2020- Indiana to Michigan Tour Summary

Here are the links to all the blogs about my tour this summer from Carmel, Indiana to Lansing, Michigan. This trip “connected the dots” between my riding in Indiana and the Michigan roads where I began my riding as teenager. With this trip complete, I have a contiguous personal heat map of rides in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska.
 

Wrapping up breakfast.

The 5-day, 360 mile, self-contained camping tour was on Indiana and southern Michigan back roads. I planned the route through 3 State Parks and a private campground, using Google Maps bicycle option for the basic trip plan, and then used a combination of Apple Maps and Google for in route adjustments each day. (I will do a future blog on trip planning tips and techniques.) Each day’s breakfast and dinner was cooked in camp, and lunch (or lunches!) were found on the road; I always followed my 3 meals on the bike rule.

Many aspects of this trip were bucket list items, which I expected to complete over the next few years; connecting to my Michigan miles, a ride from my home to my parent’s home, and riding to a high school reunion. Then COVID 19 canceled all the vacation and bike events my wife Linda and I had hoped to attend. I began planning the trip in early June, when the combination of 7 months without a vacation, the need to burn some accumulated vacation time, along with other factors, made this this a good time to make this trip.

Close to home!

When I asked about the route by non-biking friends, the most common question was “Did you ride up Instate 69?”; it is a revelation how many people have no concept of the available country backroads and byways most bicyclists take for granted. Many also assumed that Linda was driving along for the overnights, and were surprised not only by the daily distance, but that I was riding alone and camping.

Almost 2 months later, each dinner in camp, morning in my tent, and day on the road is still fresh in mind. A picture of one of my campsites, with tent, bike and breakfast on the picnic table, is now my screen saver and meeting back drop. With everything that has happened in 2020, it is good to have that to fall back on.

In to the mitten!

2020: CTD-Pt2 - Day 1 - Old routes a new way
July 21, 2020: Carmel, Indiana to Miami State Recreation Area, Wabash, IN - 76 Miles

2020: CTD-Pt2 - Day 2 - Riding Off My Map
July 23, 2020: Miami State Recreation Area to Chain of Lakes State Park, Albion, IN 75.2 Miles

2020: CTD-Pt2 - Day 3 Into the Mitten
July 23, 2020: Chain of Lakes State Park, Albion, IN to Union, Mi, 75.8 Miles

2020: CTD-Pt2 - Day 4 - Reunions and Reflections
July 24, 2020: Union, Mi to WJ Hayes State Park, Onsted, MI, 58.5 Miles

2020: CTD-Pt2 - Day 5 - All Good Things
July 25, 2020: WJ Hayes State Park, Onsted, MI to Lansing, MI, 65.7 Miles

And by the way, CTD Pt2 (Connect the Dots, Part 2) refers to my first Connect the Dots Tour, Columbia, MO, to Covington, IN in 2014.

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