I’ve got a friend who happens to be a one-man road map. Whenever a cycling trip is contemplated in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula “up north”, Chuck is invited. He knows all of the best routes and almost any distance you could want, from a 25 mile skip, to a metric century with enough climbing to satisfy a mountain goat, to a full century. It seems he knows all of the good cycling roads in the upper left hand quarter of Michigan.

I’ve ridden thousands of miles with him and several other friends and I was struck by the idea that, with a little bit of effort, I could catalog some of Michigan’s best rides so others who visit the State, or those who are new to the sport, had somewhere to go to find decent routes nearby – or to use on a road trip.

Well, this is going to be my attempt at that.  Whether pure road cycling or dirt roads, or a mixture of the two, I’ll post all of the most enjoyable rides I do throughout the State, so if you find yourself in need of a route, it’ll be as easy as click a link and download the route to put into your GPS navigation device (I use a Garmin Edge 520 Plus)

I’ll post the routes on multiple platforms (Strava, Endomondo, Ride With GPS, etc.) and include state maps to show location.  As well, if pertinent, I’ll include mentions of decent places to eat both en route and near the start point of the route.

Finally, I’m big into camping with my wife and friends, so most of the routes far from my home will start at State Park campgrounds.

Welcome.