I’m being a little more pro-active in planning for this trip than I have in the past. For example, I’ve already picked out some restaurants to eat at along the way, and figured out which ferry (10:30am) to take to Mackinac Island. Unless I change my mind.

One reason for the additional planning is that much of this ride is more middle-of-nowhere than previous ones. Riding along the shores of Lakes Michigan (2009) and Huron (2010) meant that there was always another town just ahead, so there was no worry about finding a place for lunch. Riding through well-populated southern Michigan (2011) was similar. But on this trip I’m specifically going through the “left over” parts of northern Lower Michigan, and away from the lakeshore the UP is especially… sparse. For example, the route I’m planning for Sunday starts at a state park about 10 miles past the nearest village, and ends at a national forest 20 miles short of the nearest city, passing through exactly one town (population 1500) along the way. I kinda wanted to make sure I could find a couple meals somewhere on that route, at the times I expect to be hungry. (Thanks to the internet: I can.)

The other reason is that I’m stretching things just a little in terms of how much territory to cover each day. My rule of thumb for a nice scenic ride is 100 miles per day, but six of the eight days on this trip will be 125 or more, and one of the others includes a side trip to Mackinac Island. I want to make sure that I’ll have time to do and see all the things I want to see and do.

There’s some danger of this turning into If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium, but I don’t think that’ll happen. I’ll still keep my eyes open to other possibilities, and I’m sure I’ll adjust my plans along the way. Then again, if I find myself in Belgium on Tuesday….

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.