All - Terrain Biking

If you've been taking notes, then you know that I live in Michigan's Beautiful Upper Peninsula, or U.P. That means I bike in, you guessed it, the U.P. Fortunately, this happens to be a sweet venue for ATB-ing. You are just as likely to see a deer on the trail as another rider, the temperature is nice for a ride, and the terrain is hard to beat. I ride on a good IM bike, the Trek 820. It has Shimano RapidFire shifters, which I love.

To further detail, I'm gonna post a map of the Upper Peninsula:

Now, the North side is bordered by frigid Lake Superior, the South by chilly Lake Michigan, the East by nippy Lake Huron, and the West by....Wisconsin. (Hey, I was runnin' out of lakes.)

The Lake Superior coast is rugged and undeveloped. If you can find a trail, it'll be sweet, but I wouldn't bet the farm on finding one. Logging tracks and other various two-tracks will be your best bet here. The Keewenau Peninsula is gorgeous, but watch for bears. The Eastern end of the UP is mostly flat land, but cross the bridge in Sault Sainte Marie (the Soo) and take a trip up to Searchmont and you'll be impressed.

The Lake Michigan/Huron shoreline is more developed, and can be quite sandy. Trails here can be unrideable due to high water in swamps, but the scenery is well worth your while.

In general, the best trails are probably those which are nordic ski trails in the winter months. They are mapped, easy to follow, and cover the best terrain. And I promise they will not be crowded.