9/21/2025 Sunday
Muskegon to Ludington MI
Stats: Miles: 65 AIS: 5:45 Speed: 11.2mph Elev. 1249 ft
It was 6am when I proposed to Jim that instead of riding to Hart (40 mi) we should bust it out and ride all the way to Ludington…. finishing a day earlier than we planned. I have a great niece attending Wisconsin in Madison and we’re going to stop and see her. You know…do the nice Aunt and Uncle thing and take the college kid out to dinner! Also I’m excited to check out the campus. I love college campuses and college towns.
Back to the ride. It didn’t rain as much as we thought during the night but it was still nice to have everything dry and easy to pack. Sure as sh** it started to pour at 7am. No big deal we weren’t ready to ride yet. It stopped for awhile but another wave came in at 8am. This one was suppose to last an hour…as it did! I was ready to go at 9am but Jim said it was moving north and we needed to wait longer so we wouldn’t ride jnto it. So we waited… NYTimes wordle and other games completed. Jim took this time to repair a zipper that he had just broken on his brand new shoe liners.
Be more gentle when zipping from now on!
Since we were about re-ride a section we’d done I suggested we ride to the Bagel shop (about 1 mile) and pickup one of their delicious bagel sandwiches we could eat for lunch and also kill more time. Previously we bought one of their bagel sandwiches so we knew they were good!
After that stop we were officially on our way for the day. It was now 10am. We are riding a rail trail for the next 40 miles. It is Sunday morning and all the trails are quiet. I guess between rain, church and football, most locals were not outside recreating today! I told Jim we need to remember to not take layover days on Sunday. It’s a good day to ride more peacefully.
It’s been three weeks since we were here and the fall colors are noticeable. This time I took more notice of the sculptures we’d seen along the trail on the way down but didn’t stop.
in Montague
fewer leaves on the trees
We did have another short rain storm that we just rode through. Rain jackets on, rain jackets off. That was the end of the rain for today. By noon the sun was beginning to shine through. By 2pm it was sunny again.
After 40 miles the trail ended. The next 25 miles we were on the backroads again and went from basically flat to rolling hills from Hart to Ludington. Once again we were riding close to the Lake Michigan shoreline on yet another Lakeshore Dr. All afternoon the Sunday traffic was really light on the roads. We rolled into Ludington at 5:30pm. The longest bike ride we’ve had on this trip and also the latest start! Tonight is a motel.
Things I notice…
It seems in Michigan if you sell snacks and alcohol it’s called Party Store! We’ve seen several of these but this one was easy to stop and photograph. (In Holland)
Tomorrow we set sail on the Badger Ferry to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. It’s a 4 hour ferry ride across Lake Michigan. Ferry leaves at 9am. $68/ Sr Citizen + $7 bicycle + $9 fees = $84 each.
cinnicrew 