a bike adventure

this weekend, david and i snuck away with our bicycles for a day and did some seriously enjoyable sight-seeing-by bike. my father-in-law drove us to holland, michigan and dropped us at the south shore of lake macatawa at lake michigan and bid us farewell (although he gave me a pretty serious "you shouldn't be biking with that sprained ankle so call me when things go bad" sort of dad look). we set off and biked leisurely past mansions and yacht clubs and restaurants, past a pickle factory, through downtown holland and the hope college campus, and finally came to our first stop at windmill island in holland, at the east end of lake macatawa. you guys. i don't want to sound like a dweeb, BUT windmill island is pretty awesome. we took a tour of the functional windmill from the netherlands.


after that, we biked arond the lake to the holland state park, where we took a very necessary dip in the cold clear water of lake michigan. it was a zoo.




after that, our bike riding adventure took a bit of a turn toward bike carrying. we had to cut through a historical cottage community (the ottawa beach society, to be exact) that has no cars, and all bikes are to be walked (or carried over their sand dunes). i think i'd like to have a cottage there.



from there, the ride took us due north on the bike path alongside south lakeshore drive. we stopped for a late lunch at the sandy point beach house. the ride home was perfectly dappled with shade in the woods, and rolled up and down gentle hills from the sand dunes. it was a perfect saturday.

 

the route: