Another day in three segments - two great back-roads routes with urban chaos in the middle.
1. A beautiful ride from Muskegon to Grand Rapids. Cool, slightly overcast, no sunglasses until I'm 45 miles in at GR. Ferrysburg, Spring Lake, Lamont to GR. Slightly rolling, small villages, dairy farms, crops - varied and beautiful.
Some extra miles due to two closed bridges and the need to backtrack to detours - and one is a gravel road.
In the Lamont area I start to notice that a number of homes - maybe 18 or 20 - have good-sized signs in their front yards displaying scripture quotes. Haven't seen that before.
Great morning ride. Refreshing!!
2. Grand Rapids - use up a few more miles heading south into downtown and them back out to follow my local-roads route.
I do have a great conversation with two couples when I stop to inquire about a local bike path - and really hope that I convinced one couple to don bike helmets !!!
GR must be a medical center for a large region. Lots of healthcare - their 'medical mile'.
GR also has a Historic District with some really nicely restored homes - see pic below.
Southwest GR had lots of traffic and strip development. I try routes 37 / 44 but can't stand the high-speed traffic - and it obviously can't stand me. Pull off the highway to do a goggle map scan. Find an option and head out Route 11 to Cascade. Frenzied !!
3. Whitneyville Road (maybe 20 miles) to Middleville ( ice cream shop !!) and then 11 miles on State Road to Hastings for a late lunch. Hastings is another great downtown - lots of them in Michigan as there were in Wisconsin.
The last 6 on back roads to Nashville's Thornapple Lake and Bob and Bobbie's house - Warmshowers hosts,
Warmshowers does it again. A warm welcome, an invitation to settle in and do or eat whatever suits me, and great conversation. Really wonderful people.
Bobbie has done a cross-country ride, and connected with Carol Tremble from South Hero on the trip. Small, small world. Bob has fished the Battenkill.
Segments 1 and 3 were great rides, and Michigan seems to have invested big-time in bike paths. Everybody talks about them.
Pics: there is a pic of Lamont - very quaint village - the pic (with the church on the left) doesn't capture how pretty the village is.
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