Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by The Bee on June 10, 2013 at 9:13pm

Primarily , I'm reading this carefully .. I invite you to do so :)
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?doc_id=3327

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Permalink Reply by The Bee on June 10, 2013 at 9:19pm

And here is another one .. :
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Around-Lake-Michigan

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Permalink Reply by Edward Richards on June 11, 2013 at 5:08am

Hello, The Bee,

Your idea of a bike trip around Lake Michigan is very intriguing!   According to the two links you provided the distance is anywhere from 800-950 miles.  Are you planning on more than 4 days for this trip or is Aug 16-19 just the start date?  How many days and mileage per day are you considering?   I'm curious if you have done any other tour trips like this in the past.  This is a great idea...

Edward

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Permalink Reply by allison on June 11, 2013 at 6:04am

I've ridden around the lake 2 times. The first time it took 2 1/2 weeks, and the second time it took two weeks to ride all the way around (and that was pushing it. We had a few days that were over 100 miles).
A couple of years ago my friends and I did an abbreviated trip that took us up just the sides of the lake. We took the train up to Milwaukee, took the ferry across to Muskegon, MI, then rode up to Sleeping Bear Dunes. Then we took the Badge Ferry from Manitowac, MI to Ludington, WI and rode back to Milwaukee.
This was a great relaxing week long trip. We just didn't have the time to go all the way around that year.

It's a great trip, I hope you get to do it before you leave the Chicago area.

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Permalink Reply by The Bee on June 11, 2013 at 6:34am

I wish if I can I can do it in 4 days .. but Yeah .. this is the start date .. so we can plan early for everything ( lodging / camping / food / mechanics checking and anything else .. )
And for now , I did not do anything more than 60 miles a day ..
( MSI to Chicago Botanic Garden - round trip ) .. but I'm up for continuous training ..
I have not done any similar tour .. but I'm now planning for my first one ..
Thanks for your questions .. That gives me a push forward to keep on preparing :)

Edward Richards said:

Hello, The Bee,

Your idea of a bike trip around Lake Michigan is very intriguing!   According to the two links you provided the distance is anywhere from 800-950 miles.  Are you planning on more than 4 days for this trip or is Aug 16-19 just the start date?  How many days and mileage per day are you considering?   I'm curious if you have done any other tour trips like this in the past.  This is a great idea...

Edward

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Permalink Reply by The Bee on June 11, 2013 at 6:38am

Thanks a lot Serge !
I really apreciate connecting me to the fellow bikers who have done this tour ..
That's really helpful ..
And good luck for you doing this tour .. one day ..

Serge Lubomudrov said:

The Bee,

You might also consider contacting Jim Kreps (http://www.thechainlink.org/profile/JimKreps) and Thomas Berube (www.thechainlink.org/profile/ThomasBerube), who had ridden around the Lake.

This is definitely not a 4 day journey, if you plan to ride around the whole Lake.

I'd love to to that some day. Not this year, though.

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Permalink Reply by The Bee on June 11, 2013 at 6:43am

Wow .. !
Thanks Allison for sharing your experience ..
I really appreciate that ..
I just start planning .. so if you did not mind , I'll ask you when ever I face an issue that needs an expert opinion ..
By now , I would like to know :
Any recommendation regarding the timing ?
which month of the year is the best .. ?

allison said:

I've ridden around the lake 2 times. The first time it took 2 1/2 weeks, and the second time it took two weeks to ride all the way around (and that was pushing it. We had a few days that were over 100 miles).
A couple of years ago my friends and I did an abbreviated trip that took us up just the sides of the lake. We took the train up to Milwaukee, took the ferry across to Muskegon, MI, then rode up to Sleeping Bear Dunes. Then we took the Badge Ferry from Manitowac, MI to Ludington, WI and rode back to Milwaukee.
This was a great relaxing week long trip. We just didn't have the time to go all the way around that year.

It's a great trip, I hope you get to do it before you leave the Chicago area.

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Permalink Reply by allison on June 11, 2013 at 7:01am

The times I did it I rode in early/mid August. I enjoy the warmer weather and none of the days were unbearable. From what I remember they were actually quite perfect. If you're going all the way around, it does get colder on the Northern portion of the lake.
I used the book " 'Round Lake Michigan" by Harvey Botzman as a guide. It's very detailed, almost too detailed (It has the mileage for every single turn you ever take), but it was certainly better to have more information that needed on my first long bike tour. It was very helpful as it listed all of the campgrounds along the way and the towns you went through, but you could also find this info on googlemaps. (You're pretty much taking that road that is closest to the lake the whole way around).

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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on June 11, 2013 at 10:35am

I've found that long distance touring is easier when the daylight is longest. One can do 100 miles fairly easily (at least in the flat midwest) when one has 15+ hours of daylight in which to do it. Personally I'd rather ride in October than in a typical midwestern June, but those extra three hours can make a huge difference. 

I love the idea of that trip. It remains on my list as the next big bike trip, but this stupid full time employment thing has put it on my indefinite backburner.

The Bee said:

Wow .. !
Thanks Allison for sharing your experience ..
I really appreciate that ..
I just start planning .. so if you did not mind , I'll ask you when ever I face an issue that needs an expert opinion ..
By now , I would like to know :
Any recommendation regarding the timing ?
which month of the year is the best .. ?

allison said:

I've ridden around the lake 2 times. The first time it took 2 1/2 weeks, and the second time it took two weeks to ride all the way around (and that was pushing it. We had a few days that were over 100 miles).
A couple of years ago my friends and I did an abbreviated trip that took us up just the sides of the lake. We took the train up to Milwaukee, took the ferry across to Muskegon, MI, then rode up to Sleeping Bear Dunes. Then we took the Badge Ferry from Manitowac, MI to Ludington, WI and rode back to Milwaukee.
This was a great relaxing week long trip. We just didn't have the time to go all the way around that year.

It's a great trip, I hope you get to do it before you leave the Chicago area.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on June 11, 2013 at 11:18am

I doubt you could do it in 4 days even with perfect roads and conditions.

Lake Mich is 400+/- long and 120+/- at it's widest even at 100 miles per day=whew!

Tourist season in the north country makes for more expensive travel and traffic too.

Suggestion: Take the train to Milwaukee then bike around to Traverse city, at worst they have a charter bus to the Amtrak in New Buffalo,Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids. I believe?

You could also go further south to Ludington or Muskegon and return to Milwaukee via ferry and take the train back to Chicago.

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Permalink Reply by Edward Richards on June 11, 2013 at 5:02pm

I've looked at the route now.  It's about 925 miles around Lake Michigan.  That's the shortest possible distance with no mis-routes or side trips.

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Permalink Reply by Julia 3.5/7.5 mi on June 12, 2013 at 2:01pm

Oh man, that's like my dream trip. My neighbor just went to Bells and Three Floyd's last weekend. A bike trip to a bunch of great lakes breweries would be phenomenal.

Serge Lubomudrov said:

Actually, given my other interests and all that Beer Exploration thing, I'd like to rider around the Lake from brewery to brewery, keeping it, say not father than 10–15 miles from the shore. First, Michigan (the Lake), then, The Great Project—round The Great Lakes. All of 'em ;)

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