20th annual Michigander Bike Tour draws 400 cyclists

The 400 or so riders on the 20th annual Michigander Bicycle Tour’s six- and seven-day routes pedaled 57 miles Sunday from South Haven to Plainwell on the Kal-Haven and Kalamazoo River Valley trails, reports MLive.

Cyclists in the weeklong event are riding overlapping routes along scenic West Michigan back roads and old railroad corridors that have been converted into recreational trails. They will make a wide circle around Grand Rapids and stop overnight in Vermontville, Lowell, Ravenna and Holland, following Sunday night’s stay in Plainwell and complete the 300-plus-mile trek back in South Haven on Friday.

Excerpt:

(Saturday night), many of my Michigander friends and I enjoyed the private bonfire party on the Black River that South Haven Mayor Robert Burr held for us.

“This is a wonderful experience,” Burr said as people gathered around the fire — not too closely on the humid evening — and sang the ever-appropriate Eagles classic, “Take It Easy.” He was brimming with enthusiasm over a recent $1.1 million state grant that will pave the way, once completed in September, to connecting the South Haven end of the Kal-Haven Trail with the middle of the Lake Michigan resort town’s popular shopping district.

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Source: MLive.com