turning left to follow the road, turn right towards the lake and continue north. You will eventually see signs for the ferry.
3. When you make a budget, double it. That will be about how much you need.
4. Don't take alot of food in the beginning of the trip. First of all, if you are buying food in Chicago, you pay over 10% tax, so you will save by buying food out of the area. Secondly, it's heavy and you will build muscle and grace after being on the bike a few days.
5. Always travel with someone younger, preferably with a student ID, so you can get the discounts.
Monday, July 7, 2008
A resource!
I just found this site for searching for campsites in Michigan. This is going to be very helpful!
http://www.michcampgrounds.com/arvcmich/search_campground.php
http://www.michcampgrounds.com/arvcmich/search_campground.php
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