RailRoadFan.com

Hey Folks,

About a dozen of us got together last year for a RR Fan bike ride and rode the former rail line between Greenville and Stanton, Michigan. A few of us also rode from Stanton to Edmore and returned in the afternoon. It was a great time. I was hoping we could do a repeat this year if there is any interest.

One proposed itinerary was from Bloomingdale-South Haven and return on the KAl-Haven trail. It's about 18 miles one way so would be a 36 mile round trip. At a leisurely pace about 2 hours there and two hours back. Also if needed some one could possible arrange a sag service or stage a vehicle in South haven for a one way ride.

I propose the date to be either Sat August 20 or Sun Aug 21. We could also do Aug 13 or 14 one weekend earlier. I would be open to other suggestions as well even an evening ride during the week. I also would be open to other trails and am willing to travel. I love new trails that I haven't ridden. I've ridden every trail I know about within about a 90 minute drive radius of Lake Odessa.

So who is interested?

When?

Where?

After a comment period we will try to finalize the plan.

Comment below!

Was just thinking of this as I was biking the Pere Marquette trail today; I have a couple ideas for future east side tours - one based in Rochester and one based in South Lyon.

Anyhow for your plan - August 20-21 sounds great, I might prefer the Saturday the 20th. Zack earlier mentioned he was going to Summerail in Marion, OH Aug. 13, along with some others.

If I were gonna do it i'd prefer the 20th... The weekend before I have 3 days of bike rides already.

I'll try to join you guys but I have a few other commitments for August

Doing the Insane Inflatable 5K in GR on Saturday the 20th, so that won't work for me. Actually, I don't think I'll be able to make any of the Saturdays between now and October 8.

J T wrote:Doing the Insane Inflatable 5K in GR on Saturday the 20th, so that won't work for me. Actually, I don't think I'll be able to make any of the Saturdays between now and October 8.

Do Sundays work better you J T (and everyone else that is interested)?

Could see how far we get on the White Pine

I can likely do Aug 20th. 21st is a no-go.
Meeting in Bloomingdale, going to South Haven and back sounds great. Thanks for bringing this up Jetlink, good plan.

How hilly is the ride? And any low hanging trees or is the clearances pretty decent?

BerkshireKid wrote:How hilly is the ride? And any low hanging trees or is the clearances pretty decent?

I imagine the railroad has fewer grades on it than Phoenix Rd. east out of South Haven, which has no steep hills other than the dip down into the Black River Valley. The trail parallels Phoenix Rd. from Lacota to Grand Junction, in a relatively flat area. East of Grand Junction, the terrain is relatively flat as well.
I don't know about low hanging trees though.

BerkshireKid wrote:How hilly is the ride? And any low hanging trees or is the clearances pretty decent?

Very flat. Lots of clearance. Well maintained trail. I've ridden it dozens of times. I used to live right in Bloomingdale for about 2 years while I was going to college in Kalamazoo. Over all the grade is downhill from Bloomingdale to South haven (obviously the Lake Michigan coast is lower than 20 miles inland). The steeper grades are on the east end.

I may have to sit this one out. The west side is a little far to drive there and bike and ride in a day.

Maybe the next one we can try to find something more in the middle of the state.

How's the Owosso-Lowell trail coming?

Or maybe you guys come east and I'll show you the Macomb Orchard, Paint Creek and Oakland Clinton Trails. Good riding, good food, and good times .

AARR wrote:
How's the Owosso-Lowell trail coming?

It's completed from Saranac-Owosso. I have ridden it in it's entirety this year. Surface is packed well. I rode it with a .700 wide bike tire no problems.

Lowell to Saranac is open and marginally cleared but still surfaced with primarily RR ballast. I rode a few miles of it with 2.25" mountain bike tires. Twas passable but not enjoyable. Maybe would ride it if Zombies were chasing but otherwise I'll wait for the improvements.

Or maybe you guys come east and I'll show you the Macomb Orchard, Paint Creek and Oakland Clinton Trails. Good riding, good food, and good times .

I would like to do that before the snow flies. Maybe a later weekend in August or sometime in September. If anyone else on RR fan wants to travel east let me know. Otherwise it could just be me and AARR.

What about the Musketawa? I haven't rode that since the extensions were added on the South End

For anybody that would like to ride the Musketawa later this year, there is always a chance that the grill could be fired up at my place. Maybe RDD would even come over and flip some burgers. Could do a lunch and then ride back east, or stage vehicles here and have dinner and a fire. Keep that in mind.
E.

As a side note:
Anyone that has the evening of Friday the 12th open we are doing a pub crawl/bike ride in Owosso. We start at 7pm and casually ride around Owosso and Corunna bar hopping. No serious mileage (usually 7-10 miles) but a fun way to ride with 50-100 riders and enjoy an evening.
Also on Saturday June 13th there is a possible bike ride from Owosso to Ovid via the old GTW trail. Sounds like an afternoon start time... 3ish i think.
If anyone is interested get ahold of me or check out on Facebook "Peddlers B/C" for details. I should be out all evening on my tall bike

All right, lets set the date for Saturday August 20. Meet in the parking area near the caboose at the main crossroads in Bloomingdale. Lets either plan to meet around 10:15 AM for a 10:30 AM departure this would get us to South Haven around lunchtime and then we could have a leisurely return.

OR

We could plan more of an evening ride to avoid the beating afternoon sun with about a 5:00 pm meet up and a 5:15 pm departure. This would get us back right around last light of the day if we allowed 30-45 minute layover for dinner in South Haven.

Comment opinions on start time below then we will finalize the time as well by this next Monday or Tuesday.

I am good to go for Aug 20th at Bloomingdale. I prefer the 5pm meetup. Probably better for you too with your camping schedule I'd guess. Should be a good ride out to South Haven and back.

Musketawa in a couple months sounds good too for a ride.

Has the Thornapple been considered? A lot is still not paved but most of the ROW is relatively intact.

My house to Caledonia is paved on the thornapple and I've ridden it a number of times. We can certainly consider it for a different day. Even some Friday night, a couple of us could meet at my place and ride the 10 miles out to Caledonia and back. Mqt1223, think you can get your bike to Bloomingdale for the 20th?