Happy New Year! Weather is great today on the lakeshore! Temps peaked at 52 degrees and most of the snow melted overnight with the strong south winds. Tomorrow (1-1-11) should also be as nice until the cold front comes through. Take advantage of the nice weather and get out and ride!
We received this update on Dec. 17:
The on-again off-again Fred Meijer Berry Junction Trail seems to have come alive again. This trail would serve as an important link between Muskegon and the Hart-Montague Trail. The plan seemed to have died prematurely as matching funds dried up before work could be started. However, they seem to have now secured the Fred Meijer matching funds and construction may start early in 2011. More news here.
There was a very nice article in yesterday's Grand Haven Tribune about Love Inc's bicycle ministry. In addition to giving away reconditioned bikes to those in need, they are also giving away bicycle helmets along with the bikes. Surprisingly, not all recipients want the helmets. Here is the link.
Shown above is the route of US Bicycle Route 35 through Ferrysburg. It comes from the south along Lakeshore Ave. and Sheldon Dr. in Grand Haven, eventually crossing the Grand River next to US 31 on the bike/pedestrian walkway, through Wm. Ferry Park, along Pine St., then left on 3rd St., round the turn onto 174th Ave., then left on Dogwood Dr. just before Leppinks Grocery Store. Dogwood Dr. goes North and eventually merges with 180th Ave., then left on Hickory and past Black Lake towards Muskegon.
Colorburst 2010 was nearly perfect. Temperatures in the mid to upper 50's, no winds, clear skies, great food, good friends. What else could you ask for? They put on a fantastic feed. Breakfast was pancakes, blueberry or strawberry syrup, and hot cocoa, OJ or coffee. Joe, Jan and I rode the shorter 17 mile route today. There were a few hills, but the downhill ride was a good reward for the work going up each of them. The trees were nearly at their peak, with lots of reds and yellows. What else can I say?
The top photo shows the Grand Hotel as seen from our ferry on it's approach to the Island. It is VERY Grand! The second photo shows Gayle and I resting on the front porch of the Grand Hotel after arriving. And the third photo above shows my bike in the largest hotel parking lot on the Island. There are bike racks and bikes all over the Island. You better know where you left your bike or you might have to search through thousands of bikes to find it.
Gayle and I decided to attend a mini-class reunion of her Parchment (MI) High School class on Mackinac Island this past weekend. We stayed in the Grand Hotel for 2 nights, and of course, I brought my bike along, as there are only 3 means of transportation on the Island: walking, horse-drawn carriages and BIKES! The photos above show the Arnold ferry arriving at St. Ignace and my bike on the back of the ferry during the 15 minute crossing. I debated whether to rent an Island bike or bring my own. The Island bikes are either single-speed, 3-speed or mountain bikes. My last experience with a rental wasn't that great, so I decided that $8 for a round trip transportation of my bike was well worth it. Stay tuned for more photos and my commentary on bikes on Mackinac Island.
Here is a photo of me in front of the Country Dairy north of New Era. Notice that I am wearing last year's Colorburst T-shirt, one of my few long-sleeve cycling tee's. Colorburst was my first organized ride after moving from Nebraska to Michigan last year. It is also one of my favorites, so far. Hope to see everyone at Lowell again this year. Look for the guy wearing the bright red & white NEBRASKA cycling jersey. This weekend Gayle and I are traveling to Mackinac Island, so look for photos from the island soon.
Saturday morning was our scheduled company wellness group Road Ride for August. There are only a couple other road cyclists where I work besides me. However, only Jan showed up for the ride. I rode down from Grand Haven and met her at Kirk Park, on Lakeshore Ave. between Grand Haven and Holland. The two of us cycled south to Tunnel Park, on the north edge of Holland, then turned around and headed back. The top photo above shows the "tunnel" between the parking lot and the beach. It goes through the sand dunes instead of over or around. The bottom photo shows a cute painted pig that someone had next to the road for their property address sign. I ended up with about 39 miles and Jan, about 21 miles.
Here is the map of the proposed trail expansion. It looks great to me!
I went on my usual 8 mile ride to the North Pier and back again after work. It didn't seem foggy until I got right up next to Lake Michigan. The first photo shows the lighthouse on the South Pier across the Grand River channel. You can barely see other walkers on the pier. The bottom photo shows the North Pier almost back to shore. I had to cycle halfway back to shore along the pier to get this shot. From the end of the pier, the shoreline was invisible.
It must be summer! Tourists invaded Grand Haven this weekend for the annual kite festival. The beach must have had several thousand college kids. It looked like Spring Break in Florida or Texas! Gayle and I drove past the beach after church on Sunday just to see a few of the kites. We snapped a few shots out the car window as we weren't going to find any parking within 10 blocks of the beach and boardwalk. Later Sunday afternoon I went for a bike ride to the North Pier and shot a few more photos toward the South Pier and beach.
I went for a 15.5 mile ride this afternoon after Gayle and I did some shopping in Muskegon and Grand Haven. I wanted to inspect the Spring Lake Trail again before tomorrow's "Family Ride". Didn't see any problems. I went out to State Road and up 148th to Fruitport Road, then back down along Fruitport Road into Spring Lake again. The top photo is crossing over Pettys Bayou near the Spring Lake Country Club. The second and third photos are near the Village Cove Marina and Barrett Boat Works in Spring Lake. I was thinking of Photo-Shopping "Go Big Red" where it says "Go Blue" on the boat. The last photo shows where the trail cuts in through the Holiday Inn parking lot and the North Boardwalk under the Spring Lake bridge (where I took the photo). The trail actually squeezes past the round picnic table on the boardwalk near the bow of the large boat.
We visited my mother for her 90th birthday last month. While we were in Manitowoc, WI we drove around a bit to see the sights. One interesting statue outside of their local museum was this old-time cyclist. Cool!
Here are the last 2 photos from March 16. These were taken at the PJ Hoffmaster State Park beach, looking SW and NW.
Here are a couple photos from my bike ride on March 16. The weather was just starting to warm up during the week, and with Daylight Savings time there was plenty of time in the evening after work.
Here are a couple photos of the trail conditions in Grand Haven. The top photo is near Chinook Pier in the downtown area of Grand Haven. It looks like whoever plowed this trail was drunk or just not very observant. You can see that the trail curves to the right, while the plow went straight through on the grass. The lower photo is on Harbor Island and shows much better conditions.
