Tours

Wednesday, July 15, 2015 This day was nicknamed Buggies Day and did not disappoint. It was also the peak day for climbing, but as the week wore on I actually felt myself getting stronger, as my earlier problems mostly reflected a lack of training (hill training being rather difficult where Read more…

Tuesday, July 14, 2015 At the previous day’s briefing, Joe had said that this would be our first foray into Amish country and also the first day of the “real hills.” He described the terrain as “rolling,” but as he said this he was moving his hand up and down Read more…

Monday, July 20, 2015 At dinner the night before, the group consensus was that we’d ride out starting no earlier than 8AM, which meant of course that we’d almost all be rolling out of the lot precisely at 8AM! Cyclists tend to be early risers. Surveying the group, although there Read more…

Sunday, July 12, 2015 I knew pretty much from the start that this tour was going to be top-notch as far as organization and amenities goes since it was production of Rod Hutton and Joe Florian’s Buckeye Country Roads outfit, whose Erie Shores tour I had done a year before. Read more…

Friday, July 18, 2014 Breakfast is served at Chamberlin’s promptly at 8:30 and it was a typical B&B selection of quiche and sausages served on real plates with real silverware, cloth napkins, fresh-squeezed juice, etc. In other words, a pleasant departure from the typical hotel “continental” breakfasts. Nobody was in Read more…

Thursday, July17, 2014 Another nice day and even warmer than the day before, and the North Shore staff set out the breakfast items at 8:00 at our request so we could get a reasonably early start. The route was basically straight back south to the Manistique Lakes area and Chamberlin’s Read more…

Wednesday, July 16, 2014 The day dawned with a promise of sunshine, warmer temperatures, no rain, and favorable winds. On top of that, the 50 miles to Grand Marais looked to be the most interesting ride of the trip. What else could a cyclist ask for? Well, for several of Read more…

Tuesday, July 15, 2014 There are dozens of activities in the Munising area, but unfortunately they all require you to be outdoors! Hiking, cycling, kayaking, boating, and snowmobiling and cross-country skiing in the winter. So with an obviously rainy day on tap and the planned boat ride and hiking expedition Read more…

Monday, July 14, 2014 Monday’s route was pretty much a straight shot north on M-94, 50 miles to Munising. Riding on state routes is never ideal, but the U.P. has a dearth of paved roads and often there is no other choice when going from town to town. But at Read more…

Sunday, July 13, 2014 The first day was to start the tour out with a 30-mile round-trip ride to Palm Book State Park, which boasts the state’s largest freshwater spring: Kitch-iti-tipi. In the morning, I met Jim Plaunt, who is the owner, CEO, and principal tour director of Bike Tour Read more…

As I drove across the mighty Mackinaw Bridge and turned east on US-2, I was wondering what I had gotten myself into by scheduling a second week-long bike trip barely a month after my Lake Erie excursion in June. It had seemed like a great idea when I was making Read more…

Thursday, June 13, 2014 The weather remained OK as we packed up one more time and prepared for the final day’s ride. The official route plan was to take a ferry to Kelley’s Island and, after couple hours on the island, take another ferry to Sandusky and ride from there Read more…

Wednesday, June 11, 2014 The weather outlook for this penultimate day of the tour was pretty much the same as it had been for the last two days: cloudy and cool, temperatures rising to mid-70s, and less than a 50/50 chance of rain. So a decent day for riding and Read more…

 Tuesday, June 10, 2014 The route for today was basically to ride to Sandusky, take a ferry to Put-in-Bay, then later another ferry to the Marblehead Peninsula and on to the resort where we’d be staying the next two nights. Since the route to Sandusky went right by our “home base” Read more…

Monday, June 9, 2014 A day of rest, clear skies, and the prospect of the longest day of the tour — 63 miles — must have charged everyone up as most of us ate an early breakfast and were ready to ride by 8AM or a little later. This was Read more…

Sunday, June 8, 2014 Most people were up early in the breakfast room, hoping to get started on the day’s ride before the forecast rain hit. Unfortunately, it started just about the time I walked outside at 7:30 and the radar images showed that there wasn’t much chance of it Read more…

Saturday, June 7, 2014 The first full day of the trip featured a route that would take us inland to visit some of the small towns of northern Ohio. The short route was 36 miles, but most of us opted for the longer, more interesting 55-mile route. Both would first Read more…

Friday, June 6, 2014 After a particularly nasty time getting through the Detroit area from home Friday morning, I arrived at the Sawmill Creek Resort near Huron, Ohio just before noon. We were scheduled for a short 1:00PM “tune-up ride”, so I was very pleased that my room was available Read more…

January to June 5, 2014. Day 0 of this trip started for me way back in January as I was already going stir-crazy from experiencing the worst winter weather in my 50 years living in southeast Michigan. I was searching around on the web for a new and different tour Read more…