I intercepted this email from the route planners… teachers! If you know any schools on this route who might want to be included, please have them email Roger at gillesr@gvsu.edu. It’s coming together!
Hi all:
Bob and I got together this evening to take a longer look at the map, and I think we’ve come up with a pretty good tentative route. We already have many interested schools. We need schools for Monday and for Thursday.
Monday (need schools for this day)
North Park School to Allegan area
Ride down Kent Trails through Byron Center south to the Allegan area
Check for schools in Wyoming, Byron Center, Hopkins, Allegan
This is about 45 miles, or 4 hours of riding
Very few lodging options
OR
North Park School to Saugatuck/Douglas area
Ride down Kent Trails through Byron Center west to Holland/Saugatuck area
Check for schools in Wyoming, Byron Center, south Holland, Saugatuck, Douglas
This is about 50 miles, or 4-5 hours of riding
Plenty of lodging options
Tuesday (plenty of candidates here–we need to choose which ones)
Allegan or Saugatuck area to Benton Harbor area
Allegan area on rural routes through Bloomingdale, over to South Haven and south
Or south from Saugatuck on Blue Star highway to South Haven and south
Schedule schools in Coloma, Benton Harbor, St. Joseph
This is about 50 miles, or 4-5 hours of riding
Plenty of lodging options
Wednesday (plenty of good candidates for this day)
Benton Harbor area to New Buffalo
Benton Harbor/St. Joe on rural routes to Sawyer/Three Oaks and then to New Buffalo
Schedule schools in Sawyer, Three Oaks, Galien
This is about 40 miles, or 3-4 hours of riding
Plenty of lodging options
Thursday (need schools for this day)
New Buffalo to Griffith/Hammond, IN area
This is nearly all two separate bike trails.
Check for schools in Hobart, south Gary, Griffith, Highland, Hammond.
It’s about 45 miles, or 4 hours of riding
Some lodging options
Friday
Griffith/Hammond area to Chicago
Erie Lackawana Trail to Calumet City and then to Lakeshore Dr. and Chicago
Schedule Chicago schools, libraries, and Swedish American museum
This is about 40 miles, or 4 hours of riding
Plenty of lodging options