My wife and I have been hauling our travel trailer - and bikes - from Western North Carolina up to the Straits for the past four years, and are planning to do it again in late September. It's a great region for bicycling (and kayaking/canoeing, hiking the shoreline, and you name it). It's a bit of a nostalgia thing for me as I spent time camping, biking and fishing in the region 40 - 50 years ago when I lived in Indiana. Happily, it's not changed much over the decades. The Northwestern Trail is nice, but so are many of the lightly traveled back roads.
Leah, judging from your GPS map it looks like you'll be camping at Mackinaw Mill Creek. If you've not been there before -it's an excellent campground. I'm planning to reprise a ride I did last yer from the campground to Sturgeon Bay and back. Lake Huron to Lake Michigan sounds impressive, but it's just 20 miles each way for 40 roundtrip. I'll take the trail south to a Gill Road at Lake Paradise (aka Carp Lake) that cuts west to the Bay. Enjoy your bike packing adventure! Steve in AVL On Friday, August 8, 2025 at 8:24:38 PM UTC-4 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote: > Say the word, Jay! We’ll plan a ride through Michigan and invite all our > pals! > > Yes, two trips with my son is wild, WILD, I tell you! > > Today on the women’s ride I was telling Katie (the only other woman my age > in the group) about wanting a riding partner for my adventures (these kids > are leaving and I can’t count on THEM) and she said, “Let’s do a ride out > east.” So as of now, we’re doing the GAP this fall! My bike life is > suddenly so rich!!!! > L > > On Aug 8, 2025, at 7:55 PM, Jay <[email protected]> wrote: > > Two bike trips with your son in one summer, that's like winning the > lottery! Can't wait to read about this experience. I've always wanted to > ride up that part of Michigan, looks remote and beautiful. > > > The first map, Ontario side, shows Orangeville, I'm 40 minutes south of > there! One day I want to ride up to Tobermory, take the ferry to > Manitoulin Island, and back. Maybe I'll keep going northwest before > heading south through Michigan and back home. Would make for a nice > retirement gift (years away!). > > On Friday, August 8, 2025 at 12:57:05 PM UTC-4 Steven Sweedler wrote: > >> Leah, consider buying a Delorme Gazeteer for Michigan as a fallback in >> case your electronics falter. Carrying the relevant pages has no downside >> in terms of weight or bulk. >> >> Steven Sweedler >> Plymouth, New Hampshire >> >> >> On Fri, Aug 8, 2025 at 9:45 AM Leah Peterson <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> [image: image0.png][image: image1.png] >>> >>> On Aug 8, 2025, at 12:44 PM, Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> My first bike touring/camping adventure in July has ruined me for all >>> else. When we got back, all I could think of was where I would go next. My >>> son - the literal day we got home - headed for the airport and took off on >>> a solo backpacking trip in the West. HIS tent has gotten plenty of use. >>> Meanwhile, mine sat. >>> >>> When he returned, I gave him a week to recover and now we’re pointing >>> our bikes north and heading to the top of the Mitten (that’s the lower >>> peninsula, in Michigan-speak) for a few days. We will dip our tires in Lake >>> Michigan and then in Lake Huron, when we reach Mackinac Island. Two of the >>> Great Lakes, in as many days. >>> >>> I went back to Ride with GPS, determined to have a better experience >>> planning my route. I was set on cycleways this time, as most of our former >>> trip had us on busy roads that were loud and scary. I had all the same >>> problems I’d had before. I’d lose where the cycleways went when looking for >>> points of interest on the map. Trying to route to them would lose my actual >>> cycling route and I’d be opening Google maps and trying to switch back and >>> forth to see around the area. It was hopeless. I threw myself on top of the >>> bed where my husband waited and wailed, “I’m too stupid to be a bike camper >>> - I can’t even plan my trip!!!!” >>> >>> The next day, I brought in the big guns: Pamela Murray. She has never >>> turned down a Zoom call about bike topics, ever. She filled in the missing >>> pieces I needed and now the clouds have lifted and I might not be too dumb >>> to be a bike camper after all. The biggest “AHA!” was that I did not >>> realize you can toggle maps on Ride with GPS. You can switch to a Google >>> map view so you can see around you - food, restrooms, hotels, sites of >>> interest… Once I could see THAT a lot of other things fell into place. The >>> control points remain finicky, but I understand those, too. You can split >>> the route, add your own points of interest…so many great perks and I >>> finally see why everyone loves the program. >>> >>> We are riding from Charlevoix on the Little Traverse Wheelway and >>> catching the Northwestern Trail up to Mackinaw City. From there, we take >>> the ferry to Mackinac Island. My son has never been, so he’ll get to see >>> how quaint and lovely it is, plus we’ll ride the one and only car-free >>> highway in the United States, which circles the island. We’ve got camping >>> reservations at 2 campgrounds, so we’ll get to use our gear again. It will >>> be a great send-off before I have to part with him at the start of the fall >>> semester again. >>> >>> L >>> >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the >>> Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/lT31xPiKVKk/unsubscribe >>> . >>> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to >>> [email protected]. >>> To view this discussion visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/9f1e1aca-028d-4261-b432-1efa7c85c3ean%40googlegroups.com >>> >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/9f1e1aca-028d-4261-b432-1efa7c85c3ean%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >>> -- >>> >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> To view this discussion visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/C880B7A3-44BF-4B5C-9A6F-6846941AE993%40gmail.com >>> >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/C880B7A3-44BF-4B5C-9A6F-6846941AE993%40gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/lT31xPiKVKk/unsubscribe > . > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > [email protected]. > > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/15dd2b2c-3ba6-41b8-a7c2-e13a0aee7f4fn%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/15dd2b2c-3ba6-41b8-a7c2-e13a0aee7f4fn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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