Andrew Schrauben

Sunday morning Amanda and I hauled our bikes over to the White Pine Trail, a 92-mile linear State Park running from Grand Rapids to Cadillac and passing through over a dozen towns in between. Today's objective: ride from Grand Rapids to Big Rapids via the White Pine Trail.

We set up at a parking lot in Belmont on the north end of Grand Rapids. From there we rode 14 miles to Cedar Springs, the first 11+ of which is paved (see trail details using this map). One of the nice things about this trail is that it was a Rails to Trails project - a former railroad track converted into a public-use trail - which means that the entire route is very flat.

At the Russell Road access point the trail becomes an unpaved two-track that continues until just before Big Rapids. We continued on to Cedar Springs where we stopped for a few minutes to eat some snacks before parting ways. Amanda turned around to return to Belmont while I pressed on towards Big Rapids. By the time Amanda got back to our car she had ridden 28 miles - her previous longest ride was over a year ago at "just" 12 miles!

Surprisingly this trail doesn't have a wilderness feel - as a former train track it parallels a major two-lane road. Despite this, there are nice views across some farmland and a few sleepy, rural small towns to pass through. These 30+ unpaved miles are quiet enough (I didn't see a soul on the trail!) to allow the local wildlife to feel at home exploring the trail. During my journey I saw countless rabbits, robins, goldfinches, and even a couple woodchucks. Near a pond I had to dodge two painted turtles goin' slow and steady across the trail. At one point I startled a sandhill crane, who decided to fly away from me straight down the trail - I put the hammer down and tried to give chase but wings beat tires every time. I also encountered a doe with two very small fawns, and later another deer watched me pedal onward from less than 20 feet away.

Sharing the trail with so many animals wasn't the only excitement of the trip. Halfway through the four-hour ride it began to rain; 30 minutes later the wind picked up menacingly and it began to pour. What a blast! It was such a rush to be flying along the trail against the driving rain, out there on my own with many miles to go. Three times I enjoyed a ten-minute downpour - the rest of the way it was a steady rain. Needless to say I was soaked by the time I finished.

I was feeling strong the entire day. I set my watch to beep every 15 minutes to remind me to drink water, and every half hour I made sure to eat some form of calories. Given the soft trail surface I couldn't ride very fast (I wound up averaging 11 mph) but I kept the tempo up best I could. At one point I even let some air out of my tires to give me better traction on the sand and loose gravel, which helped significantly. The trail has mile posts and once I realized that I had just three miles to go, I picked up the pace. Soon I was greeted with a "Welcome to Big Rapids" sign and the trail became smooth pavement - a welcome sight indeed! I flew the last couple of my 49+ miles and arrived at the access point where Amanda would pick me up, except...

Where's Amanda? She had plenty of time to get there so I found a roof overhang (it was still raining steadily) and called her on my cell phone. She had stopped for french fries but then couldn't find the access point; the intersecting road M-20 made a few confusing turns as it passed through Big Rapids but eventually she found me. Did I mention that I was soaked? And covered with dirt, bits of leaves, and whatever other trail debris my tires kicked onto my legs, back, and even my head! Wisely we had brought along a change of clothes so while Amanda gassed up the car I used the restroom to wash up best I could and put on some dry threads. We treated ourselves to Jimmy Johns sub sandwiches and then headed home. What a ride!