Meandering through the Mitten

Cory Smetana
The home cooked meals, showers, and downtime at home was outstanding.  There’s no place like home, but since Novi was not our final destination we hopped back on our saddles and headed due north.  Our dad joined us for the first few miles of the Google maps route we planned on tracing back to our ACA maps, which would begin again the next day.  We said our final goodbyes on this overcast morning and were on our way.  Fresh legs and minds powered us through the cities of Grand Blanc and Flint to our link: the Bavarian village of Frankenmuth.  It was a Friday and the outdoor entertainment was in full force.  Kellen, Carrie, and I joined in a free match of outdoor blackjack run by the local tourism board.  After I took the leaderboard with $500 (the initial chip count), and Kellen finished with a meager $5, Carrie stepped up and knocked me down a position.

Blackjack champions (notice Kellen at the bottom...)

Adjacent the blackjack tables stood a visitors center with a pavilion covering an overly enthusiastic cover band with banjos, xylophones and a bubbly man with a wireless mic.  After enjoying the music and pretending to gamble we ate at a local restaurant and set up our tents a mile down the road at a nearby campground.

This lady was ROCKING

When we formed our route through Michigan in the initial planning of this trip, I learned we were travelling through my college roommate’s hometown of Midland.  I informed Mike, who immediately offered the hospitality, though precise planning does not always work out on a bike: we would need an additional 30 miles on the day to abide by the schedule.  Thinking we would try to grab lunch together after a long 50 miles from Frankenmuth, it came to our attention that Mike’s younger brother Keaton was having his graduation party that afternoon.  This fantastic coincidence led us to Mike’s residence for the high school celebration.  I enjoyed catching up with Mike and his family and appreciate the fact they were amicable to our bike short attire and sweaty hugs.

Enjoying some lunch at the grad party

While eating, we met some of Mike’s family friends who were intrigued by our trip.  We shared stories about biking, running, and our route.  Making our destination of Clare known, our new friends, Brooke and her husband, went out of their way to connect us to members of their athletic club in the area so we would have a roof over our heads.  A couple Facebook messages and phone calls later and we had an address plugged in.  With the “friend of a friend” ambiguity for both parties, it was exciting riding up to our destination.  Up the long driveway past an old distinguished barn stood a gorgeous house on a hill.  We talked for a while with our evening host, Tom, and played street hockey with his son Cristian in their arena (garage).  Between the mini sticks in the hallway, hockey coaching equipment in the garage, and generosity of our hosts, I felt almost like I was home again.

Even the driveway had an amazing view

Carrie has never been to northern Michigan or the Upper Peninsula, so we decided to manipulate our itinerary to cater to some of the beautiful attractions this pure state offers.  From Clare we started biking over the rolling hills and past beautiful lakes formed by glaciers en route to the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes National Lakeshore.  We camped in a small town Sunday night to put us within striking distance of the dunes.  After a brief encounter Monday morning with one of Kellen’s friends from business school, Luke, on the road (when you’re in Michigan, you find friends everywhere!), we arrived at the park.  The “dune hike” led us and our heavy legs over a few sandy hills to Lake Michigan.

Michigan, where everybody knows your name

Sleeping Bear Dunes and Glen Lake

We enjoyed the hike, but Kellen and I were confused by the smooth approach to the lake.  It wasn’t the steep and treacherous climb that ensued over a decade ago in our family trips up north.  Unsatisfied, we biked south along a freshly paved bike path to the visitors center and then uphill a couple miles to find the outlook we remembered so vividly.  The $5 to enter these special dunes and two extra miles of climbing was well worth it.

450 feet straight down to Lake Michigan. Yes, of course we ran down

From the dunes we continued east over more rolling hills with roads lined with towering pines until we reached the cherry capitol of the country, Traverse City.  Since there were no restaurants or stores at the dunes and we were anxious to make it to Traverse City, all we had eaten during the day was a few Clif bars, some fruit, and vending machine ice cream.  Upon arriving late in the evening, stomachs growling, we deemed this the perfect opportunity to tackle the Taco Bell Challenge (consuming $20 each worth of this delectable fast food in one sitting).  Kellen and I finished the challenge, and the three of us, noses plugged, slept like champions the next two nights.

Cherry trees everywhere

This is what $20 at Taco Bell looks like

The rest day in Traverse City held sunny skies and comfortable temperatures.  We sat poolside to start the day, and then headed into town early in the afternoon.  We walked by the water and played beach volleyball with some locals.  Realizing we shouldn’t exert too much energy on our day of rest, we walked downtown to Cherry Republic where we indulged in a slew of free samples of cherry flavored drinks and treats.  After a nice tour through old town, we finished the evening with dinner and a drink.  Two more days to the UP!

75% of US cherries come from this region

The day out of Traverse City held cool temperatures and cloudy skies.  We biked east, and then north along Torch Lake, voted one of the clearest in the world.  After eating a lake side lunch we continued northeast to our home for the night, Boyne City.  Yet again, we were kindly invited to stay with a couple we met at a local diner, making our home for the evening that much cozier.  We have met many generous, welcoming people while riding through northern Michigan.  After sharing stories around a bonfire with our hosts Chris and Fawn, we were sent off in the morning with a delicious bowl of oatmeal, dried cherries, almonds, and strawberries.

Lunch next to Torch Lake

Evening bonfire with Fawn and Chris

We left Boyne City uphill while getting encouragement from a dude biking downhill “Peace and love brothers, you’re doing great!”  This positive energy led us through the attractive towns of Petoskey and Harbor Springs, and the thought of a rest day powered us to the Mackinac Bridge.  We showed up to a payphone at the approach of the bridge where we could contact the visitor’s center and organize a truck ride across, since biking across is not an option for cyclists.

Sailboats off Harbor Springs

The Mighty Mac - longest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere

We made it to St. Ignace on the same weekend of their annual car show.  I would be willing to wager my (fake) $500 blackjack winnings that we were the only group staying in the hotel with 27 gears on our mode of transportation, as opposed to 6 or less.

On our rest day we took a ferry to Mackinac Island where we hiked, ate fudge, and visited the Grand Hotel.  We were also able to get away from the crowds and relax on the back porch of the public library, which contained some amazing views of Lake Huron.  Sunday morning we will head west along the northern shore of Lake Michigan.  Next stop: Minneapolis.

Ferry ride over to Mackinac Island

Only bikes (and horses) allowed on the island