MI way... again

Throwback7R · Post by **Throwback7R** » Sun Aug 04, 2013 12:14 pm

How would you get around the lake " safely"

CapnK · Post by **CapnK** » Sun Aug 04, 2013 2:34 pm

Door County is a very pretty place, and is not large at all. A few years back my brother and I went up to the EAA Oshkosh fly-in a few days early, and spent 3/4 of a day riding the perimeter of Door County in our rental car. Not hurrying, stopping when there was something we wanted to see, and still we saw the entire "edge" of the place that day. Water that looks Caribbean, along a rocky seashore that looks like Down East Maine. Interesting, and scenic. Lots of small ports/marinas.

One bit of advice: locals will tell you that you MUST try a "Fish Boil" or a "Boilover" or a meal named something like that. Having done so, I would recommend that instead you visit a restaurant which has one, but eat something else off of the menu, and just observe the "Boilover" for fun.

Unless, of course, you happen to like soggy fish meat and bland potatoes and maybe some few other veggies, all having been boiled together... Blech.

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Sun Aug 04, 2013 3:11 pm

Throwback7R wrote:How would you get around the lake " safely"

I'm not quite sure what you're asking here. My general strategy is to take pre-interstate highways and county/local roads.

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Tue Dec 10, 2013 8:55 pm

Lonely Planet's "Top 10 US travel destinations for 2014"
#1: Grand Rapids & Lake Michigan's Gold Coast.

Been there, done that.

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 7:06 pm

Is it 2014 already? Time to start planning this year's ride!

You'd think I already had it all fully planned, since I had to cancel last year's ride, but I'm taking the opportunity to rethink the itinerary. Part of it – getting to Wisconsin and back – there really isn't any rethinking possible. But running the loop through the UP in the opposite direction (counter-clockwise instead of clockwise) and adding an overnight stop in northern Wisconsin, results in some more manageable distances to ride on a few of the days. On the other hand, it adds a day to the trip. Decisions.....

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 11:12 pm

Not exactly an event for 2 wheels this time of the year (well for 2 wheels at anytime of the year), but I'll be heading here for one of the upcoming weekends.

http://www.kalamazoobeerweek.com

I'd make the trip for the Bell's alone.

Rob

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Mon Jan 27, 2014 1:40 am

I've been coping with the weather by making plans for the coming Summer: the ride that will finish my goal of visiting every county in Michigan. I've worked out a different route than the one I'd planned to take last year (before canceling due to brake damage), and a little different from the one I was looking at a few weeks ago.

It involves taking a shortcut through northern Wisconsin on the way home. Because of that shortcut, I'd have to take a small detour in order to hit one of the counties for a few miles, rather than riding all the way across it. But I've done that sort of thing a couple times already, so it's within the rules.

It would cut a little mileage off the trip and even out the distribution of miles a bit. But it would still be 4 days riding up to Copper Harbor (the northernmost point of mainland Michigan), 3 days on Isle Royale (including the ferry rides there and back), then 4 days riding back.

It'll be a long trip. But at least it'll be warm.

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 6:45 pm

I just found the most wonderful thing in the world for someone planning a ride on a 50cc scooter. http://RideWithGPS.com has a whole database of rides recorded by bicyclists wearing GPS devices, which also track elevation, and from that they can calculate road grade. Which is critically important to bicyclists, and also kinda important to folks on low-powered scooters. So I can look for rides people have taken that follow the routes I'm looking at, compare them to routes I've already taken, and see how likely they are to give my Buddy difficulty.

For example, I checked out a ride someone took on the Keweenaw Peninsula, which is the spine of a very old mountain range, and I know (from previous visits by car) has some pretty steep hills. According to his log, the infamous ascent up Brockway Mountain from Copper Harbor includes 10-12% grade. I drove my car up that in 2nd or 3rd gear eight years ago... no way I'd try that on my Buddy 50. But the route I'm planning to take tops out here and there at around 6-7%

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Fri Feb 07, 2014 4:33 pm

I found a possible snag on the route I've been planning. RideWithGPS.com brought to my attention a spot on my approach to Copper Harbor where the road turns away from the shoreline and goes up a cliff. OK, not quite a cliff, but it's steep: 9% grade (or if another GPS log is to believed, briefly hitting 12%) at the start, gradually "leveling off" over the next mile.

However. I've also found a GPS log of one of the scenic routes I took 5 years ago, through the dunes of Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore. It's a snaking up-and-down route that I remember being really slow going on the up-hills, and white-knuckle braking on the down-hills. But I did it OK. The GPS log reports an incline that rises to 9%. So that gives me some reassurance that, if I get a running start up that "cliff" on the way to Copper Harbor, I should be able to get to the top.

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Fri Apr 11, 2014 2:42 am

Time was already running out for making reservations at one of the campgrounds I planned to use for this year's trip (Ludington State Park), so I pulled the trigger and got the very last site for the day I wanted to stay there. And since that meant reserving the appropriate vacation time at work, I went the rest of the way and made the rest of my camping and ferrying reservations. I'm about $500 committed now.

I'll be leaving Friday 18 July, taking the ferry across Lake Michigan, riding north thru Wisconsin up to Copper Harbor at the top of the Keewenaw Peninsula, taking another ferry across lake Superior (and back) to Isle Royale for a couple days and nights of backpacking, riding thru the Porcupine Mountains, then turning homeward and ferrying back across Lake Michigan, and returning on 28 July. So that's 11 days, 10 nights. Probably about 1500 miles, not counting hiking. It'll fill in probably a dozen of the empty blocks on the map in my signature, including all of those in Michigan.

Most of the time I'm confident that I can manage the terrain and distance on my 5-year-old Buddy 50. Last year, a combination of cold feet and damage to one of my brakes on the first day of the trip led me to call it off. Which turned out to be a lucky choice, because my scoot developed serious engine problems a couple months later. I got it fixed (top end rebuild), and it's been running like a champ... but now I've got engine problems again. He's got a plan to fix it, but the mechanic's trying to coax me into "upgrading".

I see his point: riding all over like I've been doing isn't the sort of thing a 50cc scoot was designed for. And maybe I've pushed this one far enough. On the other hand, I don't see myself continuing these week-long rides much longer: I have another that I'd kinda like to do next year, but there's a bit of been-there-done-that creeping into it. I'm thinking of some vacations that might just include a bit of day-riding, either farther afield (i.e. renting when I get there) or closer to home. So a 50cc might be all I really need.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Time for bed.

pugbuddy · Post by **pugbuddy** » Sat Apr 12, 2014 12:52 am

$500 = IN!

Go for it! Even if it's getting a bit stale, you need one last one to have closure. You cannot just decide in the middle of planning a trip to not go. Doesn't work that way. Get moving!

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Sat Apr 12, 2014 1:14 pm

Don't worry: I'm 99% committed to doing this ride. (I don't spend $500 that lightly.) And if it continues running trouble-free between now and July, I'll probably do it on this bike. I'm just thinking aloud about my options.

jd · Post by jd » Tue Apr 15, 2014 8:27 pm

Here's a good deal on a used, more powerful scooter in your area:

1984 Honda Elite 125 with 7500 Miles

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 4:01 pm

Yes, but then I'd have an Elite.

jd · Post by jd » Wed Apr 16, 2014 4:07 pm

Ah, a Buddy purist!

Then try this one.

I live near this one.

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 1:33 pm

As documented elsewhere, I have in fact replaced the 50 with a new 125, and I'm in the last several days of preparation.

The new scoot gives me some additional confidence about navigating the Keweenaw Peninsula and Porcupine Mountains, and the 200-mile ride through Wisconsin on the next-to-last day. I'm still a bit anxious about the trip overall though, because it's still 11 days away from home, and it still involves three days of wilderness backpacking. I've done wilderness before, for a lot longer, but I wasn't trying to do it with such a small pack, and I was 41 years old rather than 49, so my "ride" for the trails has a lot more miles on it now.

I wish I could use my full-size backpack, which supports itself better on my frame, and would have room for my camp stove (instead of cold meals) and a little more clothing, and I could put my tent and sleeping bag in it rather than strapping them to the outside. But it just wouldn't fit anywhere on the scooter, so I'm rigging a smaller pack and a shoulder bag to wear back-and-front on the trails. Yesterday I did a test-pack with a walk in the woods to see how it works. The answer: well enough.

I'm now close enough to departure to start torturing myself with weather forecasts. The first few days look good so far for the southern portion of the ride. There are no forecasts published for Isle Royale itself, but it's near Thunder Bay, Ontario, and the Canadian service is already posting extended projections for the days I'll be on the island next week. Yesterday they were forecasting all sunny days... right up until the three days I'd be there, which had 40-80% chance of rain.

But today they're saying those days will just be partly cloudy, with a 30% chance of rain one night. Like I said: torture.

jd · Post by jd » Mon Jul 14, 2014 1:54 pm

Do you have a windscreen on that new Buddy 125? It makes a big difference on a long ride, IMHO.

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 2:55 pm

No windshield. I've been fine without it on previous rides, and for the most part I plan to ride this trip like on the old one, typically 100-140 miles per day... maybe at 45mph instead of 40mph.

So I should be OK.

snoozy · Post by **snoozy** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 4:04 pm

Do you have a pic of your scoot and you all packed up?

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 4:15 pm

I'm not in the picture, but here's one of my bike fully packed for my first experiment in doing a short scoot/hike combo, last year:

http://www.toddverbeek.com/miway/backpack-packing/

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Tue Jul 15, 2014 2:31 am

I did a test run with everything on the scooter this evening, with generally good results. It's do-able as is, but the packing is tight and that has a tendency to get worse over several days on the road, as clothes get wrinkled, etc. So like a NASA engineer or Tour de France bicyclist trying to shave ounces, I've been looking to see what I can cut.

For example, I've figured out that I can take one t-shirt off the packing list. On Fourday* I'll be reaching the Keweenaw Peninsula, where I intend to buy a souvenir t-shirt at the Gay Bar in the tiny village of Gay, Michigan. (How could I not?) Granted, I'll have to pack that shirt for the return trip (or wear it and pack a different one), but that won't be until Eightday, and by then I will have consumed the freeze-dried dinners I'm packing for the hiking portion of the trip. (I was already going to do laundry around the halfway point of the trip, which cuts my clothing "budget" in half.)

* When I'm on a trip like this, rather than trying in vain to keep track of what day of the week it is (because it usually doesn't matter), I operate on my own calendar for the duration of the trip. The day I leave is Oneday, the day after is Twoday, and so on.

jd · Post by jd » Wed Jul 16, 2014 3:04 am

No front rack? You can get a lot of stuff on there if you load it right.

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 3:22 am

Too late for that now.

PeteH · Post by **PeteH** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 3:47 am

Hehehe... A front rack would cover up that emblem. And we can't have that.

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 3:32 am

The extended weather forecast for the three days I'll be on Isle Royale has gone back and forth between "pretty much all cloudy and stormy" and "a chance of a little rain but generally sunny" about three or four times since I started checking it.

Quo Vadimus · Post by **Quo Vadimus** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 2:22 am

I don't know if the effects carry that far north, TVB, but I can tell you that I plan on grilling on Saturday. Records indicate a direct relationship between grilling intentions on a day (X) and heavy precipitation on days X and X+1 in SE Michigan.

Best of luck!

jd · Post by jd » Fri Jul 18, 2014 2:54 am

I was "Up North" Michigan last week and the forecast for any particular day changed almost daily. The only way to be certain of the weather was to wait until the day actually occurred. and sometimes it was even hard to tell even then! LOL!

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 4:11 am

My mindset about weather has changed fundamentally since the last time I was on Isle Royale (2006). Since then, the iPhone came out, and in all of my scooter travels I've always had weather info – especially radar – available, to let me know when rain was coming, how long it would last, etc. But going back to Isle Royale will mean going back to the offline era. It's going to take a bit of adjustment.

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 2:59 pm

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go.

And I'm old enough to know that the lyrics start talking about jet planes shortly after that, and that's not what's happening.

This trip is The Big One, and I'm simultaneously anxious and eager to go. I probably won't be posting here for the duration (11 days), just on the blog: http://toddverbeek.com/miway/

Wheelz · Post by **Wheelz** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 8:11 pm

Have a good ride Todd, will be following the blog. Go Flash II!

pugbuddy · Post by **pugbuddy** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 8:49 pm

Enjoy and God bless! I will try to follow along in the blog!

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 1:42 am

I'm at a restaurant in Copper Harbor MI, having successfully ridden to the northernmost (non-island) spot in Michigan, then taken the ferry to spend three days on the northernmost island. Now to ride home.

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 3:30 am

I was born in Ann Arbor. I should come up there one day

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 3:02 am

Just a quick note from the road: I did it! Every county in Michigan. More info on the blog, and I'll be posting more here after I make it home.

chloefpuff · Post by **chloefpuff** » Tue Jul 29, 2014 5:03 am

I bow to your scooter superiority!!!!!

Dooglas · Post by **Dooglas** » Tue Jul 29, 2014 6:07 am

Good job! We are all glad to hear it was a success.

Slam · Post by **Slam** » Tue Jul 29, 2014 5:09 pm

I enjoyed the postings and am now thinking about a trip myself. Thanks!

Mutt the Hoople · Post by **Mutt the Hoople** » Tue Jul 29, 2014 5:39 pm

Wow. Congratulations... Looking forward to the photos! Sounds like it was a great time.

I'd forgot yon how nice it is here... Love you Buddy buddies.

pugbuddy · Post by **pugbuddy** » Mon Aug 04, 2014 6:19 pm

BIG CONGRATULATIONS!

Where's the link to your blog? I can't seem to find it....

Wheelz · Post by **Wheelz** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 5:10 pm

pugbuddy wrote:BIG CONGRATULATIONS!

Where's the link to your blog? I can't seem to find it....

Here ya go Pug:

http://toddverbeek.com/miway/

Congrats again TVB!

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 5:55 pm

pugbuddy wrote:BIG CONGRATULATIONS!
Where's the link to your blog? I can't seem to find it....

Click the map in my signature.

pugbuddy · Post by **pugbuddy** » Wed Aug 06, 2014 2:50 am

Nice! Thanks!

CapnK · Post by **CapnK** » Tue Aug 26, 2014 4:03 pm

Todd - just finished reading up on your "Last" trip - congrats!

Thoughts: if you do ride all the way 'round the bottom of Lake M (a ride I don't think you'll enjoy so much because of the Garcagowaukie part), then you'll have circumnavigated one of the Greats. This would mean you would have to do the others.

((( That oughta keep you busy for awhile. )))

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:33 pm

Crossing through Milwaukenochicagary would only be one day of that IN/IL/WI/MI way ride, so I don't think that'll be a deal-breaker for whether I'll do it or not.

As for the precedent of circumnavigating one Great Lake, I wouldn't feel compelled to do that with the rest of them. Those other Great Lakes are all half-Canadian, so they don't really count.