Route Advice Request
 

I am planning on a tour around Lake Erie. I am having problems near Detroit, MI. Does anyone have any suggestions for a route from Algonac State Park, MI to Monroe/Toledo area?

Thanks,
Jeff

Even though I am a Detroit native, I can't really give much advice. For routes in any metropolitan area I have found the best maps to be AAA maps because they are detailed enough to show many routes and cover a pretty wide area. I think staying close to the Lake St. Clair and Detroit River shoreline would be fairly pleasant routes, though I am personally unfamilar with Downriver area. I think in general, you might want to go through Detroit on a Sunday to avoid traffic.

One thing you might find amusing is that there is Perimeter Bicycling Association of America that tracks and records rides around all kinds of political and geographic entities. See:

http://www.pbaa.com/Records/WorldRecords.htm

These are not necessarily World Records since there are some multiple listings. For Lake Erie:

Lake Erie, USA-CAN Bill Mueller 691 23 days.

Interestingly, there is no lisitng for Lake Superior, and Bill Mueller is the only rider listed for each of the other four Great Lakes. There was a recent thread also on BF about a ride around Lake Ontario, with questions about going through Toronto. Best wishes for your ride--my dream is to do the perimeter of the USA :)

Thanks, I went around Lake Ontario in 2008, 10 days, 600+ miles.
harvy Botzman has books about cyclotouring around most of the great lakes, but his Lake Erie book crosses in Detroit which is not possible currently.

Jeff

Around Ontario. Around Erie. Wow.
I hope you have seen a new book "The Third Coast" by Edward Ted McClelland. He is not on a bicycle, nor motorcycle, like I like to read about, but a car.
But, he goes all around all 5 Great Lakes. Very good book. He informed me about the Friday 13th motorcycle gatherings in Port Dover.
You may just have to make some skips or jumps at some points. I will be looking for your book.
dc

Right now I have a route planned. unless I can get some recomendations for arround Detroit, I will be renting a UHaul near Angola, MI and returning it near Monroe MI to avoid Detroit.

Algonac to detroit should be quite easy. go to mapmyride.com and search for these areas. Dixie highway to jefferson avenue will get you all the way around lake Saint Clair. you can stay on Jefferson through downtown detroit, and it turns into Biddle avenue in Ecorse, then back to Jefferson in Trenton.
From there, it's back to dixie hwy in Monroe.
Please don't avoid Detroit, we need all the visitors we can get!

http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/int/dyn/controller/Itineraires?strStartAddress=&strDestAddress=&strStartMerged=algonac,%20mi&strDestMerged=monroe,%20mi &strStartCityCountry=1145799&strDestCityCountry=1145799&empriseW=600&empriseH=310&intItineraryType=1 &caravaneHidden=false&vh=&distance=km&strVehicle=3&devise=1.0|EUR&carbCost=1.3&isAvoidFrontiers=fals e&isFavoriseAutoroute=false&isAvoidPeage=false&isAvoidVignette=false&isAvoidLNR=false&autoConso=6.8& villeConso=6&routeConso=5.6&dtmDeparture=24%2F3%2F2009&indemnite=0

This site gives a slightly different route, taking gratiot south, rather than jefferson/lakeshore. that's gonna be more direct, more travelled, and less scenic. but the michelin site is good to play with routes. just be sure to check "by bike" in the search window!

I live at 23mi and Gratiot and one of my usual routes is to Algonac and back. 29 is a very friendly road for cyclist (considering the area as a whole is rather unfriendly). Personally, having a bit of experience in the area, I would take 29 to Jefferson, Jefferson back to Gratiot and 23 mile (there is no real direct route but if you're serious I'll give you an exact route). From this point, you take Gratiot south to 16mile/metro parkway. Trust me, by the time you get there you'll want off Gratiot. take 16mile/metro parkway east back to jefferson south. This part of the trip you"ll enjoy. Jefferson south of 16 becomes quite scenic. Especially south of 9 mile. The road is a true coastal road and to your right will be some of the nicest mansions in the state. The area is very friendly to cyclist as well. Jefferson will do you fine until you reach the Detroit city limits. This my friend is where the pain starts. (BTW, I've been a cop in Detroit for the better part of a decade, so I know a bit) The roads are terrible, the drivers are terrible and rude, and parts of the way are rather s**** neighborhoods. Once you get downtown, it improves quite a bit and even has a couple really nice places to plan a stop or two. If you dont mind adding 5 extra miles, Belle Isle is an island park in the middle of the Detroit river that is a beautiful lap to do (one of my favorites in the area). I can give you quite a few decent ways to get out of the city to the south that really wont be all that bad on you or your bike. Once you're south of the city, it becomes quite pleasant again as phoran said when it turns to biddle. You eventually want to make it to highway 2 which will also be a very pleasant trip all the way to Toledo. Hopefully this gets to you in time that you dont avoid the area and if you want to talk serious about this route, PM me with a number and I'll be more than happy to assit with the specifics. Hell, if you dont mind another tagging along, I wouldn't even mind riding part of the trip with you. You can go throught detroit with peddle power, I and many others do the Jefferson stretch. Let us know how it goes

BTW if you MUST avoid Detroit, pick up the Uhaul as close to Detroit/just inside the limits as possible. You'll miss one of the best stretches of roadway in the area, IMHO, Jefferson south of 8 mile.