Easy Rider E-BIKE ADVENTURES FOR ALL SKILL LEVELS By Lynda Wheatley Smooth, silent, and…well, kinda supercharged, electric bicycles just might be the best thing to happen to people who love to pedal but could use a boost up hills or to cover more miles faster. Class 1 e-bikes—the most common to rent or buy—have an electric motor that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling but quits when the rider coasts or the bike reaches 20 miles per hour. Since legislation went into effect in 2018, kids of any age are allowed to ride class 1 e-bikes on paved and crushed stone multi-use trails around Michigan (unless the community with jurisdiction over the trail opts out). Ready to feel the wind in your helmet holes? We crafted three Up North e-bike adventures with plenty of delightful diversions (and directions!) that any level e-biker could do in a day. Let’s roll.
FOR E-BIKE NEWBIES
Little Traverse Wheelway: Petoskey to Harbor Springs Although the Little Traverse Wheelway stretches 26 miles between Charlevoix and Harbor Springs, the 9-mile section linking downtown Petoskey to Harbor Springs is an excellent route for anyone trying out e-bikes for the first time. It’s easy to find and follow, has paved asphalt nearly the whole way, and is chock full of fun detour possibilities. While you can make the round trip in an afternoon, those looking to linger can easily fill a full day.
Start: Roast & Toast Downtown Petoskey
First, caffeinate your own engine on Downtown Petoskey’s Lake Street with two Roast and Toast favorites: The Accidental Tourist (coffee, peanut butter syrup, Ghirardelli chocolate, and whipped cream) and Avocado Toast (Alden’s Mill House Miracle Blend, roasted grape tomatoes, and radishes that put this slice of heaven over the top). From here, the simplest way to access the Wheelway, which runs through Bayfront Park—home to the giant red clocktower—on the other side of US-131, is through downtown’s underground tunnel. You’ll find it northwest of Lake Street, right after Petoskey Street curves into Bay Street.
Stop: Petoskey State Park
Stop: Bay View
Head north out of the park along the Wheelway, and it won’t be long before the asphalt turns to salmoncolored sidewalks, signaling your entry into Bay View, a summer cottage community that began in 1875 as a Methodist camp organized “for intellectual and scientific culture and the promotion of the cause of religion and morality.” Today, the Bay View Association—and its gingerbread cottages and public buildings—are a National Historic Landmark, performing arts hub, and well worth a detour from the Wheelway to explore. (Pre-ride prep note: Download a walking tour of Bay View campus and a guide to the trails, flora, and fauna of Bay View Woods, the association’s 168-acre nature preserve, at bayviewassociation.org.)
After Bayview and a quick gape at the bay from the Fettis-McCue Overlook’s gazebo (about 2.5 miles from the Bayfront Park), you’ll roll past some private condos, then spy a wood-chip trail near a chain-link fence. Take the trail into Petoskey State Park—bikes enter free—to explore the low dunes, woods, and shoreline that make this state park one of the prettiest Up North, as well as a prime pickin’ place for Petoskey stones. You can catch the trail again just outside the park’s main entrance on M-119, but be ready for some noise and cars. Before and after the Wheelway skims along the northeast edge of the Harbor Springs Airport, it’ll follow M-119 closely, sometimes just off the paved shoulder and sometimes offroad. You’ll also cross the highway once, at a traffic light at Pleasantview Road.
10 • may 23, 2022 • Northern Express Weekly
Stop: Bayfront Park
Ripe for riders of all ages, this waterfront gem is much more than 25 acres and 8,000 feet of shoreline. It’s home to a kids' playground and fishing pond, a promenade and walkable pier, a waterfall, a marina, and more. Spring visitors, don’t miss the arboretum at the East Bowl; summer riders, head a wee bit southwest of the tunnel to explore the Little Traverse Historical Museum. Housed inside the 1892-built Pere Marquette train station, the museum is a trove of treasures from Petoskey’s past, highlighting its original inhabitants, Native Americans; early immigrant pioneers; Victorian-era summer folk; the former station’s most famous ticketholder, Ernest Hemingway; and area arts, culture, business, and industry through the centuries.
Trail’s End: Downtown Harbor Springs
After crossing M-119, you’re about 4 miles from downtown Harbor Springs. The path’s trailhead is near the ballfields at Lake and Hoyt, on the east side of town, and you can easily find your way through the surrounding (and gorgeous) neighborhoods into downtown. There, you can sit down for a meal, cocktail, or ice cream cone at more than a dozen casual-to-upscale eateries, roll to the marina or beach, or even take in a movie at the historic three-screen Lyric Theatre. One tip: If you can make it back to Petoskey tonight, plan for a quick hike up Bayfront Park’s stair tower before dusk. It takes you to the aptly named Sunset Park, and in just a few minutes, you’ll know why it’s the most popular evening spot in town.
