Shoreline West Tour,
7/31-8/8, Spring Lake to Mackinaw City, Michigan
Valerie M. Josephson,
Stockholm, NJ (Bicycle Touring Club of North
New Jersey)
My thanks to Jay Jacobson
for setting out the alternatives offered in bike touring
in the August
Masterlink. I offer a more detailed
description of my summer
junket to Michigan.
The League of
Michigan Bicyclists (www.lmb.org) offers several tours of the
state; the Shoreline
West , the MUP (middle of the Upper Peninsula) and the
Bowtie; (a loop from
Gaylord MI to the UP; it was not offered this year). An
Internet
"pen-pal", who is an ultra cyclist, invited me to do the Shoreline
West
Tour, assuring me
that it would be a family friendly ride with few killer hills and
lots of
"beach". Never having been to
Michigan and never having met him, the
offer had great
appeal; I accepted. It would be my first tour.
Nuts and
Bolts: Approximately 420 riders assembled in Spring Lake,
MI, many
camping out on the
grounds of a middle school. Other housing options on the Tour
included local
motels, personal camping vehicles,
sleeping in the school auditoriums
and gyms and Bubba's
tent city. Although a bit expensive,
this service included
roomy 2 ($250) or 4
($400) person tents with air
mattresses, chairs, snacks and
cold drinks at the
end of the day. They also loaded
and unloaded your bags from the
trucks. I camped but had
reserved a motel every third night in order to recharge my
cell phone, soak in a
Jacuzzi and check my email. Getting
online proved to be a
problem as some of
the motels did not have phones in the rooms or otherwise made
it difficult. Keep this in mind if you motel it on a tour
and absolutely need access.
Every rider was
allowed two duffel bags and advised to pack them with lots of
protection from
dampness. If it rained, the moisture from wet tents would seep
through the piles of
bags during their transport by truck from site to site. Duffels
on wheels are a very
good idea as you frequently had to haul the bag a fair
distance to your tent
site. The tent cities, which bloomed
each night, were friendly
places; early
arrivals got the choice spots, usually under a tree, and at most
sites we had lots of
room. We had near perfect weather with only one brief
period of rain during
the night. Caution is advised when picking your spot,
however, as one night
we enjoyed the pitter patter of "rain" from the sprinkler
system which kept the
soccer field lush and green. At the
outset it sounded as
if someone was peeing
on our tent, but happily that was not
the case. Many
people marked their
fly lines with reflective tape so that those heading for the
bathrooms in the
middle of the night wouldn't trip, cuss, grunt or fall. The camp
sites were well
lighted and the school buildings were kept open all night.
Each rider had to
attach to the rear wheel assembly a 4' flagpole bearing a
bright orange flag.
Although this called for some creativity in mounting and
dismounting, the
flags proved to be valuable for increased visibility and
identifying other
riders. Pedaling alone on a long
stretch of road, it was
comforting to see one
of those flags flapping in the distance ahead of you.
They also provided a
little road "muscle" when encountering traffic on the
open road or when
going through towns. You could always
pick out the good
lunch spots by the
numbers of flags in front of it.
The Amenities:
Showers, Food and the Masseuse Our resting place each
night was at a middle
or high school which invariably sat high on a hill. After our
68 and 70 mile days,
this was a bit demoralizing but the promise of a hot shower
and dinner was a strong
motivator. The bath and shower rooms were always very
clean but it was
clear which ones were in more affluent communities as they had
private shower stalls
with curtains! If you or a child are
overly modest, you
would be in trouble
most of the time.
The Tour provided
dinner and breakfast each day using local school groups to
provide the service.
Generally, the food was simple and wholesome.
Fruit was
always
available, and salads most of the time.
A sample of the evening meals
included spaghetti with meat sauce (homemade and very
good) with tossed
salad (cheese, hard
boiled egg, garbanzo beans for topping), garlic bread and
homemade desserts;
roast pork or veg lasagna with baked
potato, baked beans
and strawberry
shortcake; grilled steak (delicious) or veggie burgers, fresh cole
slaw; and on the night we had a real chef cooking,
chicken satay, Portobello
mushroom ravioli,
brown rice, fresh green beans and romaine salad. I tend to
lose my appetite on
long distance rides but these meals were very tempting.
And yes, a vegetarian
could survive on the meals provided. We
lunched on the
road and frequently
lived off the snacks provided at SAG stops.
Often the ladies
of a small town would
sell fresh blueberries, cherries and homemade pies at our
rest stops. On one long country road, local kids
provided lemonade and
dynamite homemade
cookies free to the riders. There was
good community
support all along the
route.
The masseuse was a
charming woman who showed up each day at 3pm and
began her work. She always had a full docket of aching
bodies to massage.
I didn't hurt so I
never signed up.
The Route. Mileage
varied from day to day; the basic route included 65, 51,
44, 30, 24, 70, and 44
mile days with an option for an 8th day on Mackinac
Island. For more
ambitious riders there were longer alternate routes including
one century which
Skip did. Wherever possible the route
ran along Lake
Michigan and it took
a few dips to convince me this was not an ocean. It is huge.
The sandy beaches are
very accessible, the water is shockingly clear and runs
from a light
"Caribbean" blue to mauve and purple as you go out from the
shore.
Its colder
temperature is a perfect anesthetic for whatever hurts, be it your butt,
a sunburn, or sore
feet. We utilized established bike
trails which were usually
located at the end of
a day's ride so you could just set your brain in neutral and
barrel along (Day 1, a 22 mi trail from Whitehall to
Hart; Day 3, a 10 mi trail
from Elberta to
Beulah; Day 6, a 20 mi trail from beautiful downtown Charlevoix
to past
Petoskey). Most of the route was along
lovely country roads and over
good pavement with a
protective cover of trees. One notable
exception was a
10 mile haul along a
loose gravel road into a strong headwind.
It bordered acres
of mature sunflowers
which all looked away lest they observe our suffering.
Hills: There were
a few killer hills, one with a 14% grade (that last bit of data
provided by Skip, who
has all kinds of gadgets on his bike).
You got up them
one way or
another. However, at the top of those
hills there was frequently a
view reminiscent of
the Cote d'Azur, cold watermelon or a friendly lady in a SAG
wagon. The down hills were wide, smooth and
inviting and a joy for speed
demons. My computer
records a high of 39.4 mph and I enjoyed every second
of that run. I observed no wipeouts and none were
reported at the closing
meeting.
Route Marking: We received
an excellent map (cue) book at registration, and
a daily update sheet
on any route changes and sights we
might want to see
along the way. The road was well marked with orange arrows
and we were very
well informed about
potentially dangerous down hills, heavy traffic and dicey road
surfaces. The SAG wagons were well organized and
placed at spots where the
route might be
problematic. They had scouts telling
them who the stragglers
were so no one got
left behind.
Sharing the Road: Michigan
drivers were for the most part bike friendly.
They
gave us wide berth
and often slowed if we were pumping up a long hill. I would
estimate that 75% of
the busier roads had 3' shoulders. The
country and beach
roads were lightly
traveled so cars were not a problem.
Being accustomed to
riding in traffic
than many of the other riders, I thought the route a piece of cake.
Riders were well
schooled and attentive. Only once was I
passed on the right
(probably by a new 4
day rider--his jersey was clean). One
pile-up occurred
when a rider was
reading the map and hit his wife's tire and they both went over.
That was the only
moving spill I observed the whole trip.
The Riders: I have
never met a group of friendlier, fun loving and positive
people. The average age of the riders was about
48. We had a 86 y/o doctor,
60 people in their
70's, many family groups (Dads who were giving Mom a week
"off" from
the kids; Moms with teen age kids; the
Recumbent Family Robinson -
Dad, Mom and three
teens) and lots of singles. The youngest independent rider
was 10 and he led the
way for Dad and brother on a tandem.
Cecilia, a totally
charming 4 year old
was pulled along in a bike carriage by her dad for all 430
miles; she developed
many friends and I never heard her complain once. It was
obvious that many
riders had done this tour before and had long-standing
friendships with
other riders. Among the people I met
were Skip, a plasma
physicist from Colorado;
Bonnie, a long distance truck driver from rural Indiana
(we walked a few
hills together); Cathy, a teacher of
incarcerated children;
George, a retired
telephone lineman; Sue, retired and an inveterate tour
aficionado; and
Nancy, who left her husband and son
behind each year to do a
tour with
friends. George is Skip's brother and
had done this ride many times so
clearly he was a tour
celebrity. His back did not cooperate
fully so he ended up
working SAG. The opportunity to meet members of the
opposite sex was high;
guys just rolled up
behind me and started chatting. Seating
at meals was a
random thing and
always involved a satisfying chat with strangers. The evening
exodus into town for
beer was a good way to stir the pot.
Single people were
clearly checking each
other out and looking for a steady pal for
the week. It
was a refreshing
change from the New York scene. Many
birthdays were
celebrated en route
and good news spread fast. There was
enormous mutual
support among the
riders. Maybe mid-Westerners are more
practiced at being
good to each
other. Although I saw a lot of tired
riders, I never heard a real
word of complaint or
anger. If you lamented the up hills,
someone always
pointed out the joy
of the downhill.
The Equipment: Bicycles
ranged from older 10 speeds to the hottest new
titanium and carbon
machines. Tandems and recumbents were plentiful and
the latter were
frequently "decorated";
themes included pink flamingos, and
beads and bells. Rick of the Recumbent had a display of
whirligigs which
glistened in the
sun. The Tour provided a bike repair
professional who always
had a long line of
clients.
The Staff: An all
volunteer staff provided SAG service, manned an information
booth at each site,
dealt with the problems of pulling weak riders off the road and
into vans and
responded to special situations. The
86 year old doctor had been
scoring falls with
some regularity perhaps due to the mounting problem caused
by the flag. I came upon him once and invited him to
walk up the hill with me as
it was clear that he
could not remount on that grade. He had
bandages on one
elbow and one knee
already. After another fall, they
packed him up and drove
him back to his home
in Michigan. Jamie, a retired gym
teacher, kept the whole
show humming.
This tour is
excellent for riders of varying skills and interests; there are many
lighthouses and
historic sites along the route. There
were carnivals, fairs and
other amusements in
progress in the towns we did overnights.
Access to the
beaches is easy. Access to some of the best ice cream I have
ever had is easy.
The drive from NJ is
easy; I stayed overnight outside of Cleveland and would
have gone to the
Museum of Rock and Roll but it didn't work out time wise.
Maybe next time. Once into Michigan, construction projects
are listed at the
rest stops so I was
able to pick out alternate routes when
it mattered. Further
information is
available at www.lmb.org. If you can't
remember that, it could
stand for Love My
Bicycle. If you sign up, tell Jamie
that Valerie sent you.