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Permalink Reply by JeffB on September 30, 2010 at 6:38am

Great article John. I was curious about this bit: "The state park was full and the ranger was unaware of the rule in Michigan that touring cyclists can not be refused a patch of ground to pitch a tent"

Were you joking, or is there really such a law?

Maybe I'll push past my resistance and actually use the basic camping gear I bought. Should I expect the campgrounds to be crowded this time of year and make reservations?


John Greenfield said:

Here's a write-up of a multi-modal train/bike/ferry/bus trip I did you might consider:
http://votewithyourfeetchicago.blogspot.com/search?q=muskegon

Metra to Kenosha
Bike to Milwaukee
Ferry to Muskegon
Bike to South Haven
Indian Trails bus to Chicago

Cheers,

John Greenfield

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Permalink Reply by Larry Mysz on September 30, 2010 at 8:05am

My wife and I rode this at the end of Aug using (approximately) Elliot's anti-clockwise route. It was a great trip.

We stayed in motels rather than campgrounds, and generally ate in restaurants. Since we had bicycled from WI to home a few years ago, we decided to take Metra for the part from Kenosha back to the south 'burbs. The train ride was about 90 miles. The total cycling distance was 390 mi, counting side trips. Our longest riding day was 60 mi. The shortest was 35 mi.

Matey's in St. Joseph is a great seafood bar/restaurant. I also recommend Fitzgeralds Pub in Sawyer, on Sawyer Rd, half a mile east of I-94, and the Butler Restaurant on Kalamazoo Lake in the heart of Old Saugatuck. There are also great places to eat in the tourist sections of Grand Haven and South Haven.

We enjoyed checking out the harbors and light houses along the way. There were a number of tall ships docked along the Michigan side when we were there

We had some major route confusion between Grand Haven and Muskegon with both Elliot's route and a map from Rock 'n' Road Cycle at 300 N Seventh Street in Grand Haven. The names on the road signs didn't match the names on any map or cue sheet; some turns werent marked, and several turn instructions were really offset by a couple of blocks. My wife and I spent some quality time at a couple of junctions "discussing" which way to go. I was very glad we had a GPS for that part.

On the WI side, a section of bike path just north of Racine was closed ... actually torn up.

My only tip for a trip like this is to carry both large and small scale maps, especially if you intend to make side trips. State road maps give you a good overview of main roads. Google maps scaled to show about half a day's ride on each page provide good detail for turn by turn on local roads. Google maps is also good for highlighting and listing points of interest, including restaurants, hotels, convenience stores, campgrounds, etc. Still, be prepared for places where Google shows streets as that don't really go through or don't exist.

We want to make the lake shore trip again, except maybe make it 120 mi longer by going 60 mi farther north to the ferry from Ludington to Manitowoc.

L



JeffB said:

Elliot, I'm finally getting around to this trip, so I thought I'd reactivate the thread to see if you did it again this summer and if you had any updates? Any advice would be appreciated.

I've got a full week, so I want to take my time and explore and linger a bit. I usually just ride all day from stop to stop. I'm thinking a long day one to MI City or New Buffalo, and then 50-60miles/day after that. So if you have any side trips or sites/food stops you recommend, let me know.

I'll probably pack camping gear, but most likely use motels.


Elliot Bennett said:

Here is the route I took last summer to Muskegon MI. It was a great route. it was a loop from Chicago to Muskegon to Milwaukee and back to Chicago. The ferry is called the Lake Express. It was a great route, I am planning on riding it again this summer. Enjoy!


Chicago to Muskegon
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/il/chicago/750200588341

Milwaukee to Chicago Leg:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/wi/milwaukee/195907596395

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Permalink Reply by JeffB on September 30, 2010 at 8:47am

Thanks for the feedback. Puts my mind at ease a bit. Plus its nice to know I'm not alone in avoiding camping on my tours :)

Larry Mysz said:

My wife and I rode this at the end of Aug using (approximately) Elliot's anti-clockwise route. It was a great trip.

We stayed in motels rather than campgrounds, and generally ate in restaurants. Since we had bicycled from WI to home a few years ago, we decided to take Metra for the part from Kenosha back to the south 'burbs. The train ride was about 90 miles. The total cycling distance was 390 mi, counting side trips. Our longest riding day was 60 mi. The shortest was 35 mi.

Matey's in St. Joseph is a great seafood bar/restaurant. I also recommend Fitzgeralds Pub in Sawyer, on Sawyer Rd, half a mile east of I-94, and the Butler Restaurant on Kalamazoo Lake in the heart of Old Saugatuck. There are also great places to eat in the tourist sections of Grand Haven and South Haven.

We enjoyed checking out the harbors and light houses along the way. There were a number of tall ships docked along the Michigan side when we were there

We had some major route confusion between Grand Haven and Muskegon with both Elliot's route and a map from Rock 'n' Road Cycle at 300 N Seventh Street in Grand Haven. The names on the road signs didn't match the names on any map or cue sheet; some turns werent marked, and several turn instructions were really offset by a couple of blocks. My wife and I spent some quality time at a couple of junctions "discussing" which way to go. I was very glad we had a GPS for that part.

On the WI side, a section of bike path just north of Racine was closed ... actually torn up.

My only tip for a trip like this is to carry both large and small scale maps, especially if you intend to make side trips. State road maps give you a good overview of main roads. Google maps scaled to show about half a day's ride on each page provide good detail for turn by turn on local roads. Google maps is also good for highlighting and listing points of interest, including restaurants, hotels, convenience stores, campgrounds, etc. Still, be prepared for places where Google shows streets as that don't really go through or don't exist.

We want to make the lake shore trip again, except maybe make it 120 mi longer by going 60 mi farther north to the ferry from Ludington to Manitowoc.

L

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Permalink Reply by Larry Mysz on October 2, 2010 at 5:20am

Oooops ... I listed the wrong city for Matey's restaurant. It's at 110 Franklin St. in Michigan City, IN, not St. Joseph, MI

Hope you enjoy the tour as much as we did.


JeffB said:

Thanks for the feedback. Puts my mind at ease a bit. Plus its nice to know I'm not alone in avoiding camping on my tours :)

Larry Mysz said:

[...snip ...] Matey's in St. Joseph is a great seafood bar/restaurant.[...snip ...]

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