In the next few months I'll be moving to the Escanaba area and wondering if any folks here have the inside scoop on cycling in the U.P. Things like good shops, rides, races, etc... It's looking like some slim pickings but I do a lot of online shopping anyways but wondering is there is much of a cycling community? I saw that the shop in Escanaba puts on group rides but I'm going to miss doing some road races and crits.
Downwind Sports in Marquette is pretty good.
When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. - Jimi Hendrix
Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans. - John Lennon
I went on the Shoreline MUP Tour a few years ago, and the Tour bike tech support owned a decent bike shop in Sault Ste Marie, on the US side. Can research the name if you like. It's not that close to Marquette.
League of Michigan Bicyclists (www.lmb.org) should have info about any clubs or organizations up there. Not far away south of Mackinaw there are at least one Traverse City club, but you can see that on LMB as well. Also the Michigan Mountain Biking Association.
I'm going to ride it again this summer - join in, it'll just be a local trip for you.
I guess I was looking for mainly U.P. related stuff. I'm still excited for the move!
It sounds like quite an adventure! Best of luck!Originally Posted by Henry III
Hope to see you on the MUP Tour.
I'm exciting for your move. Hope you get linked up with some good biking up there. And hello from a Troll in Boyne City, a biking mecca for the northern lower.
Having a flat tire as part of the total cycling experience is highly overrated. Knowing how to fix one quickly is not.
'85 Trek 460 road racer
'89 Raleigh Technium PRE
'79 Motobecane Super Mirage
For whatever reason, the south shore doesn't have a lot of bike culture.
All kinds of stuff going on nearby though:
http://letsbikemqt.com/
http://bikethekeweenaw.com/
Escanaba should be great for cycling. The weather is a little warmer than the rest of the UP, and less snow too. The shoreline is beautiful, and there are great county roads wherever you go in Michigan. Don't forget about mountain biking too.
"Think Outside the Cage"
I'm a FIB that visits the U.P. annually, mostly up near Iron Mountain and Channing to visit relatives.
The Tour De Dickinson is a GREAT organized ride! Check it out here....http://www.tourdedickinson.com/
I am from the U.P., from Munising. (I don't visit the Great Lakes subforum very often. Hence this tardy reply).
Henry, the U.P. is a hotbed of cycling activity, mostly mountain-biking. Copper Harbor in the Keweenaw Peninsula has a trail system drawing riders from as far away as Detroit, and often even further. Marquette has an excellent and growing trail system, and you will soon be spoiled by the number and variety of high-end bikes that you just find in stock and on the floor in Marquette shops.
Winter biking has exploded in Marquette and Negaunee/Ishpemming. Fat bikes are all over. All the major fatbike models and brands were in stock and sitting on the floor when I made the rounds of the shops last fall.
There is a well-regarded Wednesday-night right leaving from a brewery in Negaunee (or is it Ishpemming) each Wednesday evening during the season. I hear great things about their trails over there, which are mostly unmarked so take the group ride at first.
The action mostly centers around Marquette/Negaunee/Ishpemming and the Keweenaw.
Look me up if you ever get over towards Munising.
The ride is in Ishpeming (Jasper Ridge Brewery) at 6:00 pm and there are 3 groups A, B, & C. Both the B and C are no-drop and use sweepers.
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