The Molson Bike Tour headed north this past week. With the help of the Michigan Mountain 
Biking Association (MMBA) web site, I set out for a final destination of the Keweenaw Peninsula with biking stops along the way.
Biking Association (MMBA) web site, I set out for a final destination of the Keweenaw Peninsula with biking stops along the way. The first stop on the tour was Rob's cabin up in Irons, Michigan, about 20 miles or so east of Manistee. The area is an outdoorsman's paradise with plenty of rivers, lakes, and trails throughout. My first riding stop on Saturday was the Big M trails within the Manistee National Forest, only about 10 minutes from Rob's. I had cross country skied on the trail but had never ridden it. With the North Country Trail (trail that runs from New York to North Dakota) also running through 
the heart of the Big M trails, you can ride pretty much all day here. That I did, with a nice soaking rain greeting me within 10 minutes of the ride. It was a quick rain and the sun came out shortly thereafter so all was not lost. While relaxing back in the parking lot after the ride, I came upon a pack of lady mountain bikers. They brought a Suburban with a huge trailer on the back for their bikes. I told them about my final destination in the U.P. and two told me they knew all about the area because they went to Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech. After talking with them some more, I came to the conclusion, as Jerry Seinfeld says, "I think they were playing for the other 
team." The Big M and parts of the North Country Trail were some good riding.
the heart of the Big M trails, you can ride pretty much all day here. That I did, with a nice soaking rain greeting me within 10 minutes of the ride. It was a quick rain and the sun came out shortly thereafter so all was not lost. While relaxing back in the parking lot after the ride, I came upon a pack of lady mountain bikers. They brought a Suburban with a huge trailer on the back for their bikes. I told them about my final destination in the U.P. and two told me they knew all about the area because they went to Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech. After talking with them some more, I came to the conclusion, as Jerry Seinfeld says, "I think they were playing for the other 
team." The Big M and parts of the North Country Trail were some good riding. 
Sunday morning's ride was at the Arcadia Dunes area, right off of M-22 along Lake Michigan. A contact at MMBA told me about the trail as it wasn't on their site. The 10 mile "Dry Hill Trail" was exactly what I was looking for. The majority of the ride took you through some thick forest and the trail was well maintained by the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy. 
I was expecting Sunday afternoon's ride at Boyne Mountain to be even better than the morning ride but I was a bit disappointed with the Boyne scene. They have signs EVERYWHERE within the resort for this and that but not one for the biking trails. I ended up going into one of the shops and asking. "The trailhead is over behind the tennis courts," I was told. After finding the tennis courts, I was able to see some markings on a tree at the forest edge. The trail itself was okay but it looked as it someone had ripped off some of the trail markers so I got twisted around a bit. Overall, I wasn't too impressed with the trails there. Maybe it was that there were way too many minivans in the area or the fact that my cell phone had no service two miles from the place and five bar service the minute I turned onto Boyne Mountain Road. It isn't a word but I guess you can classify it as too "resorty."
The lodging Sunday night was just over the Mackinac Bridge into the Brevort Lake campground. With Rob's place in Irons, Eric's place in Gay, and camping, the lodging was quite inexpensive on the trip.
I heard the classic U.P. question and answer during breakfast Monday morning. The lady at the table near me asked the waiter what exactly a pasty was. Of course she pronounced it "paste-ee" instead of "past-ee." The waiter replied, "I'd have to take you to Las Vegas to show you what a pasty is." He chuckled then gave her the history of the pasty.
Monday's ride was at Bruno's Run within the Hiawatha National Forest just south of Munising. 
The 9 mile trail runs around four or five lakes, a river, and through a great campground I had stayed at awhile back, Pete's Lake. The sites are right on the lake and once you had one too many soda pops, you can giggle with your friends when you start saying "oh, for Pete's Lake!!" There were some serious tree roots along the lake shorelines, but overall the trail was pretty good. I was waiting for a black bear to jump on me at sometime along the ride but it didn't happen I am happy to report. Besides some deer near Rob's place and some wild turkeys in the U.P., not many animal sightings on the trip.
The 9 mile trail runs around four or five lakes, a river, and through a great campground I had stayed at awhile back, Pete's Lake. The sites are right on the lake and once you had one too many soda pops, you can giggle with your friends when you start saying "oh, for Pete's Lake!!" There were some serious tree roots along the lake shorelines, but overall the trail was pretty good. I was waiting for a black bear to jump on me at sometime along the ride but it didn't happen I am happy to report. Besides some deer near Rob's place and some wild turkeys in the U.P., not many animal sightings on the trip.After taking a cold but refreshing dip in Moccasin Lake near the trailhead, I was off to my final destination to Gay in the Keweenaw Peninsula. Eric has quite a bit of family history up there on his dad's side. The town of Gay is small, very small, residing right on the shores of Lake Superior about 30 minutes or so northeast of Houghton. There are no stop lights, about thirty houses, a ball field with a well right in the middle of left field, and of course one bar (the Gay Bar, what else). Eric was up there with his family for the week at his place so I got to hang with the blonde pack for a couple of days. 
Eric and I took his canoe out Tuesday morning to Gratiot Lake which is a little north of Gay. What a beautiful lake it is. The conditions I guess were too perfect because besides a few nibbles, no fish made it in the boat. Oh well, a great morning it was anyway. It was off for beach time with the Gustafson ladies Tuesday afternoon at Big Traverse. I was pretty much a slug lying on the beach and loved every minute of it. The water in Lake Superior was cold but bearable. Tuesday evening was spent listening to the locals at the Gay Bar. The locals don't have much on education but they can sure throw out an opinion. Good people though.
Wednesday morning was back on the mountain bike up to some trails up at Copper Harbor that I had read about. On the ride up there, we drove by the Keweenaw snow gage, 
a tourist attraction if there ever was one. I can't imagine some of the winters they have up here. 
Our first ride was on a trail called Paul's Plunge that led into a trail called the Kamikazee. Well, Paul did plunge, quite a bit, and the Kamikazee was a chore to say the least. That ride got pretty low marks so we ventured down the road for a couple others on the map. The Red Trail was thankfully more downhill than uphill but had some serious rocks on it. I managed to bend my rear derailer and my water bottle holder broke off. The bike was still rideable, however. The trail heading back to the parking lot, the Ma Maki and Blue Trail, were probably the best of all of them. Thankfully the black fly activity up there were pretty minimal, if at all. 
a tourist attraction if there ever was one. I can't imagine some of the winters they have up here. 
Our first ride was on a trail called Paul's Plunge that led into a trail called the Kamikazee. Well, Paul did plunge, quite a bit, and the Kamikazee was a chore to say the least. That ride got pretty low marks so we ventured down the road for a couple others on the map. The Red Trail was thankfully more downhill than uphill but had some serious rocks on it. I managed to bend my rear derailer and my water bottle holder broke off. The bike was still rideable, however. The trail heading back to the parking lot, the Ma Maki and Blue Trail, were probably the best of all of them. Thankfully the black fly activity up there were pretty minimal, if at all. 
On the ride back to Gay we stopped off at a Keweenaw landmark in Eagle River, the Jampot. The place has jam, hence the name, and also baked goods. It is ran by a group of monks. They work in the robes and all. I must say, the place smelled like no bakery I had ever been too. Good stuff in there.
A great trip it was. If only I could get around the drive in getting up to the U.P., that would be ideal. That ride from around the L'Anse/Barraga area up into the heart of the Keweenaw is one of the better drives out there. The detour around the Zilwaukee Bridge, however.....
Trail Head
