Suttons Bay to Traverse City

Until recently, I wasn’t much of a bicyclist.  I mean, I had a rad, pink freestyle bike when I was in junior high, and I rode it everywhere, but once I got my drivers license, I pretty much lost interest in biking.  When I was 30, I bought my first multi-speed bike, a standard mountain bike, that I used to commute to work.  It was stolen (this has a tendency to  happen in Chicago), so I bought a really cheap bike at Target.  Mercifully, that one was stolen rather quickly off of my porch.  So, I got a used bike at a pawn shop and bought a better lock.  It served me well until I moved to Ann Arbor, and decided to take up commuting by bike again.  Ann Arbor, as opposed to the Windy City, has hills, and I very quickly learned that my used bike was not going to work for me.  The main problem what that it was a small-sized frame, so that when I raised the seat to the proper height, I was leaning down on the handle bars at a rather acute angle.  So, I decided to finally buy a real bike, since I was committed to “exercise by commute.”  I bought a used, 2011 Fuji Absolute 3.0 hybrid road bike.  I love this bike.  I love to ride to and from work on this bike.  It’s great.

So, when I went up north (northern Michigan for the uninitiated) last week, my wife and daughter and I all brought our bikes.  We were staying on the Leelanau peninsula, which has a very nice trail (the Leelanau Trail), which goes from Sutton’s Bay to Traverse City. After riding on it a bit with my wife and daughter, and seeing how nice of a trail it is, I decided to attempt my first long-distance ride.  The trail had signs that stated it was 15.5 miles from Sutton’s Bay to Traverse City, and I figured I could handle that.  So, last Friday morning, I woke early and hit the trail. . .

My bike, ready for the trail ahead.

One of the many farms on the trail.

The trail and a barn.

A view of a horse farm.

Little known fact: tractors are afraid of noisy bicyclists.

Stopped next to an old farm house.

A wooden cross near the ruins.

   I also passed many vineyards.  I can’t attest to the quality of the wine, though.  I mainly drink beer.

A bench in the middle of nowhere.

Northern Michigan has some orchards, too.

  A well-paved trail.

I loved the variety of landscapes the trail passed through.

Finally, I made it out to Grand Traverse Bay, right outside of Traverse City.

Traverse City itself has some stunning beauty.

These are boats.

The trail into Traverse City.

     I finally made it to downtown Traverse City!

Time for some lunch, provided by Scalawag’s Whitefish & Chips.

Back on the trail again.  One last evocative shot of the bay.

Wildflowers along the trail.

I actually had to stop for a non-photography-related reason here.  Going back was harder than getting there.

I’m don’t know how that tanning chair got there, but I had to walk across a ravine filled with prickly plants to set up this shot. I’m not sure it was worth it.

The view from a bridge.

I was very grateful to find this.  My water bottle was empty, and I was rather thirsty.

Nearly home now.  I’ve never been so happy to see a wastewater treatment plant.

I contributed $20.

I made it back!  My legs are fine, but damn, do my hands hurt from leaning on the handle bars all day. My hands! The fancy ergonomic grips do nothing! (read in the voice of Rainier Wolfcastle.)

Back to the car. 

I was pretty amazed that I didn’t feel too bad after my trip.  I was even more surprised to find that I traveled nearly 20 miles each way.  And, I have to say, this was pretty fun.  I’ve got to figure out how I can do this sort of thing more often.