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Home The U.P.
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Bike Week
With my hunger and thirst quenched, I rolled out of Ironwood headed towards the City of Marquette. Not far from Ironwood lies the town of Bessemer. As I rode into town I was amazed at how this little town had seemed to have changed. The houses once looking so run down now seemed full of life again. Well kept with groomed yards, it seemed like a different town then the one I been through not all that long ago. I couldn’t help but wonder what had changed for this little town. I suspect the boom in snowmobile tourism was the key. Every winter thousands of snowmobile enthusiasts flock to the enjoy the U.P. winters. In Wakefield, I pulled into a gas station before heading out on Highway M-28. It's at this point one decides whether to the northern or southern route. For this first run I opted for the northern route and took Highway M-28. It would take me past my sisters place near Munising where I planned to stay the night. From there my brother-in-law would team up with me to complete the ride to Drummond Island. As I rode past the sign indicating the Porcupine Mountains, I found myself wishing I had more time. Presque Isle State Park is by far my favorite state parks in Upper Michigan and I wouldn't have minded seeing the place again. Nature, fantastic waterfalls and beautiful sunsets, its someplace every biker should visit at least once. As I wound my way around Marquette the traffic picked up. The road changes to multiple lanes near Marquette indicating you are near the largest city in the U.P. I had spent a year at Northern Michigan University before joining the Navy. Marquette has just about everything you'd want including the only Harley Dealer in the U.P. I can also tell you it gets very cold and receives one lot of snow come winter. The sign up ahead said road construction, but I didn’t see anyone working as I sped by. Highway M-28 bypasses downtown Marquette so it wasn't long before I was out of traffic. After riding Upper Michigan's lonesome highways, you get kind of use to being the only person on the road so I was glad to leave the traffic behind. Just south of the town of Harvey, Highway M-28 turns east and follows the Lake Superior shoreline. It's here, you finally get a great view of the "Big Lake". As I rode along the shoreline, I could see all sorts of people enjoying sunny walks and riding their bicycles. The sun was warming up the day now and the sweet smell of a Lake Superior wind blowing in off the lake. This stretch of M-28 from Marquette to Munising provides some great views of Lake Superior. It wasn't long before I found myself turning into my sisters, As I stood next to my bike I could feel my muscles finally starting to relax. It was then my sister walked out with cold beer and handed it to me. All I need now was a comfortable chair. After a great meal of fresh Lake Superior Whitefish and a couple more beers and it was all I could do to keep my eyes open. Sleep found me quick, but so did morning. With the sound of two motorcycles churning up in the morning air, I waved to my sister, and we headed out. My brother-in-law took the lead as we headed through the town of Munising. As always the ride along Lake Superior into Munising is spectacular. This morning was no different. The view looking out over Munising Bay and Grand Island is one I'll never gets tired of seeing. There are people who come to Munising and never leave because of this view. Before leaving town, we pulled into a gas station to top off the tanks. From here there would be long stretches of road without any gas stations. Not long after, my brother in law pulled over to let me we were about to ride the Seney Stretch. It's 25 miles of laser-straight road over what is was once known as the Great Manistique Swamp. The stretch of road connects the towns of Shingleton and Seney. It's known as the “states most boring section of road", but riding it the first time on a motorcycle, I found it interesting. It was about an hour later when we reached the intersection at Hwy 123 and we turned south. This caught me off guard because I thought we would go straight to Hwy 129 and then go south. Not long after that, we took a left on Hwy H40 in the town of Trout Creek. I would have never considered riding this road. but it wasn’t long before I was glad we had taken it. Soon we were enjoying some sweeping curves and even a slight hill or two. It was fun to crank it up a notch and enjoy the ride. As we pulled into Rudyard, I was sorry to leave Hwy H-40 behind. My brother-in-law's Yamaha Virago has a small gas tank so it wasn't long before we were back in a gas station. From there we headed south on Hwy 48 towards Pickford. Once we reached Pickford, rather than heading south, he surprised me again by taking East Gogomain Road straight to the Lake Huron. I love riding roads that take you to places like this. Often not the best roads, but it's what you find at trails end that make the ride worth it. After a quick stop to look at Lake Huron, we turned south to Hwy 134. I was really enjoying the views of the lake and some nice little hills when we came down a slight hill to Hwy 134. Suddenly, the temperature must of dropped 20 degrees. At first instant it I thought it was just a chilly wind, but it quickly turned to icy chill. By time we reached the stop sign I was freezing. I was about to flash my headlights and pull over when my brother-in-law pulled off into a roadside park. It had only been about five minutes since the temperature dropped, but I was never so glad to get off my bike and find some warm sunshine. I've have never experienced a summer temperature change like that. After a drink of water and some stretching in the lakeshore sun I finally started to warm up.
Finally with full leathers and warm gloves; we continued the ride east into De Tour Village. De Tour Village reminds me a lot of Grand Marais. Another great little Upper Michigan coastal town with a lot of interesting history. I would have liked to spend some more time checking out the town, but by now we were on a mission. We turned right at the sign indicating Ferry Crossing and pulled up behind a line of vehicles waiting to get on the ferry. Page 2 of 4
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