I don't understand why a bike isn't allowed? If you mean free it wasn't any time I did it but for $10 you can bring it on and put it the luggage area or take it aprt and put it on the luggage rack.
A few years ago a long distance traveler and his son bought 2 tickets and placed their bike in the rear car behind the crew seating area.
Your best bet would be Indian Trails. You have to box the bike.
+1 for riding to Milwaukee and then taking the Lake Express over to Michigan. The ride to Milwaukee is fairly straightforward - mostly Sheridan road which runs all the way north to Racine, then hug the lake to Milwaukee. I personally think it's a very nice ride along long stretches of the lake and a great way to start the tour. The Lake Express leaving out of Milwaukee is not cheap, but it is quick and pretty nice.
David P. said:
Yes, as long as you don't require starting in the SW corner of Michigan.
-Metra to Kenosha
-ride from Kenosha to Milwaukee (or ride the whole way if you like)
-ferry (SS Badger) to Holland
-begin riding to wherever you want to go from Holland
Plus, as someone mentioned above, you can take Metra to Kenosha to cut some of the distance. Kenosha to Milwaukee is 35 miles. You'd have to take the earliest train to make it in time though. It gets to Kenosha around 8:30am, which should give you enough time to make it to Milwaukee by the 12:30p departure time. The crossing is about 2.5 hours.
JM 6.5 said:
+1 for riding to Milwaukee and then taking the Lake Express over to Michigan. The ride to Milwaukee is fairly straightforward - mostly Sheridan road which runs all the way north to Racine, then hug the lake to Milwaukee. I personally think it's a very nice ride along long stretches of the lake and a great way to start the tour. The Lake Express leaving out of Milwaukee is not cheap, but it is quick and pretty nice.
David P. said:Yes, as long as you don't require starting in the SW corner of Michigan.
-Metra to Kenosha
-ride from Kenosha to Milwaukee (or ride the whole way if you like)
-ferry (SS Badger) to Holland
-begin riding to wherever you want to go from Holland
Well, I was wrong about the SS Badger being the ferry from Milwaukee anyway (I was going from memory) - the OP can, if (s)he is interested in that option, take whichever ferry (s)he likes.
Daniel G said:
4 tons of coal ash directly into the lake per day, yuck. And a CEO who looks like he's waiting to be sued by the government before he does a damned thing about it. Double yuck.
Will G - 10mi said:Boo and hiss at the SS Badger, see link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Badger#Environmental_impact
Another option. (Not that this will make the Bicycle Fanatics Happy). Find a bike buddy with a car and a rack and convince him/her to go on the bike ride with you. Or find several bike buddies with a van and multiple racks. One person works as a sag wagon driver. (Perhaps a SO who drives but isn't in to Bike Touring). I remember a group called Wild Onion that sadly only lasted for two years. They coordinated wonderful riding and dining rides all over the four state area. They had a "leader" on a bicycle and a driver on a sag van. (And also were willing to take people in the van that didn't want to drive on their own) I am sure that organized touring companies still exist.
I like this thread. I'm just posting so I can find it and refer back to it at a later date.
I'd re-check the South shore line. The policy published on their web site is that you CAN take bikes on their trains, during non rush hours. http://metrarail.com/metra/en/home/utility_landing/riding_metra/bik...
That's Metra. South Shore is a different agency: http://www.nictd.com/policies.html
Rich Evans said:
I'd re-check the South shore line. The policy published on their web site is that you CAN take bikes on their trains, during non rush hours. http://metrarail.com/metra/en/home/utility_landing/riding_metra/bik...
I stand corrected. Those BASTIDS! I can't use them at all, because of my 'bent, so had a couple of other thoughts you might want to consider.
One would be to just start out predawn, about 4 am. Most (but not all) of the drunks would off the road by then, and you'd get through the crummiest part of the ride before the "day crazies" are up.
Another way you might do this would be to head NORTH to Milwaukee first, and take the ferry over to Muskegon.
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