Ride Report - Chicago, Il to Traverse City, Mi

[Britt]

I just completed a very interesting trip from Chicago to Traverse City, where our family has a summer cottage on a small series of lakes. I chose different routes for my trip up there and the trip home - avoiding expressways whenever possible. My wife and her mom drove up in the car with our three children

The trip up was 329 miles, and the trip home was 384 miles. While I was up there, I explored the area and put on another 280 miles.

I left my house and took I-294 South into Indiana, which as anyone in the area knows means neverending road construction.


I then got off the tollway so that I could follow Rt 12 close to the lakefront of Lake Michigan.


Rt 12 took me through Michigan City, In.


A short while later, I was thinking about all the power that my right hand was connected to when I came upon....


I continued north on Red Arrow Highway, where I encountered about a mile a road resurfacing project. That fine gravel is not fun on sport tires.


I stopped in St. Joseph Michigan to stretch my legs and look at the lake.


North of Lake Michigan Beach I was on the Blue Star Memorial Highway. A very long curvy section of it was brand new blacktop.



I jumped on 196 for a while and got off in Grand Rapids so I could take 37 North.

This Is Sparta!


I continuted north and entered the Manistee National Forest. There was something like 80 miles of nothing but forest, with a few houses here and there thrown in.



A couple of hours and a few turns later, I was getting close to our cottage.


The ride was great, but I was glad to be there. I took the rest of the day and the next morning to relax with my wife and kids.






The next day we decided to go up to Old Mission on Grand Traverse Bay. The ride up into this peninsula was awesome. We took Peninsula Drive north, and then continued north on 37.



Old Mission Lighthouse.


The biting flies at Old Mission were the worst thing I have ever experienced. They literally swarmed every one of us and one of my kids was in tears because it was so unrelenting. We decided to go to a different beach in Traverse City instead.




The next day we wanted to take the kids to Suttons Bay to swim. I left them there for a couple of hours and rode up Rt 22 to Northport, and then continued as far north as I could. I ended up at Leelanau State Park.





Just north of Suttons Bay I crossed the 45th Parallel. I was half way to the North Pole!




Sone ships in Traverse City


I took some time to go canoeing with my wife on the lake next to our cottage.



I explored many roads around our cottage, and they were great.


It briefly rained and the sun came back out.




When I woke up on our final day, it was 54 degrees and raining.


I rode about 40 miles in some heavy rain, but along the way passed a cop on the side of the road who gave me a smile and a fist in the air - telling me to press on!

The rain stopped as I headed south on Rt 31. Along the way, the skies were very threatening for a while.


In Mainstee things cleared up nicely and I was able to remove my rain pants.



Just south of Manistee, Rt 31 was closed and I was sent on a detour all the way east to Rt 37 (which is the way I came up). It was a long way out of my planned route and I just decided to go home the way I came up. I sort of stopped taking pictures at this point, since it was all sights that I had already seen.

Back on 196, I saw my wife's car up ahead, carrying my wife, my three children, and my mother in law.


I ended up slabbing it almost all the way home from there. Approaching 400 miles today, I was happy to sneak back into my town on the side roads.


994 miles in all, with the only glitch on the bike being the seat latch coming loose. I didn't notice that the seat would not latch until I washed it the next day, and with a little fiddling, I was able to retrieve the small parts that make up the mechanism and get it all back together with some blue Loctite.


I tried to limit the number of pictures in this report, but if you are interested please feel free to take a look at my Photobucket album for lots more!
Chicago to Traverse City June 2008 - Photobucket

[derstuka]

Nice trip report Britt. Glad you had a good time! Looks like a good ride. Done that ride several times myself. Those black flies do suck bad I tell ya! Next time, if you are bored, push up further thru Charlevoix and just past Petoske to pick up 119 from Harbor Springs to Mackinaw City.....best road in MI....used to be 10 years ago at least. Watch out for the sand in the Cross Village to Mackinaw section though.

[Britt]

Next time, if you are bored, push up further to 119 from Harbor Springs to Mackinaw City.....best road in MI....used to be 10 years ago at least.

I had that all planned out, but it was going to be a 3 hour ride each way from our cottage, and had a sense that my kids really wanted some extra time with me. How could I deny that?

[reg71]

nice write up. these things are always a blast to read, esp with some good pics. Even if I never get a chance to ride out that way, it lets me see some of the things that you get to see. One day I hope to be able to just cruise around the US on a bike at my leisure... ahhh, to dream...

[drewl]

I feel like I just went on a little vacation there. I had forgotten what it was like. Thanks for sharing.

[VFRShorty]

Great write up, thanks! You guys sure have some beautiful scenery back there.

[Britt]

I thought I would mention a few other observations from my recent trip...

-My first fillup was done after 150 miles of extremely easy riding - small throttle openings, under 65 mph, etc. The odometer showed 154.x miles, and I was able to put 3.1x gallons in it. You can do the math, but I was very happy with that mileage. In commuting mode I only get around 35 mpg.

-Most Harley riders still don't wave, even when I'm 400 miles from my usual riding areas. It was so hurtful to wave at them only to have them scowl straight ahead as they ignored me.

-On a long ride a Throttle Rocker is nice to have, but the Vista Cruise that showed up at my door the day I got home would have been much nicer!

-There is no need to bring a bunch of extra tools when you are riding a well maintained Honda.

-Finally, if there is a trip you have been wanting to take, you need to JUST DO IT. There are a million things in life to get in the way. The weather forecast when I left was not good for the next 5 days, but it turned out that they were mostly wrong and the weather was mostly great!

[Joey_Dude]

Very nice Britt! I hope you don't break that camera one of those days! I also liked the little non-bike related pictures such as the canoe one and the beach one. Thanks for the report!

[jasonsmith]

I really like this pic... A great trip made even better by the ride to and fro.

[Britt]

I really like this pic... A great trip made even better by the ride to and fro.

I can still remember right where I took that picture. I was glad I slowed for it because there was a police car clocking people just over the next rise. In 1000 miles of riding on that trip it was the only speed trap I saw, and it was in a pretty desolate area where I wouldn't have expected it....

[AtomAnt]

Nice post!

I know I'm a little late on this one, but I was really pumped up to see places that I actually ride on a regular basis. That pavement resurfacing was terrible near New Buffalo for a long time after that pic was taken, but that new blacktop up Bluestar was, and still is excellent! Also, 119 is still one of the best roads in MI, but as of 2 summers ago, the combination of extremely sharp corners and sand made it the most challenging road I've ever been on!

Hit me up if you're looking for a riding buddy for a stretch next time you roll thru St. Joseph! (I live within 2 miles of where your route went through town)

[Britt]

Nice post!

I know I'm a little late on this one, but I was really pumped up to see places that I actually ride on a regular basis. That pavement resurfacing was terrible near New Buffalo for a long time after that pic was taken, but that new blacktop up Bluestar was, and still is excellent! Also, 119 is still one of the best roads in MI, but as of 2 summers ago, the combination of extremely sharp corners and sand made it the most challenging road I've ever been on!

Hit me up if you're looking for a riding buddy for a stretch next time you roll thru St. Joseph! (I live within 2 miles of where your route went through town)

Thanks for the pavement update! I'm planning a Memorial Day Weekend trip around Lake Michigan with a couple of co-workers. We've got an interesting mix of bikes.... my VFR, a Harley, and a Victory. I think we can all get along.