Lake Tour

User: 2toride
Dates: 19 Jul 2010 - 6 Aug 2010
Duration: 2 weeks, 4 days

  • Friday 6 Aug 2010 15:48

    84.5 miles today, 901 miles total, well Judith did 909 including the ride around Mackinac Island. No flats, no mechanical problems.

    Posted: 1 month ago

  • Friday 6 Aug 2010 11:13

    Artesian spring and well in the middle of Aurorville feeds the pond behind.

    Posted: 1 month ago

  • Thursday 5 Aug 2010 13:59

    Fifty two hard fought miles today with a 15 to 25 mph headwind all the way. This is a nice place to stop though. Our motel is right next to this park and downtown Neenah down the street. Temperature is in the high seventies.

    Posted: 1 month ago

  • Thursday 5 Aug 2010 9:12

    Finally, some Wisconsin dairy farms. Lots of them!

    Posted: 1 month ago

  • Wednesday 4 Aug 2010 11:41

    Arriving in Manitowoc.

    Posted: 1 month ago

  • Wednesday 4 Aug 2010 10:55

    Out the back of the S.S. badger.

    Posted: 1 month ago

  • Wednesday 4 Aug 2010 7:13

    Our ferry to cross Lake Michigan.

    Posted: 1 month ago

  • Tuesday 3 Aug 2010 13:23

    We are visiting Ludington while waiting to take the ferry in the morning. Humid day with west breeze. Had organic veggie nachos for lunch. Yummy.

    Posted: 1 month ago

  • Tuesday 3 Aug 2010 8:17

    Our first view of just lake and sand, no sign of human beings except for the road behind me.

    Posted: 1 month ago

  • Monday 2 Aug 2010 17:57

    Bear Lake is small town on a lake. Gene had one of the best hamburgers he has ever had. Today is pretty windy and they were headwinds, but I did pretty well. It must have been because of the energy drink Nancy gave me in Petosky.

    Posted: 1 month ago

  • Monday 2 Aug 2010 13:09

    Refreshing stop along the way. Blueberry picking.

    Posted: 1 month ago

  • Monday 2 Aug 2010 11:43

    Rode through rain to get out of Traverse City. Interlochen had a huge art camp nestled in the trees. Copemish has a small grocery with a deli. Rain has stopped, hopefully until the end of the days ride. After I took this picture Gene went inside the store to toss our garbage and an old lady who had been watching us pulled Gene down and whispered in his ear "Did you break the camera?"

    Posted: 1 month ago

  • Sunday 1 Aug 2010 12:59

    We were in Traverse City in the motor home but it looks different. I guess we arrived on a different path.

    Posted: 1 month, 1 week ago

  • Sunday 1 Aug 2010 9:32

    Torch Lake. The third longest lake in the US not including the Great Lakes. Most of it is edged by private property. At the town of Alden here is the first place we have been able to see the lake at all.

    Posted: 1 month, 1 week ago

  • Saturday 31 Jul 2010 15:29

    This is the drowned rat look. We were rained on quite a bit today. The motels were all full in Eastport so we rode on and tried here. These all said they were full, too. So we were sitting on the front step of a bed and breakfast calling places in Bellaire when the owner came up and said she also manages the motel and just got a cancelation. We took it. 48 miles today in four and a half hours.

    Posted: 1 month, 1 week ago

  • Saturday 31 Jul 2010 9:37

    Had to stop for the drawbridge.

    Posted: 1 month, 1 week ago

  • Friday 30 Jul 2010 17:58

    We were looking for a motel when a lady saw Gene's Hell's Canyon jersey and stopped us telling us that she lived in Halfway as a teenager. Long story short we are spending the night at her and her husband's house.

    Posted: 1 month, 1 week ago

  • Friday 30 Jul 2010 13:13

    The harbor in Harbor Springs. Nice park to eat lunch in.

    Posted: 1 month, 1 week ago

  • Friday 30 Jul 2010 11:20

    Tunnel of Trees heritage scenic byway. Lots of bicycles and motorcycles. Not many cars.

    Posted: 1 month, 1 week ago

  • Friday 30 Jul 2010 10:06

    Legs Inn is named for the stove pipe legs that adorn the roof. A Polish immigrant Stanley Smolak built it with the help of the Ottawa Indians.

    Posted: 1 month, 1 week ago

  • Thursday 29 Jul 2010 16:27

    Nice end to a pretty day. This is our motel beach. Time for a swim.

    Posted: 1 month, 1 week ago

  • Thursday 29 Jul 2010 12:36

    This is Fort Mackinac. No cars are allowed on the island, but it is still a zoo. Lots of people who haven't ridden bikes since they were kids, kids riding bikes and horse drawn carriages. On my way to buy fudge.

    Posted: 1 month, 1 week ago

  • Thursday 29 Jul 2010 9:25

    There are lots of boats on the waters here, sail and cargo. This is the world's longest suspension bridge. We don't get to ride across, WHEW! We plan to take the ferry to Mackinac Island.

    Posted: 1 month, 1 week ago

  • Wednesday 28 Jul 2010 13:53

    This is the view out of our room. We rode another 60 miles with the wind at our back and averaged 14 mph with all our gear. We have had beautiful views of Lake Michigan but we haven't seen and boats on the lake, only ones being towed on the road and in a few marinas.

    Posted: 1 month, 1 week ago

  • Wednesday 28 Jul 2010 12:20

    Little Hog Island

    Posted: 1 month, 1 week ago

  • Tuesday 27 Jul 2010 9:24

    Nice quiet walk out the breakwater.

    Posted: 1 month, 1 week ago

  • Monday 26 Jul 2010 16:25

    We are planning to spend two nights here. It is time to take a day off. We rode 61 miles today. It was sunny and warm but not many hills. Part of the time we had to ride along highway 2 which had nice wide shoulders but lots of noisy traffic. You may be wondering when we will finally camp. Well, we are thinking of motelling it the rest of the time. Gene really likes being in town and we are getting into more populous areas. We ended up passing by the turn to the big spring here. It was five miles away, ten miles round trip, and we couldn't wrap our minds around another 70 mile day. We have been told here that we should have gone. I guess we can't see everything.

    Posted: 1 month, 1 week ago

  • Monday 26 Jul 2010 14:17

    Historic water tower in old city.

    Posted: 1 month, 1 week ago

  • Monday 26 Jul 2010 8:16

    Another one for my list.

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Sunday 25 Jul 2010 15:53

    A 75 mile day. I only took six hours because we had a wonderful tail wind. The road just had rolling hills through some farm land and some more wooded areas. We found this pasty shop and after Bert's recommendation decided to eat there. They had three kinds, beef, chicken, and pizza. We couldn't decide so we got one of each. We can afford the calories after today's ride. They were delicious. We plan to rest the rest of today and visit the town tomorrow.

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Sunday 25 Jul 2010 10:26

    Ate some fabulous Swedish pancakes with strawberries at the Mill Town Inn. The waitress is the kindergarten teacher in town. The kid eating at the next table is confused. Foster city, Michigan

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Saturday 24 Jul 2010 14:40

    I love all these courthouses!

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Saturday 24 Jul 2010 13:57

    Time for lunch dessert. They tell us the next six miles are really hilly. An old lady standing by the side of the road in front of her house was really intrigued by us.

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Saturday 24 Jul 2010 12:35

    We are now in Michigan. It is much more hilly and the clouds are coming in.

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Saturday 24 Jul 2010 10:26

    At the border of Wisconsin and Michigan near Nelma. Cloudy, drizzly morning, but it is clearing up. Hopefully, two nice days coming up.

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Friday 23 Jul 2010 13:12

    We rode 44 miles today and are now in the tourist town of Eagle River. Lots more people. The ride today was scenic if you like forests. Looked like bear country. Not a time to camp when traveling by bike.

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Friday 23 Jul 2010 10:13

    Nicolette National Forest. This is lake country with pine and fern forest.

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Friday 23 Jul 2010 8:35

    Gene had a tough night, but we are moving on. It is pretty humid, but cool.

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Thursday 22 Jul 2010 9:24

    Touring Crandon. Yes, I read all your comments. Thanks!

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Wednesday 21 Jul 2010 17:44

    Found this cute hotel. Staying for two nights to rest up after 72 mile , 6 and a half hour hilly ride. We hope to avoid the rain, too. We are now in more wooded country and have to watch for log trucks, but we are used to that in Oregon. Saw a lot of wildlife. Deer and a deer farm, stork farm (Gene said we better pass that by), and heard big foot in the forest but didn't see him.

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Wednesday 21 Jul 2010 14:39

    Lake Mentonga near Crandon. We are at the county park. Been battling winds but temperature in the upper 70's.

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Wednesday 21 Jul 2010 12:54

    Beautiful day. No traffic here. Great roads for country where it freezes. I thank the people of Wisconsin for all that tax money!

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Wednesday 21 Jul 2010 8:56

    Stocking up for the way north. Nice weather today. Storms are over for now!

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Wednesday 21 Jul 2010 8:03

    Gene attacked by 6 dobermen. The first was asleep on the driveway. I woke him but got by. His barking woke the rest. Gene had to jump off his bike to put something between him and the dogs. The owner came out and called them in. No bites but lots of adrenalin.

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Wednesday 21 Jul 2010 7:14

    Nice trail! We took this for only a few miles. Gene wanted to see more scenery.

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Tuesday 20 Jul 2010 17:55

    Boy, am I glad we decided to stay in a motel. This storm dumped a lot of rain and hail and had swirling winds. The power is out in the motel. Gene wanted a good old mid western storm. I guess he got his wish. He stood outside to watch it until the hard rain and high winds drove him inside.

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Tuesday 20 Jul 2010 11:16

    Civilization! Wittenberg, Wisconsin. There are lots of these wall paintings all over town. It has been drizzling on and off all morning and will probably clear off now that we plan to stop. We could push and go further, but we need to let ourselves adjust to touring. 38 miles, 3 hours, 25 minutes.

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Tuesday 20 Jul 2010 8:35

    Crossroads of A and Z. These are the kinds of things we are seeing along these country roads.

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Monday 19 Jul 2010 19:06

    Gene is wiped out. Time to stay in a motel. Rode 53.5 miles today and took 4 hours and 45 minutes. Mostly rolling hills with some steep climbs. Google didn't let us down. Their route was really good on country roads with little traffic. Saw some Amish at their fruit and vegetable stands. No rain until we stopped.

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Monday 19 Jul 2010 13:40

    Our first town, Richford, WI. The man mowing the church lawn offered us some ice cold well water running at the back of the church.

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

  • Monday 19 Jul 2010 12:12

    Ann and David start us off. We got started about 12:30 pm.

    Posted: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

Around top half of Lake Michigan

  • Commenting is closed

  • We were saving the last hundred for you to go with us :)

    Posted: 7 Aug 2010 by 2toride

  • I am tempted to ask why you didn't make it to 1,000 miles :-P

    Looks like a great trip. Hope your drive home goes well!

    Posted: 7 Aug 2010 by Susan

  • Thank you for sharing with us all. I am loving your picts and narratives. Looks so beautiful!

    Posted: 31 Jul 2010 by Ann

  • We are enjoying a warm humid day at your starting/ending point. Truck is A-OK. :)

    Posted: 30 Jul 2010 by Bert

  • Judith and Gene: I am only teasing out of my envy of your adventurous spirit and your journey. I was impressed with the grace and muscle power you both displayed up and over that first hill. The only thing missing was a dramatic western sunset for ya'll to ride into. Happy Trails, little buckeroos! may you always have tailwinds and iron behinds!

    Posted: 29 Jul 2010 by David

  • Thanks for the nice pasty explanation, Bert! David, you can only have one picture per waypoint and I don't know how to make a waypoint without actually being there. I could friend Ann on facebook and at least get to see them that way.

    Posted: 28 Jul 2010 by 2toride

  • Interesting subject. Ann, Hope and I were on the drive to Napperville. Ann and I got on the subject of pasties --- Hope thought we were crazy, she could not believe we were discussing eating those accouterments that strippers some times wear, with tassels or without.

    Judith or Gene, if you find any receipes save and send. Is there anyway outsiders can add photos to your site? Ann has some good ones of your butts in the air struggling up that first hill outside of The Farm.

    Posted: 28 Jul 2010 by David C

  • A traditional pasty (pronounced pass-tee) is a combination of diced vegetables (usually potato, onion...somtimes with rutabaga, cabbage, carrot) some meat (usually beef) in a pastry/piecrust "pouch" . These are baked so everything inside is cooked and hot, and the crust is golden brown. Pasties were brought to the UP by Welsh who immigrated to work in the mines. The womenfolk prepared hot pasties (wrapped in towels or paper) for the menfolk's lunch boxes so they could have a hot hearty lunch at the bottom of a cold dark mine shaft. Although the mining is long gone the food remains.

    Posted: 27 Jul 2010 by Bert

  • whats a pasty??? LOL

    Posted: 27 Jul 2010 by diana

  • A nice little town to chill out in. I hope you get to see the boardwalk along the lake, and the Manistique light. There is another light ahead of you (east) near Gulliver (Seul Choix light), but probably too far off your route.

    Posted: 27 Jul 2010 by Bert

  • Yum! Pastys! Never heard of a pizza pasty. Italian ingredients wrapped in a Welsh tradition? Ah....times change. You will have many more chances to try others in the next few days.
    Beautiful, special sites lay ahead of you now. Enjoy!

    Posted: 26 Jul 2010 by Bert

  • Your ride has been inspirational! So inspirational that today I bought a pair of Pearl Izumi P.R.O. shorts and toe clips for my pedals. (Now the question is, "How much will he use them?) :)

    Enjoy meeting the UPers (that's you purrs)and don't forget to try pasties now that you are in mining country.

    Posted: 24 Jul 2010 by Bert

  • It is hotter than steaming hell here today. I am envious of your pedal through shady forests. Keep an eye out for bears. You're on their turf now. :)

    Posted: 23 Jul 2010 by Bert

  • Looks like a PERFECT lake for skinny dipping. (Judith, can you see our comments?)

    Posted: 21 Jul 2010 by Bert

  • OK, even with the rain, I think I would rather be riding than at work this week! This is so cool, with photos and all!

    Posted: 21 Jul 2010 by Susan G. Craighead

  • This is THE NEATEST app I have ever seen!!! What fun to go along on the ride without a sore butt!! Say HI to my old scout camp if you go past Birnamwood. :)

    Posted: 20 Jul 2010 by Bert