Roundtrip Tour

Michigan: Six-times the Adventure

Caleb McInturff

9 min read

“Sorry, sorry, sorry…” I heard in my helmet. I tightened my grip on the bike with my thighs and pain shot through my shoulder as the ride got bumpier. Thanks to the endorphin spike, or my unhealthy sense of humor, I chuckled about the situations I tend to find myself in.

This time, I was on the backseat of a motorcycle piloted by Jeff Stanton as he ran slightly wide onto the shoulder of the road while trying to adjust his navigation. No doubt it was due to the additional heft my less-than-slight self had added to the bike. And then, as If I weren’t on the bike at all, with one hand he rode through the soft, sandy shoulder for a few hundred yards before finding the perfect place to hop back onto the pavement.

Seeing Lake Michigan in person, it’s hard to believe it isn’t an ocean, considering the white-capped waves constantly rolling in from the waterscape that stretches past the horizon.

Misty Michigan

Morning brought temperatures in the low 40s and gray clouds hung close to the Michigan countryside. Fall was well on the way up north and a misty rain was blowing in from Lake Michigan. Fine moisture particles gathered on the visor of my helmet as it fell from the fluffy clouds. I wiped it away quickly and spurred the Triumph Tiger 900 I was riding. It would likely have been a quiet rural morning if not for the distinct note of three-cylinder engines as we maintained a good pace down the freshly-graded, arrow-straight gravel road.

I was riding along on a dual-sport tour out of Big Rapids, MI, with two new friends, Matt and Duncan, both very accomplished riders from California. The goal was to see as much of Michigan as possible in just three short days while riding with our tour guide, Motocross champion and Michigan native Jeff Stanton.

The gravel roads in Michigan are well maintained and plentiful. Most are sandy in composition and offer good traction—usually.

We got off the pavement and pretty much stayed there. Michigan offers nearly endless off-roading opportunities, with miles of two-track arcing between the mostly straight roads. You can connect gravel roads, flowing two-track, and challenging single-track while keeping those knobby tires safe from pesky, abrasive asphalt. The composition of the terrain ranges from well-groomed gravel and dirt roads all the way to slick mud and deep white sand.