Pedal Across Lower Michigan (PALM) 2025
Friday, June 20
Corky arrived at 11 or so and we packed up and headed down the road. We stopped on I-55 at Wally's, which is essentially the same as a Buc-ee's with a bear instead of a beaver. Construction and traffic in Chicago made us lose probably an hour, so we rolled into Stevensville, Michigan kind of late. There was no one at the school where the ride was to start, so we couldn't camp there. The campground at Weko Dunes was full. We went to a hotel. They were full, and said nearly all the others were full too because of a softball tournament. One hotel might have rooms for >$400. I thought we would be sleeping in the car, but I called the Super 8. They had rooms for $150, so we took one. We had a beer at the local microbrewery. We ate dinner at the nearby Coach's, which is a chain, apparently. Their hamburgers are really good.
Saturday, June 21: Pre-ride
We made three attempts to dip our tires into Lake Michigan. First, we rode our bikes down Glenlord Ave., which was right near the hotel. It ends at the lake, but there is a 40-food cliff, and no legal public access. We took pictures. We asked a lady there where we could access the lake. She told us at the state park. We rode down to Grand Mere State Park. The path to the lake did not allow bikes (or alcohol), and we walked our bikes until it turned to deep sand. We carried our bikes for a ways. I was game to continue, but another guy told us it was still another mile to the lake, so we gave up and reversed course. On our third attempt, we rode down to the Weko Dunes campground we had visited the day before. Part of our path was on a lovely national bikeway (#35). U.S. Bicycle Route 35 is a 500-mile route that runs from Indiana through Michigan to Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, generally following the Lake Michigan shoreline and through the eastern Upper Peninsula. The road ended at a public beach. We took off our shoes, dipped our tires and got photos.
It must have been the all-town garage sale weekend, and we stopped at many on our way back to Stevensville. I passed on good deals on skis, a kayak, and scuba gear. We got lunch at the Dog Slinger and ate it at the microbrewery. We went back to the hotel and took naps. We swam in the pool. We went to the registration and meeting at the school and had dinner at Coach's again. Awesome black bean burrito.
29.26 mi
Sun, 6/22/2025 PALM Day 1: Stevensville to Dowagiac
We got up at 6 a.m., left the hotel and went to the school for breakfast. I buttoned up the car and left it in the parking lot. We got our bags on the trailer by 8 and began the ride. There was a southwest wind, so the headwinds were harsh whenever we were on the early southward legs. We stopped at an open air market so Corky could use the Kybo. We didn't buy anything. Somebody was playing cartoon theme songs on the PA, including The Bullwinkle and Rocky Show as we left. We took the optional route for more mileage, and it was very scenic. We saw two fawns, butterflies and swamps. Part of our route was a state bike route. The streets of Buchanan were all torn up. There was a detour around it, but we found our own way, since we could ride our bikes where cars can't go. We got water from a firefighter who was filling cans from a hydrant. We stopped at a convenience store for snacks. I got lemonade and an apple pie. Part of this route was along a river, and very scenic.
We cut off a seemingly superfluous rectangle from the route, but overran our turn onto Snow road and unnecessarily climbing and large hill. Now back on the main route, we stopped at Nikki's diner in Berrien Springs for lunch. I ordered lemonade and an omelet, but could not eat it all. I left one of my water bottles there. We never saw any other riders on the optional route. We crossed the bridge over the river and, preparing to turn left, Corky looked back and yell, "Clear". As he moved over, a white SUV roared up from behind and locked up its brakes for a second. We found Tim, Julie, Mary and Rhonda at a SAG stop and talked to them a bit. The last 12 miles went very fast, being flat and having tailwinds. A bridge was out in Dowagiac, and we detoured around it, but it turned out we could have taken the intact sidewalk. I was at 61.75 miles as we approached the school, so I continued up the road and came back and ended up with about 62.
I found my bags, stacked them, and went to the bathroom while Corky found a camp site in the shade of a building. The family next to us was entertaining, as 9-year-old Natalie asked if I had forgotten how to set up my tent, then if I had put my mallet in a different compartment. Right on both counts. We got showers, then dinner, chicken, rice, beans and pasta salad. All good. I ran into a guy who said he had my water bottle, so I followed him to his tent and retrieved it. We were going with Tim's crew down to the Wounded Minnow for a drink, but I didn't get out of the parking lot without noticing I had a flat. I changed the tube for a TPU tube, with help from Natalie and her brother Chase. There was a tiny wire in my tire that had caused the puncture. I joined the others at the bar and had a couple of beers. Across the street was an ice cream vendor, and I got a chocolate-peanut butter malt. I bought a charging cable at a convenience store, then a comb and a battery at the Dollar General. The battery was for my cadence sensor, which had stopped working. We returned to the school. I sat inside in the air conditioning for awhile before bed. It was hot and I had trouble going to sleep.
62.19 mi
Mon, 6/23/2025 PALM Day 2: Dowagiac to Sturgis
As always, we had breakfast at the school. It was fairly hilly on the initial stretch. We were passing a lot of people. We came upon a young lady on a Univega Maxima Sport on the side of the road. Her chain had jumped in the front. Corky got her chain back on and adjusted her front derailleur. We rolled up to a guy with a huge trailer with his smoker on it, selling barbeque. But it was only 9:30, and none of his meat was ready anyway. We continued to the Baptist Church, which had cold sandwiches, etc. , for lunch. We ate, even though it was still only 10:30. We made good time for a while, and got on the optional route again. It was flat and fairly fast. We caught up to a couple, the first people we'd seen on the optional. We were resting in the shade on a corner when the SAG car came by. We tried to flag him down to get water, but he didn't see us. We continued and went through the Langley Covered Bridge, which provided blessed shade, if only briefly. We were getting desperate for water when Corky asked a guy who was watering his lawn if we could have some. He, Bob, agreed, and gave us well water from a hose. His wife, Marlene, came out and gave us some very doubtful looks. She said repeatedly we were crazy for riding in this heat. She wanted to give us bottled water. Bob offered us to take a dip in the St. Joseph River behind his house, and I took him up on it. We took selfies with them and left.
It was very hot and there were hills leading into town. I saw a school and thought we were at the end, but it was the wrong school. A few miles later and we were there. We set up our tents in a place that would be shaded in a couple of hours, but it wasn't then. It was brutally hot, and I did not enjoy it. We took showers, had dinner, and rode down to a bar (Wings?) for a beer with the gang. This turned out to be the hardest day of the ride.
78 mi
Tue, 6/24/2025 PALM Day 3: Sturgis to Coldwater
We rode out of town and stopped for water at the town of Burr Oak. We talked to a SAG guy, Dennis, for awhile, who said he was going to see his brother in the next town. Dennis told a story about how he fell through the ice when he was a kid. We stopped at a bar named Curly's for lunch. A guy started talking to us about biking and how his brother was a bicyclist. His brother walked in, and it was Dennis. I think the brother was the town drunk. I had fish and chips. It was excellent. It began to rain, and I stopped to put on my disposable poncho before I got soaked (as happened last year in Oklahoma). It made a hell of a flapping noise going down the road, and stretched out behind me like Batman's cape. I tucked the back of it under my butt to hold it there and protect my fanny pack and phone from the rain. After the rain stopped, the plastic was hot against the sides of my face. I came up to a SAG stop, where Tim and the gang were. They pointed out that in my haste I had put my head through the arm hole of my poncho! I bought lemonade from the kids at the stop. I had to use the bathroom pretty badly, but none was available so I went out behind a shed and did my business in tall grass. Corky and I spotted an animal in a distant field and discussed what it might be. I thought it was a deer. Then an actual deer bounded across the field. After it turned and walked a bit, I saw that it was a turkey, as Corky had suggested.
We continued on and finished the ride at the next school. I was .2 miles from 65 so I rode up the sidewalk and back. My helmet fell off (I had not snapped it), and when I stopped I gouged my right leg with the chainrings. It left a bloody streak, but it wasn't deep at all. We soon found all our bags had been left out in the rain. The Scheel's bag was fairly waterproof, protecting my sleeping bag, but my backpack was not. All my T shirts were soaked, as well as my jerseys and biking shorts. We camped in the lee of a gymnasium near a door that gave us easy access to air conditioning, electricity for charging our devices, and the cafeteria. I took a shower in the aquatic center across the way, but my shower head put out water in a single jet like a drill. Dinner was by Chartwell's, the same company that we contract with at Quincy University. The chicken was dry. Worst dinner of the trip! We didn't go out drinking, as we knew we had the century the next day.
65.00 mi
Wed, 6/25/2025 PALM Day 4: Coldwater to Addison
We had gotten up early and got out at 7:15 in the morning. Right as we were about to leave, it began to rain. Not again! I ducked into the gym, and it subsided after a few minutes. I went ahead while Corky went to air up a tire. My cadence sensor wasn't working again, which really annoyed me because I wanted to know my pedal stroke count for the century. I stopped at the first SAG and he caught up. It was hilly on the first part of the ride. We stopped at a gas station where the guy was playing hard rock inside. He had a custom painted motorcycle tank and fender on the counter inside. I got a snack and we continued, soon turning off on the optional route for the century. The roads were fairly flat, but poorly maintained. We went through Amish country. Corky got ahead of me. I turned a corner and I didn't see him though I could see the road for several miles. I suspected then that he had taken a wrong turn. I called him when I got to Reading. He had missed a turn. He continued to Camden to get back on route. I had a sandwich at Subway and bought one for him. There was a lovely moth (the modest sphinx) on the wall where I ate lunch. Corky called while I was riding and said he would back track from Camden until he ran into me. While I was talking to him, I passed a woman on the route, the only other person we would see. We learned later her name was Kate. I saw a big hound dog as I turned a corner. I tried talking nice to him, but he barked aggressively. As he ran up, eyeing my tender calf, I was just preparing to kick him in the face when he finally backed off. I met up with Corky and we stopped in the shade in front of an Amish house and leaned our bikes against a wooden fence. He ate part of his sandwich. An Amish girl came out of the house, saw us, and ran out to the barn where presumably everyone else was working. Sounded like a sawmill. She kept shooting looks at us. Eventually, the Amish quit working, came out of the barn, and gave us a hearty greeting as we pedaled away.
Camden road was really rough, with a furrow all the way across the road every 20 feet. Even though it was flat, we could not make good time, going thunk-a thunk-a down the road. Corky rode in the sand/gravel on the side for parts of this stretch. We suspect the locals do not invest much in road maintenance. We stopped at a Marathon gas station and got ice in our water bottles, which was very nice. At the next stop, about 20 miles later, we stopped at a store and refilled our bottles from a tap. We found as we rode away that the water was hot. We passed a house with a "Fuck Trump" sign, which I'm sure was unusual in that area. We met a SAG guy and got some water from him. I told him that a woman was still behind us. We ran into him later and he said he had gone back 5 or 6 miles and hadn't found her. When we finished the ride, we went in to check in after the century, writing down our finish times. I saw that Kate had not checked in. I told the guy and he said he knew her and would call her. I figured it was in good hands. I found out she checked in at 8, and had run out of water long ago. No one called her. She was pretty salty about it. No one at the desk told us to go to the meeting or anything. We were even discussing with them how RAGBRAI has a century patch. It turned out that at the meeting they gave out medals to those who completed the century. We gave them our addresses so they could send them to us. We didn't feel too bad physically after the century. Dinner was good Chinese food, but the showers were cold. My towel had been wet for days by this time, and was beginning to smell like a dead mouse. We rode down to a bar for beers with the gang.
104.63 mi
Thu, 6/26/2025 PALM Day 5: Addison to Dundee
I left without Corky again, but he caught up at the first water stop. My cadence sensor started working for no obvious reason. We passed Manitou Beach and Devil's Lake, a quaint vacation community. We diverted onto the optional route, which was a closed loop this time. We stopped on a little bridge over a stream. There was an old stone arch bridge a bit upstream, and damselflies were busy below us. The loop went around Loch Erin, and at one point we came down some sweeping curves with a great view of the lovely lake. We had a short stretch on a busy highway, but at least it had good shoulders. We stopped at a gas station. Corky got a sandwich and I got some trail mix and gatorade. On the wall of the gas station was a Giant Leopard Moth, an arctiid I'd never seen in real life before.
We took off down Pentecost Highway. It began to rain at some point, and I stopped to put on my poncho. It stopped raining shortly. I stopped again to take off the poncho while Corky continued ahead. After awhile it started raining again, and it grew steadily harder as I rode through Adrian. I saw a SAG sign and two guys huddled under the eaves of a bank. I pulled in and joined them just in time, as the rain became a powerful thunderstorm and downpour. The were both from the east coast, and one was collecting all 48 contiguous states. We watched as the torrents of wind-driven rain came down. The parking lot filled with water and the drain in the middle became a big whirlpool. Cars going down the road made huge splashes in the full gutters. I had to go to the bathroom pretty bad, but the bank had no public bathroom. As soon as the rain let up, I left the other two guys and headed out. I road through 6 inches of flood water. It was interesting. I stopped at a little store with a bathroom. Whew! I found that my saddle had come loose, and tightened it back up. I figured Corky was way ahead of me by then. I got behind a couple of women. One set a really nice pace of 17 mph down a flat with a modest tailwind. At one point we crossed railroad tracks and I saw her tires slip on the wet rails. The same happened to me. We learned later a couple of guys hit those tracks and went down. I stopped at the Methodist Church in Deerfield. I checked my messages and got a text from Corky. He had ridden the storm out at the school in Adrian. I thought he was still ahead of me though, so I pressed on to Petersburg. Another storm was coming in. At first I thought I could beat it, but a mile out of town the lightning came too close and the rain too hard, so I turned around and went back to town. I got soaked. I took shelter in an outdoor power store. I ate the rest of my trail mix and sat on a bucket. The place smelled like motor oil. The guys there were cool with me hanging out though, and gave me some paper towels to clean my glasses before I left. After the rain let up, I rode the remaining 6 miles to Dundee in a light sprinkle. It turned out the Corky was actually behind me. He had the luck to ride out the second storm in a bar, drinking beer.
They put our bags indoors and let us sleep in the hallways because it was supposed to storm that night, which it did. The high school was huge. I found a good spot with an electrical outlet, but it was across from the bathrooms. Dinner was pulled pork, mac and cheese, and lots of fruit. I went to the meeting at 7 to get all the details for the end of the ride the next day. We walked down to a bar (Uncle Lyle's) for drinks with Tim, Julie, and Alex. We came back at 11:30 and the hall lights were off, except for our hall. There was frequent traffic to the bathrooms too, but I slept as well as I could. Corky found an empty office and slept within.
70.45 mi
Fri, 6/27/2025 PALM Day 6: Dundee to Luna Pier
Breakfast was biscuits and gravy. Very hearty. We didn't have any tents to break down, but we still didn't get out until 8. It was a very flat 22 miles to Luna Pier. We passed a lot of people that we hadn't seen on most days (including the Univega girl). We're fast, but we always started late and took the optional route. It's a small, slightly touristy place on Lake Eerie, but at the time it smelled like dead fish (perhaps because of actual dead fish on the shore). Corky and I dipped our front wheel and took photos. Mayflies were everywhere. I bought an ice cream bar. Alex gave us beers and we drank until the parade at 11:30. Everyone had worn their official PALM T-shirt, and we had a police escort as we paraded to the school. We ate box lunches. I took off my pedals and taped pool noodles onto my bike frame and loaded it into the truck. I took a shower and helped Corky prep his bike. We were done by 1:30. We waited patiently for the the bus, which was supposed to arrive at 2 and take us from Luna Pier back to the start of the ride at Stevensville. There was no air conditioning in the building. By 3:00 we were pretty exasperated and we heard the news that the bus had gone to Stevensville instead of Luna Pier. People were pretty hot, in more ways than one. Then we heard that a new bus was coming by 5. A guy told us that the weight room was air conditioned, and many people moved there. I found a comfortable bench on a leg press machine. At least we were cool. Corky and Alex walked to the Dollar General, but I stayed, as there was nothing I needed. We all regretted not getting one of the extra box lunches that was leftover after lunch. I went to the lobby to use the bathroom at 6 and as I came out I saw the bus coming up the road. Finally. Four hours of my life wasted on someone's screw-up. We loaded onto the bus. I ate the remnants of my box lunch that I had fortunately saved: chips, carrots and an apple. Alex gave me another beer, which was nice. We didn't stop for dinner, but we stopped for a rest room break and another time because someone had pressed the emergency button in the bathroom (Alex?). We rolled into Stevensville almost at 10 p.m. We loaded our bikes on the car and our bags inside. Fortunately, the car did unlock and start. I was afraid it might not because my smart key had gotten wet in the rain earlier in the week. I had made a reservation at the same Super 8. We went to Coach's for another fine dinner, then to the hotel to crash.
Sat, 6/28/2025 The return
We got up at 6, packed up and left. We stopped at a convenience store, got gas and donuts for breakfast. Corky drove most of the way home while I slept. There was still construction, but not nearly the traffic in Chicago. Just before Pittsfield, Corky said we were low on gas. The gas gauge showed no bars and the gas light was on. I pressed the trip meter until it showed the remaining range. It showed "--", not even a zero. Luckily, we exited at Pittsfield and got gas at some ag station. Whew! I drove the rest of the way home. We moved Corky's stuff into his Explorer, said our goodbyes and he went home.
Reflection
Michigan is a beautiful place, with lots of rivers and lakes, as well as fields. All the streams are clear. The southern part of lower Michigan is fairly flat, which made for easy riding much of the way. There are chipmunks everywhere, and lots of other wildlife, including innumerable raccoon and opossum roadkills. The ride was well organized for the most part, though there were definitely times when they dropped the ball. It really is family friendly, and lots of people towed their kids in trailers. They had kids activities every night. You really do need to go to the meeting every night. There was no alcohol allowed at the schools, so those who wanted to imbibe had to leave to get beer. There was no live music. The tour is relatively inexpensive. It was not a difficult or long drive to the start. I would do it again, perhaps in a few years.
Link to photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/uoPtPbEBwVZaQdXB6
