Overview

Packed with more than 40 cycle routes, funny stories, history and dining recommendations, Biking Northern Michigan will have you ready to ride one of America's top cycling destinations. Veteran cyclist Robert Downes guides you along 1,400 miles of the region's best and safest bike routes, including: -- Traverse City's TART Trail, Petoskey's Wheelway Trail and the Leelanau Trail. -- The best of Benzie, Emmet, Antrim and Leelanau counties. - A 450-mile Great Northern Loop. -- The cycle route from Grand Rapids to the Mackinac Straits. -- Epic rides from Gaylord, Harbor Springs and Alpena to the Mackinac Straits. -- Lake Michigan island adventures and more!

Full Product Details

9780982134467

Table of Contents

Reviews

GREATEST BIKE RIDES IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN By Ellen Creager, Detroit Free Press Bicycling in northern Michigan sounds relaxing, and it is if you take the scenic route. Biking Northern Michigan: The Best & Safest Routes in the Lower Peninsula by Robert Downes (Wandering Press, $13.95) has 35 cycling routes geared to recreational and avid cyclists. The routes keep you off major highways and route you onto back roads and non-motorized trails, where you can enjoy the ride instead of worrying about safety. Each ride has a map and description of length, difficulty, places to stop and rider tips. From the well-known family-style Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail to a 58-mile sojourn around Torch Lake, it all looks like wheeled fun. This book is a good addition to your Up North cottage library. --Detroit Free Press

Author Information

Author and world traveler Robert (Bob) Downes has been inspiring readers to pursue their dreams of travel and adventure for more than three decades. A resident of Traverse City, Michigan, Downes, 65, is the author of three nonfiction books: Planet Backpacker (2008), Biking Northern Michigan (2014), I Promised You Adventure, (2018) and the historical novel, Windigo Moon, (2017). A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Downes earned a B.A. in journalism from Wayne State University in Detroit in 1976. Thereafter, he worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers in metro Detroit, with a stint in hospital public relations in the 1980s. In 1991, Downes and his friend, George Foster, launched the alternative newsweekly, Northern Express Weekly. The publication was a hit with readers and went on to become northern Michigan's largest weekly newspaper with a readership of more than 75,000, covering a radius of more than 150 miles of the region. Downes served as editor and co-publisher of the newsweekly for 22 years until its sale in December, 2013. Under his leadership, the publication earned numerous Michigan Press Association awards, including the highest honor for General Excellence. Concurrently, Downes indulged his passion for world travel, mostly as a backpacker and cyclist, using local transportation, hostels, campsites and guest houses. He has visited more than 70 countries with destinations ranging from the supercities of the Third World to the heart of the American wilderness. In 2011, he and his wife, Jeannette Wildman, spent seven months backpacking around the world, resulting in their memoir, I Promised You Adventure. A former Ironman triathlete, Downes is also an ardent cyclist and his guidebook, Biking Northern Michigan, is a regional best seller. Downes has cycled in Australia, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Peru, England, Ireland and across continental Europe in addition to routes around the U.S. In the summer of 2016, he cycled more than 2,700 miles over the Rockies and across the Great Plains from Seattle to his home in Michigan. He and his wife Jeannette have two adult children and seven grandchildren. The couple makes their winter home in Mexico and the American Southwest.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available