Monthly Archives: September 2025

By David Freeze

   Today, August 5^th, has been the longest day of my Great Lakes adventure, and I don’t have much to show for it. I ran very early this morning in Belgium, Wisconsin. To those who saw my Day 5 report, I felt lucky to grab a reasonable room just at the interstate exit and north of afternoon rush hour traffic for Milwaukee and Chicago. Just as what happened in Detroit on the way north, my history has included getting caught in bumper to bumper, inching along traffic with people who do it every day! I dreaded Chicago. I have been in their traffic many times over the years and knew this time would likely be the same.

    The motel was good! I kept my watch on Eastern Daylight Time while everyone else in Wisconsin is on Central Daylight Time. I ran, showered, checked out, got gas, a breakfast biscuit and ice before 6:30am local time. Driving through Milwaukee’s interstate was a dream. No issues.

    I heard on the radio that three tractor trailers had collided overnight on the Dan Ryan Expressway, one of the major interstates around Chicago. Authorities were rerouting traffic, so my GPS sent me on Illinois 41. I was scheduled early to ride about 50 miles on the Dan Ryan. I got a two-mile notice to change to 41 and soon the radio started to tell others to do the same. After an hour of barely moving, I finally cleared the downtown area only to get stopped again by those brush and vacuum trucks that were cleaning the side of the interstate. Massive traffic that should have had three lanes had only one. One total hour added to my trip home.

     Then in Indiana on Interstate 65, a portion was closed for an accident cleanup. All traffic was rerouted for about six miles of country roads. Another hour added to travel time. But the rest of the day went well, and I am spending the night in Charleston, WV. Only about 253 miles of the 988 going home from Green Bay remain.

    Here are some thoughts on this wonderful trip. I saw over 1200 miles of shoreline or as close as possible from the nearest road. The weather was perfect every day. As always, the people were the real stars. The very first person that I met this time on the Great Lakes was Peter Ashwin Patel at his motel in Port Huron and the conversation was wonderful. The owners at the Gateway Motel in Newberry were fun too. Hard to beat was Steve Russell, the man who fixed my brakes while we shared thoughts on the world. But just like on a regular bike trip, I met nice people throughout.

    I ran and did some purposeful walking every day too! I didn’t want to come home after missing eight days of running as I am still chasing 2,000 miles for the year.  It was generally cool and comfortable but most often humid, which I am sure goes with the nearby mass of water. I didn’t get to ride the bike as much as I wanted to as time was always tight, but I found that I need more future miles to build up my pedaling muscles. I had not been on a bike for more than a year and a half. Porter at Skinny Wheels did a great job getting the bike ready for this trip.

     I did most of the planning the night before visiting a certain area, same as on an extended bike ride. I used my big and bulky 2023 Road Atlas and a Michigan Great Lakes guidebook that is filled with great information. Every day was filled with problem solving, including what to go see and making it work with available time. Big surprises were Marquette, Michigan and Manitowoc, Wisconsin for all there was to see and do.

     Every motel room has its own story, and I love playing the game! I am in a Quality Inn high rise motel in Charleston tonight. I spoke to the desk clerk on the phone before coming here and got a certain price. The same clerk was at the desk when I arrived but still tried to charge full price. I reminded her we had already agreed on a price. I have a nice 7^th floor room. I can ride 100 miles a day on a bike but still must find the right motel deal to finish the day.   

     The lighthouses stole the show, just as I knew they would. Some I knew about as part of my early planning, others were surprises like the one in Manitowoc that I would have missed if not for a small sign on the interstate and Siri’s help. If you are wondering, I now have done about half of the Great Lakes shoreline over three trips, so there is much more to see. These are big lakes, and the rest of the shoreline will be high on my list!

     As the final exploration for this journey, I ran in Charleston on Wednesday morning. August 6th along the beautiful Kanawha River, something I always wanted to do. After checking out of the hotel, I went exploring around the magnificent West Virginia State Capitol building. I walked and took photos for 1.3 miles on the capitol grounds and saw my first ever black squirrel, and statues of Abraham Lincoln, Stonewall Jackson and one for the Union Soldiers of the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln was the major player in helping to establish West Virginia, largely filled with his supporters after receiving fewer than 2000 votes from Virginia for his election in 1860. He signed the West Virginia statehood bill in December 1862.

    Another adventure is done! This one will total just eight days, including the first with all driving that didn’t count, and it was great fun! Final mileage covered on this adventure was 2669. I hope you find your own adventures and thanks for letting me share this one with you!

By David Freeze

   Monday, August 4^th was one of the more fun days so far because I had just a guess of the agenda and could change it at any time and all would be fine. I spent the night in West Ishpeming, different because there are hills here. The motel was the Triangle and although he had a “Full” sign on the door, the owner found me a room at a very reasonable price. To pay him back, I cleaned the room and took my trash with me. I always imagine the cleaning person when they first look at the room!

    I decided overnight to visit downtown Marquette, Michigan this morning. I read a few things that were interesting and had to check them out. First was the Marquette Maritime Museum where I was disappointed to find that it is closed on Mondays. And it is only open 11am to 4pm when it is open. I knew by this time that the Marquette Harbor Lighthouse was the main draw anyway and it was close by. In fact, several buildings including the keeper’s house and a boathouse were next door too and I think another building was the lifesaving station, left over from Coast Guard service.  

    Finding the steps to the lighthouse chained off and a fence all around it, I followed paths of others trying to get a better view. The steep rocks kept me from climbing them, so I stepped over the chain on the stairs to go up and around and get a great photo. Not a person was ever in sight.

   Several boats were outside, including two Coast Guard boats used in storms, one of which was self-bailing and could not turn over. There was a lifeboat similar to the ones onboard the Edmund Fitgerald which I learned about yesterday at the Shipwreck Museum.

     By this time, I am really in my element and soaking up history. Then I realized that runners, walkers and cyclists are passing by constantly. Marquette has a very long paved trail along the waterfront which can connect to another one in Presque Isle Park, a showcase of Lake Superior scenery, wooded areas and the ability to watch iron ore ships being loaded. Yes, right beside the park is a massive iron ore loading setup where train cars bring the ore and it slides down massive chutes into ships. Train cars are high above the ship.

    Knowing that I had two options meant a decision had to be made by late morning. If I went west for about 120 miles, I would close the bottom loop on Lake Superior to where I had been before. But there was little to see going west. Or I could proceed by starting south toward Green Bay and drive the western Lake Michigan shore down to where I hoped to see a longtime friend. I chose the second option, knowing that I would find something else along the way to see and remembering that from Marquette, I had about 1200 miles to drive home.

    The drive south was wonderful, except where I had to use another gravel road. By midday, the sky was hazy cloudy, and I couldn’t distinguish between the water and the sky. I missed seeing my friend due to his VA appointments, but I did stop in Green Bay for old times sake. I worked there for a winter to train for a new job and found out what harsh winters really are. Over the years, and during the Northwest Tier bike ride that ended in Green Bay, I have discovered a convenience store from that area called Kwik Trip. They always have freshly made pastries and many other things in the store on special. I was looking for my first one and found it on Ashland Street. I loaded up cheese rolls, cookies and a Long John pastry to eat while I was riding. I can get away with this when riding a hundred miles a day on the bike, but not when driving. But what a treat this was! There is a sign on the outside of the store that says something about not staying longer than 30 minutes and all the parking spaces were full!

    I asked GPS for a route home without tolls and got started south toward Milwaukee. Just 20 miles or so later, I saw the sign for another lighthouse in Manitowoc. With no particular agenda, I took a left off the interstate and found another Wisconsin city that I had not previously visited. And what a beautiful city Manitowoc is. Downtown is alive and there is yet another maritime museum there that I didn’t know about. The Wisconsin Maritime Museum has the submarine USS Cobia from WWll. It was too late to visit today, and I needed to keep moving.

    But I did walk 1.35 miles round trip to see the Manitowoc Breakwater Light. It is a beautiful site from a distance and up close. Visitors have taken to hanging locks along the chain link fence. I first saw this done on a chain-link door next to the Mississippi River in New Orleans. I will miss the maritime museum this time as I have to be home by Wednesday night and I still have almost 900 miles to go.

     This was a great day, totally unscripted and better because of it. I am spending the night in Belgium, Wisconsin at what might be the best buy on a motel yet. I will report on that tomorrow. Meanwhile, there is another Kwik Trip right outside the door. I avoided the Chicago rush hour traffic by asking Siri for motels nearby and had a deal just four miles ahead of the exit.

    Hope to see you tomorrow!!