(1) Episode 023 : Michigan's Upper Peninsula - Best Motorcycle Roads Podcast - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOiL-L4PITQ

Transcript:

(00:00) go ahead and call them pasties we's see what [Music] happens hello and welcome to best motorcycle roads I'm Tom and I'm Todd we have over 65 years of combined motorcycling experience and 30 years of planning and riding motorcycle trips we're here to share with you everything we've learned over those years our goal at best motorcycle roads is simple make your next motorcycle trip the best it can be we'll dive into technology planning packing the roots other tips and everything in between from essential

(00:39) prep to Unforgettable Roots we've got you covered before we Kickstart today's Journey we ask you to sign up for our BMR Rider alerts it's our way of keeping you in the loop with the latest rides tips and stories we promise no spam only the essentials to enhance your motorcycle Adventures join the BMR crew today we'll put a link in the show notes this segment about motorcycle gear reviews and tips we call the toolkit this is a segment about motorcycle gear and tips we call it the tool kit uh two

(01:10) things for um this one today as we think about riding in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the very first time that we went up there and I think um it's just it can be very um humid in the mornings especially because you get that Lake Effect water so the first time that we rode up there and of course I had no windshield which actually in this case might have actually been helpful but um some gloves come with a little windshield wiper they call them on the thumb mhm and it's just a long piece of rubber that resembles a windshield wiper

(01:42) and so when condensation is getting on there you can actually take it and wipe your face shield off super super handy and nice and I would highly recommend one pair of gloves with that on it cuz usually you're going to need and usually they come on little warmer gloves because you're kind of riding in the wet you know and so those are handy if you take a peek at least have one pair of gloves with that on it I don't I've never seen anything that's an add-on but I've always seen them with it on there it's

(02:10) just really nice because you get up in the morning and you're like wow this thing is wet you know like and I like on your guys's gold wings now where you can't raise and lower the windshield it it's a little bit of a it can be a little problem you know because you can wipe it off and you'll just get it right again right yeah yeah so I've had that happen um yeah and so like that's one thing for sure up there that I would definitely um recommend MH yeah ridewise is the section we focus on planning and safety

(02:40) tips ridewise the section we focus on safety and planning tips uh so when riding through the uh Upper Peninsula of Michigan um just want you to be aware of a few things to take in consideration um like watch for potholes especially the win you know just after winter because you know they get a lot of snow and ice and you know that water gets through the pavement it freezes it heaves um really pay attention to that and in the lower part of Michigan of course it's very populated in the upper part of Michigan

(03:10) there's like nobody there true so I don't think they really maintain the roads very well either so like if a paddle starts to form it's more like they just I think we were talking about this they just put a bump sign up they don't actually fix anything it's not the priority for no so yeah good that's a good one uh I mean there's so many uh you know Lake roads in Michigan riding the shore yeah and so what's interesting about there's some great views there's some great Scenic pull-offs some of the

(03:37) best pictures that I've taken on those kind of things are from there but I will say it also can be like that ocean front view from the hotel that you paid extra for a lot of times you're looking at a lot of pine trees too so you know you're just catching glimpses so so be watching out maybe plan ahead and look at those Scenic views and plan on those being the thing because there's so many times like you can be uh you know sometimes it looks like on the map that you're on the shore you're a quart mile away you know

(04:05) too so um just watch for those Scenic pullouts those are really great spots um to to two I know that um that one really great one I think is an area we're going to talk about but like there's just some really cool bridges over some of the little inlets too and uh some of them are old and they kind of have a little history and they have a historical marker you can read all about it so yeah great Point um other things in in that part of the country there's there's deer there's moose all all kinds of wildlife

(04:34) that uh you know that come out especially around Dawn and dusk so just kind of watch yourself in those forested areas you know stay diligent um and then and the weather does change rapidly up there when you're up next to the lake um have have uh your rain gear with you because you know there's sudden changes in weather it'll just blow right in on you and uh or temperature will change quickly so well they talk about lake effect snow you know in the winter and it doesn't yes it's just the winds that

(04:59) carry that same moisture in in the summer it's not like it just only happens in the winter yeah right yeah and then if you're in uh like the real remote areas like Porcupine Mountains uh the key what is it called Kina Peninsula um the cell service can be pretty spotty up there so uh if you're using Google Maps Like We Do download them ahead of time so that they're in your phone um and that you know that'll help your GPS then Y and you can have a backup like that's when the Garmin or the bike nav

(05:28) is a good backup but I think we've talked about this previously and this is Turk's ideas bring that make sure you write down the places that you're staying at least where you're staying overnight maybe like an address because you can put those into those GPS's and it'll get you there true but like if you forget you don't have cell service you can't look up the reservation on the phone pretty soon you have no address you don't even know where you're going yeah that's a good point yeah so like he

(05:51) he always put said he puts it on a recipe card just a little prevention throw it in the bag if you have to stop and manually enter the address you've got it because the GPS's will work yeah true so yeah oh that's a great point it's a great one the next segment is what we call the mile marker it's our story segment this is what we call the mile marker so yeah there's some great there are actually some great places in the upper peninsula to go to we we visited quite a few if you kind of going

(06:18) from east to west excuse me west to east um one really cool one you mentioned Porcupine Mountains it's it's really good it's in a um ant to nogan a aogan is how you say it aogan um and if you get into the park there's actually what they call Lake of the cloud so it's kind of a you know it's a mountain range you know it's not huge but then there's a lake up there and then so you can drive almost all the way up to the top and then there's just a short walk and then you see this Lake and it's just pristine

(06:52) because it's there's it's nothing you know going into it it's the it's the source so it's pretty cool unbelievably I think I never rode Michigan especially upper peninsula in the fall and I can't imagine that this wouldn't just be unbelievable riding there so I think we've talked about this in the previous um podcast as well but as you head up closer to um Copper Harbor then you get into hoton Hancock Michigan it's kind of Two Cities across a river from each other and most notably there's their big

(07:20) bridge Portage Lake lift bridge double-decker bridge that um used to be the bottom was used for rail cars and the top was used for vehicles and then the whole thing both both sections will go all the way up so big boats and things can get through it's really cool um you can't miss it it's the only way across when you're going up north um then Copper Harbor is pretty much is the furthest point North like city in Michigan and that's that's a neat place too and there's there's some nice

(07:47) Shoreline there's some it's kind of a when you get all the way up there it um I haven't been there recently used to have some touristy like uh lodges and stuff but I think I've heard that things are kind of pretty quiet up there yeah and I think that's is that 41 that's up there I believe so yeah and that that's that interesting ride from Copper Harbor to Miami 41 goes all the way to Miami um so I think it's the longest north South Highway um in the US wow we've spent some time on the NorthShore that's that

(08:19) us2 um so You' got basically from like almost just north of Green Bay you can get on to um Escanaba uh marionette Mana it goes all the way to the bridge at St IGN ignis um and that's kind of cool that one's got some pretty nice views and there are some really cool Bridges and and overlooks on that one on two that's on the north side of Lake Michigan okay um and then kind of the furthest you can go without like kind of going out on an island is North is Paradise Michigan which um is just south

(08:57) of Whitefish Bay and in White Fish Bay there's a great museum that's the whole song of the uh wreck of the elepant Ed thank you thank you Edmond fit that is cool um I'd like to see that yeah yeah you we got to go because it's so cool like it's a be it's a great museum and they've got like the walking tour so you can you hear and so apparently I mean in the song if you don't know the song The nor Easter is when certain in November I think it is don't they just say don't go

(09:31) in the water it just gets so terribly crazy there and so yeah it's it's awesome um you get to go like they have video I'm taking a sub I think down there and oh it's it's cool definitely cool and and when you're up in that area I've only been up there maybe twice yeah are there gravel roads like do we have to worry about like when we're mapping do we have to worry about gravel roads okay and you can see the difference but um yeah so like what's weird is um let's see it would be from

(10:02) the area of like so Marquette is kind of straight straight north of Green Bay all the way to the Lake Superior if you were going to go to Marquette to Paradise um that would be interesting I actually rode that Mike and Turk and I rode that Mike uh Turk and I both had like 0v bikes Mike rode is 1300 on it and oh really I don't know if I'd call it gravel or harde sand um it's interesting none of us laid the bikes down but we've got pictures there but it was dicey I'm not the greatest like off-road rider that's ever lived

(10:40) probably not the on-road then either but but it was interesting it was fun to try but it was a little too nerve-wracking for me I wouldn't want to do it again um unless I took some training first buts yeah kind of up in that south side of superior from like paradise or to to Marquette uh lots of gravel M okay lots of gravel and Sandy gravel it's weird yeah it's hard packed I would never know what the heck would happen if it rained can you see it if you're Google mapping it or you for sure no you could definitely you

(11:14) have to zoom in but yeah yeah you can see for sure so gotcha yep and then of course ma bridge is right there beautiful big bridge you know um just that's a neat experience it's a couple miles long so there's a cost to cross the bridge um but boy it it's it's cool at least to ride once if you haven't been up there yeah and then that's the you know the teaser joke about pasties you'll see signs for pasties but they're you start to call them pasties but they're really good it's like a Hot

(11:42) Pocket with a meatloaf in it I don't know if you did we stop and get one ever I think I have I don't remember we were together it was a hot Pock it's a Hot Pocket with meatloaf in it I think the tradition is that's a big Iron mining area and so I think that was the the the lunch they would take take the night's dinner and then fold that into lunch for the Min yeah for the next yeah just south and then back to the west of Mao Bridge is a great place go find Cross Village it's m119 the tunnel the trees

(12:14) narrow like super narrow car and a half at best but wow what a cool road and it technically is near the lake but you don't see it much T you know it's I do remember that yeah you couldn't see the yeah um and then yeah so I think then you found some other roads didn't you have that we're just kind of yeah M26 Copper Harbor to Eagle River uh it's a winding road that does have views of Lake Superior and there's lighthouses and oh man I probably should have mentioned that yeah Michigan is

(12:42) Lighthouse City so like you can go to a ton of lighthouses yeah I don't remember there's a lot of them there's actually just a lighthouse tour that you can take too yeah I've never took it boat tour or um it'd be more like just kind of a map map yeah yeah uh Brockway Mountain Drive uh again that's breathtaking vistas of Lake Superior and uh the Kina Peninsula I hope I'm saying that right um somebody will correct me if I'm not and then uh h58 uh Ming to Grand maras it's uh moras no grand morray grand

(13:18) Moray that's that's a but it's Munising oh Munising Ming sorry no it's okay I learned the hard one uh again that's that's a there's a the pictured rocks National Lake Shore there views of cliffs beaches waterfalls uh all that kind of stuff uh m123 from Newberry to Paradise yeah I've been on that one that's cool it's dense forest it's it's neat you can actually once you get to Paradise you can see Canada at night too oh the lights of Canada kidding yeah all right and did

(13:53) you mention m123 M12 that I'm sure that was the one we wrote on I just okay white fish basic byway two white fish point yeah it's a coastal route it's kind of a dead end but it's cool yeah yeah yeah there's lots to see up there the podcast can be found on best motorcycleroads.com podcast all the information you need will be there uh but you can subscribe on Spotify Amazon music apple pocketcast and YouTube this is the interactive segment we will be looking for input from you uh we want you to send us your

(14:27) questions and suggestions for Road topics and anything else you have on your mind today's roadside Q&A comes from Ken and since we're talking about the Upper Peninsula I'm going to relate this to that Ken said what are a few things to be prepared for when writing an unfamiliar area um so plan your route first of all and if you don't like gravel make sure you zoom in on those roads uh I mean if you're using a GPS that you know says avoid gravel that's great I know that Google Maps does give you the option so

(15:01) I'm going to call them about that yeah let's get on it I'm sure someone will answer you have Google you have Gemini now that can analyze everything why can't you just run it through the map St that's a good point um check the weather especially in that Upper Peninsula we said you know the the weather changes quickly uh just be prepared for some cold some hot some wet uh some fog froggy yeah it can it can be foggy and then you know watch for wildlife deer moose all that kind of stuff and and

(15:32) really when you start getting up there and you you mentioned the roads are narrow and then when they get real curvy um and you can't see around those Corners you never know when someone's going to be crossing the center line you know around the sharp corner in your lane and on that m119 I'm telling you it is narrow like there's no way a you a suburban and a motorcycle might be able to pass maybe maybe but I mean it's that tight it has a one one line down the middle which doesn't make any sense so

(16:00) you're from Michigan Highway Department you understand why you have one line down the road uh and then finally you know some of those areas are pretty remote sales service is is quite limited so uh you know have a GPS with you in addition to your phone um download your Google Maps ahead of time that's that's going to help quite a bit and you know maybe just let somebody know that here's where I'm planning to go and my expected time is this or that yeah that's a good point and then we talked about this a few

(16:29) episodes back but those spots if you're on your own if you're alone you know those are those GPS devices that are spot devices that you can click and say you know uh I need help kind of thing it's just like a sense of signal especially if you're going to be riding alone you know like it's one thing where something happens and we have a couple different bikes and we're all riding together you know something can go you know but if you're alone I mean then what you know you're just hoping someone

(16:55) comes along yeah exactly and then worse like you know we were one time we were riding and guy went off the road like if he he was okay he climbed back up you couldn't see him that's right there was nothing to be seen I mean I mean nothing yeah there's a couple little squigglies and that was it he was long gone yeah he's 25 ft down the ditch yeah you know yeah had you guys not been behind him and realized he was missing oh goodness you would never found it never you wouldn't have known nope so that's I

(17:26) mean these are great points you hate to play the scare tactic game a little bit but it's like you know and I like what you also said I think just when if you think you know just you don't have to wear the safety vest or your rain gear that has the reflectivity all the time but man if it's super foggy like you got to give everyone the most advantage of seeing you as possible it stinks when it's nice and clean out and then now it's time for The Last Mile it's our way to close out the episodes with what we

(17:53) liked most about this last episode Todd do you want to start I'm intrigued to go up to see the Edmond Fitzgerald Museum you know the Shipwreck up there this is going to be an opportunity to really create a good playlist for this oh oh I can do that put it on Spotify for us no I I'm looking forward to that I'm glad you brought that up because uh yeah I'd like to get up there I would say that one thing that I like about these rides in some of these areas like this it was similar to our Minnesota ride here one

(18:20) of the last ones we've went on is just the towns are a little smaller the people are a little more interested in just chatting sometimes and that's fun I know that there's at least one I think there's only one restaurant in paradise and turky and I went there the LA when we were there it was just fun and nice and we pulled into the hotel and it was like you know your old Motel style and it was like well we got a burn Pile in the OR burn you know burn pit in the back and we sit there you can you can

(18:48) see a Canada at night and we'll get some we'll get some firewood out there and this that you know it's just enjoyable to just kind of one step back you know that's cool I'd like to do that for sure if this episode revved up your day don't keep it to yourself like subscribe and share it with your crew we're all about the thrill of the ride and the bond it creates keep the spirit of Adventure alive and remember bikes friends and endless roads the stories ride forever take care [Music]

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