This was the 19th year for the Michigander, which uses a different route each year. The general objective is to highlight some of the many rail-trails around the state. This was the first year that they did a circle route instead of an end-to-end, with the course going counter-clockwise from Edmore. The names of the towns where we stayed overnight are as shown. Total distance was about 320 miles for the 6-day riders.

I utilized the services of Bubba's Pampered Pedalers so that I wouldn't have to set up and take down my own tent every day. At Edmore, the tents were set up between the main road and a pond. That made for three sources of noise at night: frogs in the pond, snoring, and locals driving by honking and yelling at us.

This is where the tents, chairs, and other equipment are stored and carted around.

Bubba made a run for the week's supply of pop and snacks.

This is a typical stretch of the Fred Meijer Heartland Rail-Trail. Smooth pavement, rural farming atmosphere.

A typical farm visible from the trail. Lots of irrigation equipment in use along the way.

A crop believed to be potatoes. If it's not corn, I'm never quite sure what it is...

Water and gatorade are always available in the Zone.

This was my tent for the duration of the ride. Lots of room inside, and you can even stand up straight.

A very nice air mattress is supplied. There's a lot of floor space for your luggage, too.

Bubba (in the red shirt) holds court once again in the Zone. This was one of the best perks of signing up with his service. There were alway a chair, cold drinks, and food awaiting you at the end of a day's ride.

The tent where our meals were served on Saturday evening and Sunday morning actually straddled the Heartland Trail. This was also the finish-line tent at the end of the 7th day when we returned to Edmore.

The route started out with some miles on dirt roads before picking up the Heartland trail again on the way into Alma.

At a sag stop in Alma.

From Alma it was straight east along county roads until we were just a few miles from St. Charles and could pick up this beautiful trail into town.

It was always a welcome sight to pull in and have your tent waiting for you. This night, though, it hit a record low temperature (about 43F) and it was pretty chilly in the tents for those of us who hadn't planned on those conditions.

It was cold at 6AM, but as soon as the sun came up it warmed up to great riding weather for our longest day of the event. Here's the bunch of new friends that I ended up riding with: Gary, Anne, Mike, Pat, Gene, and me.

This is where we stopped, about a quarter mile off the trail, for some really good ice cream and other treats.

This place is along M-46 a little way east of Saginaw. It was definitely a popular place among the cyclists, and they seemed very glad for the business on an otherwise slow weekday.

We were glad to finally get off the roads and onto the rail-trail that would take us through Bay City and all the way to our campsite.

The trail took us along a boardwalk over the Saginaw River and through a nice city park across from the downtown area.

We made this stop at about mile 61 of a 62-mile day. Believe me, the food and drinks went down very well!

Bubba had us set up a bit apart from the rest of the riders, right near the beach with Saginaw Bay (Lake Huron) just beyond. A beautiful setting, but a bit far from the showers.

The sun rose over Saginaw Bay at about 6AM, announcing another beautiful day and warming us up by the time we started riding.

All we had to do before leaving each day was to toss our bags into the back of Bubba's luggage truck. His gang took care of all the other details of breaking camp.

We usually spent some time at each sag stop, allowing others to catch up with us or just to relax for a few minutes.

This nice urban trail runs right down the median between east and west-bound M-20 in Midland. It then took us right down to the Tridge.

This wasn't part of the route, but I rode out onto the famous Tridge to get a picture. The Tridge is a three-legged bridge that spans the junction of two rivers near downtown Midland.

This sag marked the beginning of the Pere Marquette Trail, which is paved continuously for 30 miles from Midland to Clare. It's probably the widest, smoothest rail-trail in the state, and will eventually extend most of the way across the state.

Yours truly in full riding kit.

The Pere Marquette Trail has some outstanding trailheads and other facilities along the way, all with matching architectural details.

We ate at this restaurant in the old depot just off the trail in the small town of Coleman. From here it was only about 12 miles to Clare and our destination for the day.

This was the shortest day of the event, and also had the only rain -- about an hour of light rain starting about 8AM. Unfortunately, the road riders could only utilize the US-10 highway, and we were all glad when we finally got to the place where the pavement on the Pere Marquette began again in the town of Evart. Best sight along the way? A sign advertising Beer, Booze, Bait and Bullets. Welcome to upstate Michigan!

The MTB riders were able to take the trail route from Clare to Evart. A bit muddy in the rain, but quieter than US-10. They also didn't have the experienced of being passed by (and sprayed by) a semi on its way to or from a hog farm. Phew!

This circle in Reed City was the place where two major rail lines used to cross, and is now the junction of the Pere Marquette Trail with the White Pine Trail.

The old depot has been extensively restored and serves as a center for many town functions. A country & western band performed for us here in the evening.

As usual, Bubba had things set up when we got here. The rain had stopped, and town was just a short walk away, so many of us went there to have lunch.

By this point in the tour, some just wanted to catch a few Zs in the afternoon warmth.

The youngest rider at Bubba's was 9-year-old Brandon, who was doing the tour with his grandmother -- and this was not his first Michigander! Here he's playing a toss game with Sam.

The other riders just pitch their tents anywhere that it looks good. It's nice if it's not too long a walk to the school or the nearest porta-john.

The trailer holds tents, towels, and equipment for charging our cell phones and GPS units.

This day's ride was entirely along the White Pine Trail except for us road riders who took some roads to bypass the unpaved section of the trail. The first sag, and end of the pavement, was here in Big Rapids.

Most towns along the trails have made use of their old train station if it's still standing. This one in Big Rapids has not been restored yet.

The Corner Bar is famous for its coney dogs, so we had a few and washed 'em down with a few pitchers of beer. Another day's ride completed!

Our last overnight stop. It had good showers in the locker rooms, and the food served in the cafeteria was as good as any on the tour. I couldn't believe how much I ate on this tour without gaining any weight.

Rockford is a really nice town, being a residential community for nearby Grand Rapids. The Rogue River flows through it, and there are bike paths and nature trails on both sides. They've done a good job of integrating the White Pine Trail into the downtown.

Not many pictures today, as we were anxious to get to the finish at Edmore. The roads out of Rockford had lots of rolling hills for 20 miles all the way to Greenville, but they were actually a nice change from all of the steady, flatland pedaling that we'd been doing.

After an exciting checkered-flag finish by our own Sam, I posed for one last shot. Counting "Day 0", I had ridden 370 miles in 7 days. The weather couldn't have been better, with mostly clear skies and temperatures in the 60s and low 70s. I'm sure that this will not be my last Michigander...