Great Lakes - Calling Michigan BFers!

Has anyone done much road riding in the UP? I'm interested in how hilly it is.

Haven't done any road riding in the UP yet (hoping to this summer) but have spent quite a bit of time in the UP otherwise. I would say quite hilly at the western end (especially when you get close to the Porkies), pretty much flat at the eastern end of the penninsula, varying in between.

Never done any riding even near the U.P. except for Mackinac Island as a kid (boy it would be easier to remember how to spell it if it was pronunced true its spelling in English).

Bike forums are probably a good non-biased source but you may not get too many posters from Michigan this time of the year. I've ridden my bike once this year. If the forums prove not to be too helpful I'd recommend the following:

I haven't found any topographic maps that are great quality but they are far from bad. Check out trails.com or another resource with topography maps if it's something you're really interested in. Only problem is they are at points of interest (trails, since it is trails.com) and are single maps, of approx. 1.5 mile x 1.5 mile wide and it's not very seamless.

Perhaps for starters though, I'd suggest contacting some agency or the like in the U.P. but probably even better would be a bike related organization in Michigan, preferrably one that has some presence in the U.P. or at least knowledge. Some to start with are:

www.lmb.org (http://www.lmb.org)
www.m-bike.org (http://www.m-bike.org)--More Metro Detroit but could point you in the right direction perhaps or share knowledge if they have it regarding the U.P.

Good luck..let us know how it goes.

Thanks! As you can see, Michigan response is not good.

I've ridden quite a bit in the Traverse City, Leelanau Peninsula, and Interlochen areas, but not in the eastern UP.

My question goes to comparing the hilliness of the eastern UP with that of Leelanau, so I can plan my gearing and train on the event gearing. Practically, the difference is going 1:1 on the little/big combo, or with a lower gear. Either way I need a granny.

Topo maps are a pretty decent idea.

Hi, I haven't had any riding experience in the UP yet either. Like Rockdog, I hope to do a bit this summer. I do fly out there low level a good deal for my job. The UP has a good deal of rolling terrain until you get to the extreme Eastern end. Of course you have some really impressive terrain near Ironwood and Marquette. I would imagine it to be a great ride. It's not as flat as one would think.

Hi Road Fan,
I see you are still interested in this ride.

The eastern UP is very flat compared to the NW LP. It will be a little hillier than the SE LP and about the same as SW LP.

I justed checked and see you are from Ann Arbor so the MUP ride should be very similar to your riding at home and much easier than your riding up North. I would keep the gears you have and not worry much.

I have never done any riding up there so take lots of pictures and post a long ride report.

Sorry my reply took so long I have read your post for the last couple of days but literally did not have the time to respond.

Thanks, Fred, I was hoping you had your ears on!

I'm signed up for the MUP now. Just have to get a bike ready and overhauled and do more distance training than I usually do. Friel says train to do the daily distance three days in a row with load. I'll stick with the 1:1 low gear.

Next year the MMM and maybe a Rando series.

Just came across this today when looking up bike directions on google; seems like it may be a little more seamless than a previous suggestion I gave. It appears to be an application that allows you to use google maps in conjunction with elevation.

Check it out. I haven't looked into it a great deal but there seems to be more than a moderate amount of street view available on Google Maps in the U.P.

Here's a little picture to give you an idea 147696

Here is the link.

http://googlegeodevelopers.blogspot.com/2010/03/aint-no-mountain-high-enough.html