Shoreline West Bike Tour

I had a great opportunity to accompany by brother-in-law Dave Sheldon and his friend Gary Braun for a couple days during the League of Michigan Bicyclists' Shoreline West Bike Tour. It started in Pentwater and over the next seven days, they rode all the way up to Mackinaw City. That's 569 miles if you did the whole ride. I stopped by on Sunday where they camped in Manistee and followed them for the day up to Benzonia. It was a gorgeous day for a scenic ride and I met a lot of nice folks. This gallery documents my time with the group. For those of you I met on the ride, I have a gallery of alternate takes here that you can check out for a photo of yourself.

I arrived at their campsite - The Gathering Grounds of Little River Band of Ottawa Indians just north of Manistee - just as most of the folks were setting up camp.
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Here's Dave's buddy Gary relaxing in his tent as we wait for dinner to be served up.
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That's Dave. He busted a couple spokes on the first day and went over to the repair trailer to see about picking up some replacements. The woman standing next to him is the wife of the repairman. According to him, she's the one in charge of the shop.
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A rider tends to his bike in front of a teepee on the campsite.
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Northwestern Michigan is White Pine Country. These forests were almost completely decimated by logging 100 years ago, but conservation efforts have restored a lot. Here, they make a good bike rack.
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A rider staking out his claim for the night...
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It was quite the little tent city by the time everyone was set up.
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Catching up on the news and relaxing from the day's ride.
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Or another option - catching up on a good book.
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The official Shoreline flag that was found on the rear of each bike.
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I couldn't resist. Here's the view from my sleeping quarters for the night.
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The next morning, breakfast was good, old-fashioned griddle cakes. Mass produced, of course.
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Checking out the route before heading off.
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I'm sure you're beginning to see that there were participants of all ages. This young man is leaving the camp site to start his ride for the day.
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One thing I figured out quickly is most of the folks on the ride were very friendly. Here a couple women give me a smile and a wave as they head past Orchard Beach State Park right on the Lake Michigan shore.
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You can't help look at the view as you ride past this point...
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Now you can see what the previous rider was so interested in as these young men leave Orchard Beach behind.
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These two women actually apologized to me for not waving as they road by.
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Another nice gentleman passing along the Lake Michigan shore.
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Lots of smiles from everyone. However, it's still pretty early and there a four sizeable hills coming up.
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A rider attacks the "Snotty Little Hill". From my perspective, it was definitely snotty but I didn't think it was so little. Then again, I hadn't seen what was up ahead yet.
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Several families attended the ride. Here three generations head down Snotty Little Hill.
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The first rest stop at Onekema, 12 miles in to the ride.
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This little girl was just too darn cute to pass up a photo.
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A rider heads down a small grade just outside of Onekema.
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Two more just over the top of this hill.
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Several couples were riding tadem bikes together.
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Here's 50% of another family at the top of Hill #1. Mom appears to be feeling pretty good, but I'm not too sure about her daughter.
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After I snapped the previous picture, the woman came up to me and insisted that I get a photo of her son as he came up the hill.
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Here's Dave and Gary taking a breather at the top of Hill #1.
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Wiping the sweat off...
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Heading down Hill #1, the riders started picking up some pretty good speed. And having a lot of fun doing it.
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Here's a group taking advantage of the down slope.
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Here's Dave giving me four fingers - he broke 40MPH at this point. That's Gary right behind him.
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Gary in a good tuck.
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At the bottom of Hill #1, Dave and Gary were talking with this woman about how fast they were going. Dave was pretty proud of his 44MPH. However, she and here husband were on a tandem at hit 52MPH on the way down.
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Heading up Hill #2 - the "Killer Hill."
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This woman gave up for the last few feet.
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This picture shows you why this is called the "Killer Hill". 1300' in 1/2 a mile. Trucks were having a hard time getting up this one.
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A couple bikers rest after this hill. The guy asked me I enjoyed taking photos of people in agony and the woman quipped "No, just the agony of defeat."
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A beautiful view of Lake Michigan looking south from the scenic overlook on the top of Hill #2. Fresh fruit and Gatoraide were provided under the white tent in the parking lot.
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Bikes parked along the fence in the lot on top of Hill #2.
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Dave and Gary enjoying the rest and the view after this hill.
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The scenic overlook had stairs and platforms for folks to climb to get a better view of the surroundings. Personally, I think it was almost like torture for folks who just biked up this hill. However, the view was definitely worth it.
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A couple gentlemen scaling the stairs.
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Now the real fun begins - heading down that monster.
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Another friendly wave from a rider on his way down Hill #2.
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This is the same woman that ended up walking the last bit on the way up. She was having WAY too much fun on the way down.
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