Day 3. About 80 miles from Holland to Elberta Beach. Had my first
guerilla camping experience on an amazing beach. Stopped in
Ludington to mail a few extra things home. As is the typical case I
brought too much.

Day 4. Frankfort to Traverse City with a stop at sleeping bear dunes.
Tons of hills and climbing. Only 70 miles but felt like mug more. It
poured on us in the morning soaking the clothes we had laid out to dry
and the tent. We stopped at a hotel to wash clothes and sleep in a
normal bed in Traverse City. There was a Honda Goldwing convention at
the hotel. Lots of bikers.

Day 6. 85 miles from Traverse City to Petoskey state park. More hills
but not as bad as yesterday. Tough first half of the day but it got
better when we finished up on a trail and I had a chance to talk to
some people back home including Sarah.

Tomorrow is Mackinaw City and the island and then up into the UP.

Sent from my iPhonen

Homemade jerky from Empire. The honey BBQ chicken jerky was the best
jerky I've ever had.

Sleeping bear dunes. Amazing.

Lunch on day5. Amazing pizza in Maple City.

Traverse city....

Days 3 and 4

Day 3 was tough. Holland to Pentwater. 97 miles. 6.5 hrs of riding.

Day 4 was tough too with a few big hills but better than day 3.
Pentwater to Elberta. 80 miles. Felt rough this morning but much
better after lunch. Eating dinner at a beautiful place on a small
lake now. Guiness and ritz crusted walleye. Should be good.

Plan tomorrow is for an easier day. 60 or so miles to Traverse City.
May stop by sleeping bear dunes or also hang out at a bar in the
morning to watch the USA world cup game.

Sent from my iPhone

Almost packed!

Due to a little stomach virus I am starting the trip a day late. David
and Matt are riding away in the heat and I'm hanging out with the A/C
and finishing my packing. Almost done. Sarah is going to drive me to
meet up with them tomorrow morning.

Only a few more days...

In a few days, David LeBreton and I will head off for a bike trip around Lake Michigan. Matt Taddy is planning to join us a few days into the trip as well.

Hopefully this blog will be able to provide everybody who is bored at work with a few good stories and some funny pictures of things we run into along the way.

Before I go, I will try to post links to all of the resources we've used to plan for the trip. I've searched far and wide for every bit of information I could find from others who have made the trip, so hopefully putting it all in a single place will help others who want to do this ride in the future.

If anybody has any suggestions for restaurants, sights to see, etc., around the Lake, please comment and let us know!

John