THE CIRCLE TOUR: Part 3 - The Dirty Twisties

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- Some weeks ago we made a 913 mile trip around Lake Michigan, known as the Circle Tour. These are our trip logs. -

( Catch Up: Part 1 | Part 2 )

Part 3: The Dirty Twisties
Leg: Munising to Muskegon
Route: H-58 > Gran Marais > M-77 >Hiawatha Trail > Trout Lake Rd. > M-123 > I-75 > Mackinaw Bridge > M-31 > Head E. and pick up M-119 (Tunnel of Trees) > M-31
We hit the northern coast of the Upper Peninsula  with 3 hours worth of misting rain collected in our boots. The mood was anything but drab. The beauties of Michigan were just beginning to unfold and these next few days were going to be some of the most memorable of our trip. The landscapes we took in on this leg I previously thought were reserved for places like California’s Pacific Coast. Up here is the Midwest’s best kept secret.




There’s something to be said about traveling with a low powered bike. In my opinion the SR250’s 20hp was just about ideal. It’s limited power demands that you take your time and will always strongly suggest  the path less traveled. A top speed of 75 keeps you off the highways yet is enough to ensure ear to ear grins through the 30+ miles of dense twisties on H-58 (do NOT pass this road up). On this stretch alone I saw Kara progress from scrubbing off 10MPH at the turn entrance to hitting it at straight away speeds. It’s been said many times that it’s more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow. Maybe it has to do with the feeling of invincibility you get from romping on a smaller machine. It’s like a toy right? Toy’s don’t hurt people. 



 
MI-58 lead us into Grand Marais, a dropped pin that had been recommended by just about everyone we talked to that had done the trip before. Our plan was to head another 11 miles east and set up camp at another recommended location called Blind Sucker. The name was comical at first yet would later reveal itself to be more of a definition. We headed out on MI-58 East, the only access road to our proposed destination. Within a couple miles the road condition took a real dive. It appeared they had made the road out of potholes.  It had become more comfortable to simply ride on the dirt shoulder, which turn out to be a precursor to the road that lied ahead. After 45min of this and just barely making it half way (an astonishing 5 miles) Kara came to a halt. Her expression was somehow of disgust and enlightenment. 

“This is the only road out there right?”

“Yes.”

“And it’s supposed to thunderstorm tonight, right?”
An event I had actually been looking forward to experiencing in a tent until the consequences of our situation hit me at the same time I dragged out my “Yea…” response.
“And the nearest form of civilization is 11 miles from the campsite via a dirt crater path that’s about to be hit by an all night thunderstorm.”

We would end up turning around and spending the night in Grand Marais. There the owner of our motel kindly offered to keep our bikes in his barn across the street, out of the storm. That night we threw on our rain gear and made the trek out to the brewery at the center of town. Their beer turned out to be quite awful, a quality none of the Wednesday regulars seemed to comply with. Their pizza more then made up for it. Not looking forward to our mile walk back in the storm we stuck around to try a few of their bottled alcohols. 





We eventually made our way back into Michigan proper, setting up camp at the foot of the Mackinaw Bridge connecting the two lands. From there we swung out sharp West to pick up MI-119, known as the Tunnel of Trees. Picture a tunnel of trees…you got it. We were served a solid 22 miles of canopy cover on a single lane road that would break only to reveal gorgeous cliff side views of the lake.
From there we made our way down the coast to Muskegon where we picked up the ferry back to Milwaukee. In all we clocked about 913 miles over those 8 days. I couldn’t have been happier with our direction of travel and the paths we took. The sights got increasingly beautiful as we rode along from Wisconsin into Michigan. Sure, you can travel out west and be guaranteed to bathe in all of nature’s riches but there’s always such a great sense of fulfillment in discovering the gems within your own backyard. 

Gear:

Kara and the SR250: are shown carrying the One Man Tent by Poler Stuff and the Pickwick Day Pack by Brooks England, supplied by Kaufmann Mercantile.
Dave and the CX500: are shown carrying the Pathfinder Sleeping Pad by Field & Stream, the Boulder Pack 2.0 by Lexdray and the Explorer's Cap supplied by Huckberry.
Both helmets are the Gringo by Biltwell.

GIVE-A-WAY: Old Calgary Alpha Card Wallet via Huckberry

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You may have noticed from previous posts that I'm a sucker for wool and leather. The combo just has so much appeal. If you're of a similar mindset, or simply love all things priced Free, then you may fancy this post. The fine folks at Huckberry have agreed to give up some of their wool and leather to one of you. It comes in the form of a beautifully designed and tailored Alpha Card Wallet by Old Calgary. The wallet combines 100% virgin merino wool from Germany with vegetable tanned Italian leather. They're handcrafted in the USA, making it the quality country trifecta, or Quantrfecta (beta). If you're not familiar with Huckberry, it's a bi-weekly web magazine based in San Fran that offers deals on curated apparel and gear from some great brands like Woolrich, Poler, Iron & Resin, etc. 

You can pick up the Alpha Card Wallet at Huckberry here for $29.95.
You can also win one by doing the following:

1. Sign up to Huckberry.
In doing so you'll also be receiving their bi-weekly newsletter, which in all honesty is one of my favorite newsletters to hit my inbox. They do some truly great adventure write ups.

2. Comment on this post.
Leave a comment below between now and Friday the 27th at Midnight (CST).

I'll pick one winner at random which will be announced that following Monday, the 30th. The winner will then have one week to shoot me an email at Dave@motomucci.com to claim their prize. International readers welcome!




MERCH: Sketchbook Crafts' 2013 Fall Line

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2013 Fall Line

Some great new bags just surfaced at Sketchbook Crafts for their fall line. Each Sketchbook bag is designed, cut, assembled, sewn, punched, riveted, and lined by Amber Jensen herself. I've always appreciated the harmony between color, material and finish in her work. Go check out the full set through the link above.





DAILY INSPIRATION: Fuch's 1986 Suzuki DR600 Tracker

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1986 Suzuki DR600 Tracker
by Fuchs
I’ve often contemplated what it is that qualifies someone to be regarded as a professional builder. What are the terms to which one must adhere to be adorned with such a prefix? Is it reserved for those who rely on building bikes to put food on the table? Or maybe one needs to acquire   X   amount of show trophies to get their General stars? What’s made the most sense to me lately is a stature based on the amount of customized parts that have been made as opposed to acquired and assembled. It’s something I am constantly pushing myself to improve upon and seems like the most tangible way to create that builder hierarchy. At the top of my list are Ian Barry and Max Hazan, not only for their god-like abilities but their accompanying aesthetic vision.
This controversy brings me to a build I came across recently by a guy named Massimo Rinchiuso out of Italy. At first glance it’s difficult to understand the amount of work that has gone into this bike being that it’s relatively unassuming, in a good way. The alterations of the main 10ft elements draw you in – the tall raked stance, the unfamiliar tank and tail and their relationship to the nimble core. From there you just keep getting closer..and closer. You start finding that peaking around corners and underneath components is revealing all sorts of hidden alterations that Max, or “Fuchs”, has had his hands in.
Flip through these photos, and take your time, but to fully digest this build you’ll need to follow that first helping up with a lengthy scroll through Max’s build page. There you’ll begin to be able to wrap your head around this bike’s level of customization. I’d say that earns Fuchs his General stars.










DAILY INSPIRATION: Noise Cycle's Born Free 5 Harley Panhead

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I had been following the body work updates for this bike in complete awe via Instagram a few months back. Scott Jones of Noise Cycles has immense talent and aesthetic vision. After reading this write up on The Mighty Motor you can begin to understand how it's all formed over the years. 

Here's a few beautiful shots from the feature but be sure to swing over and read up.

Harley Panhead
Built for Born Free 5 and awarded Best in Show