A Western-Michigan Bike Tour with Dan S.

Our IT guy at the shop, Dan Schneider, just returned from a four-day bike trip along the eastern coast of Lake Michigan in Michigan.

Dan, who has been riding, racing, and touring for more years than he can count, took the ferry to Muskegon with a few friends. The group pedaled over a variety of paved roads, gravel roads, and some unmarked forest roads.


On a bike tour, "I get to hang out with friends and go on a vacation that's all on bicycles rather than going somewhere and driving around,"  he said.

He took the ferry to Muskegon, then rode a loop from the ferry station to Grand Rapids, then Big Rapids, through the Manistee National Forest to Hart, then back to Muskegon.

"Touring is just relaxed," Schneider said. "No one wants to go really fast. We all just want to look at the scenery and have a beer at the end of the day."

Most of the route was planned on google maps, then Ride with GPS. They had hotels reserved along the way.

Dan rode his 2014 Specialized AWOL Comp bike. He loaded up all his gear in Axiom panniers (travel bags) attached to a Blackburn rack. Several times he used front-mounted Serfas lights, especially when the lights went out at one of his hotels!

He also had Specialized touring shoes and an Echelon helmet. His extra Bellwether shorts and jersey were stored in a Banjo Brothers frame pack. He was prepared for rainy conditions, but they had "really good weather."


All of these products are available at Ben's either online or in the store.

On Saturday, our web sales guy, Matt Hewitt, is leaving for a nine-day trip from Milwaukee around the northern tip of Lake Michigan, then back down along with eastern coast of the lake. He'll be camping along with way with friends. We'll be posting about his trip on a new bike when he returns.