9/10/25. Wednesday
Grand Rapids to Morley MI
Stats: Miles: 41, AIS: 3:51. Speed: 10.6 mph Elev. 626 ft
0 assholes
0 dogs
We had a comparatively short day today so no rush to get going early. We departed shortly before 9am and we were on our bike path within a couple of minutes. Navigating through the north end of Grand Rapids was really easy.
This day we rode the White Pine Trail all day! The trail started out in fairly good condition but the latter half of the day it got better and better. The trail wasn’t very busy out of Grand Rapids but as we were about half way to Rockford 6-7 miles in people started showing up. We had runners, walkers, cyclists, babies on board walkers and babies on board bicycles. The town of Rockford was small but had a lot going on. It’s located on the Rogue River (just like Oregon). They had the bike trail alongside and a river walk boardwalk across the river. The weather today was calm and warm so people were outside!
Fish on! For a second… watch it jump
It’s time to talk about the Michigan trail system. Right now we are on the Fred Meijer White Pine Trail. We will be on it tomorrow as well but not the whole day. (Spanning 92 miles, the paved Fred Meijer White Pine Trail State Park, Michigan’s second-longest rail-trail, links Comstock Park near Grand Rapids to Cadillac. Following the historic Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad bed, it traverses 15 towns and cities, rural farmland and offers scenic overlooks, picnic areas and abundant wildlife viewing opportunities. The entire trail is now paved!)
Fred Meijer started a 6 state convenience/ gas station empire based in Grand Rapids. (Fred Meijer, the founder of Meijer grocery stores, heavily funded the creation of numerous rail trails in Michigan, including providing the initial funding to purchase a 42-mile CSX rail corridor to create the Fred Meijer Heartland Trail and establishing endowments for ongoing maintenance. He and the Meijer Foundation provided significant financial support, leadership, and vision for the Michigan rail-to-trails movement, leading to many trails being named in his honor.)
We met so many people at the rest stops today and even saw a few other bike tourers but they didn’t look they were on as big of a tour as we are. Definitely don’t think they’re camping.
We were told that this trail section gets pretty busy on the weekend. Riders from Grand Rapids like to come this far for lunch or breweries and ride back.
We arrived to our campground in Morley about 3pm. It was really an easy casual ride today. Very flat ride all day with no wind or weather. Actually warm (77) but not hot and the shade from the trail made it perfect. I tuned into some podcasts. My favorites are The Moth and This American Life. Such good, interesting short stories. Trails like this are easy to ride and listen.
heart of Morley
We are staying at a private campground tonight. Really family oriented campground. Has so many fun things for families. Pickleball court, big jump pad (like a giant inground air filled bouncy tarp), huge playground, miniature golf, hammock area, swimming pool). The pool and jumping pad were closed.
Similar to our experience in Canada this RV campground has permanent campers. They call seem to have golf carts to get around. This coming weekend they are celebrating Halloween. The decorations are everywhere… it’s a big deal!
How we roll….
Showers! Showers showers. Best part of finishing my ride each day!
Order of events when we arrive to our destination:
Checkin. Unload bicycles. Charge bicycle electronics (lights, computer), Gather clothes to change into and shower gear. Set up tent. Set up inside of tent(pad, sleeping bag, clothes, etc) Shower. Hang clothesline and today’s shower cleaned bike clothes). Find a place for a beer (if possible). Eat dinner. Jim also checks logistics for camping/motel a few days away and double checks the route. Relax in tent and compose blog. Publish. Go to sleep.
Tomorrow we ride to Evart and we will be camping in a city park. Weather looks really good again.
cinnicrew 