I recently spent a week in Michigan riding my road bike in the northwestern part of the lower peninsula in the Traveese City area.
The trip was a multi-modal pursuit. We hauled the bike from WI on an Allen bike rack that performed very well. I parked the car each morning in a lot on the Traverse City Area Recreational Trail (TART).
I unloaded the Zurich road bike and rode off on TART to the Leelanau Trail toward Suttons Bay which is approximately 16 miles from Traverse City.
The beach is Suttons Bay is immaculate. There is lots of sand, including a perfectly sandy bottom to the bay. The water is relatively warm and chrystal clear. There are shops, restaurants and cafes to visit also. There are also relatively clean portable toilets on the beach that have soap and provide a private place to change.
At midweek we drove to Empire for the day on the western shore of Lake Michigan. We have been using Empire as a base due to its lovely beach and close proximity to the Sleeping Bear Dunes and the Heritage Trail.
Early afternoon we unloaded our bikes and rode off to catch the Heritage Trail. We rode through the Dunes, Glen Haven and Glen Arbor. The trail is absolutely breathtaking. We stopped for cold brews in Glen Arbor and finished off the day with a very refreshing dip in chilly Lake Michigan at Empire.