Mackinaw Shoreline Century

I traveled up to Mackinaw City, MI this weekend to do the Mackinaw Shoreline Century. I used to do a lot of organized century rides, but not as much any more. Of course I do brevets, which consumes a number of weekends, and if I want to ride 100 miles, I just go do it. I guess at some point getting a t-shirt didn't hold the same appeal. But this one interested me because it would be a chance to go to Mackinaw, see the bridge, see the island and ride part of the Lake Michigan shoreline. So I was in.



The first thing I should say is that the ride is advertised as a century, but isn't a century. Its only 86 miles. I appreciate the Mackinaw chamber folks putting on the ride, but just say what it is, an 86 miler. Nothing wrong with that.

Anyway, the route goes generally south from Mackinaw City. Withing the first few miles you do get some nice views of Lake Michigan. Then the route continues south on what are generally roads through wooded areas. Traffic is very low until you get onto Pleasant View road, which did have more traffic and a crummy shoulder (in disrepair), so it wasn't too great to ride on. Anyway, you soon turn right to head back east. While the route is generally flat, you now have to climb over a couple of ridges to get back to the Lake Michigan shoreline. Nothing too serious, but there are some genuine hills.

Climbing the last ridge takes you past a golf course at a local country club, and then you drop down a wooded road and turn north. I think the road was Michigan 119, but now you are near the shoreline, and for the next 20-25 miles, you are either in a tree canopy of beautiful woods or have a view of Lake Michigan. This is definitely the highlight of the ride. Probably the best part was around mile 64 and the so called tunnel of trees. Just a fantastic forested area. I was told by the rest stop volunteers that this road is much more popular during summer, so if you go then, be aware of increased traffic.

The route then basically worked its way back to Mackinaw City. At this point, only having 86 miles, I still wanted over 100 for the day. So I continued on into the City and made my way to one of the terminals for a ferry to Mackinaw Island. On Mackinaw island, there are only 7 cars, all for official purposes (fire truck, ambulance, garbage truck, etc). So you wither get around by horse taxi or by bike.

Getting off the ferry at Mackinaw Island, it was a tourist zoo. Tourists were everywhere. And so were bikes that people could rent to ride around the island. Some companies rented mountain bikes, but must of them were cruiser type bikes. In any case, I was happy to have my own bike.

I did a loop around the outside of the island. This afforded excellent views of Mackinaw Bridge and the Mackinaw Straits. There were also several interesting rock formations. Getting back to the area where the ferries were, I then went up Turkey Hill so I could take the road that bisected the island. And this was a hill. Short, yes, but probably 10-12% grade. Ouch. After passing some houses were the few locals on the island live, I was in some pristine wooded country. I then came up to an area where the British and Americans fought a battle in the war of 1812. Soon, I was back at the north tip of the island (the island is only 3 miles long). So I reversed course and went back via the middle of the island. On my way back, I diverted off on a bike only trail to see Arches Rock, a natural arch formation looking out onto the waters of Lake Huron. Once again, leading up to his area was the most beautiful forest one could imagine riding too. At this point, I was finished, so I went back to the terminal, boarded the ferry and returned to Mackinaw City. I ended up with 105 miles for the day.



I stayed overnight on Saturday night, so Sunday morning I went out for a quick ride. I rode from Mackinaw City down Highway 23 to Cheboygan. Highway 23 had a sufficient shoulder and there wasn't much traffic on a Sunday morning, so it was a good ride. Looking at a map now, there are other roads in the area, but this route worked OK for me this morning.

One of the things I really liked about northern Michigan was how many of the wooded areas are still intact. Whether these were preserved from logging or replanted, I don't know. But it really made for a lot of pleasant areas to ride through.

So all in all, a good weekend of riding. It was nice to do a century ride again. No brevet card to keep track of, no time limit to worry about. And I could get off my bike after 100 miles. Bonus all the way around.