Today, Tuesday, 8/22, I biked less than five miles to the ferry landing in Muskegon, where I boarded the Lake Express Ferry at about 10 a.m. for the 2 1/2-hour trip across Lake Michigan to downtown Milwaukee. I was instructed to lean my bike up against a tree while waiting for the departure and was the first to board the boat when I was cleared to ride up the gangplank–ahead of about 50 cars. Mine was the only bike to board on this trip, but I saw a couple cyclists get off the ferry with their bikes as it arrived from an earlier departure from Milwaukee.

Here you can see more of the full profile of the ferry, in a photo I took after we arrived in Milwaukee.

Goodbye, Michigan!

And hello, Milwaukee!

A large portion of my route through downtown Milwaukee and then north of the city was on a network of bike trails that was a little bit complicated, but well worth figuring out–it avoided the headache of dealing with busy streets and took me through parks and often along the lake, especially near downtown. North of the city, I picked up several asphalt trails that are part of what used to be the area’s interurban electric rail service, which ran until the 1940s. It is a great trail system that reminded me of the Paul Bunyan Trail in Minnesota and took me through a number of communities north of Milwaukee to Port Washington.

Here is what I could see from the trail when I was downtown–this was the view off to my left.

And this was the view to my right.

I took this photo from a bridge where the trail crosses the Milwaukee River, near Grafton, WI.

I arrived at my hotel in Port Washington around 7 p.m., having biked about 45 miles for the day, including the short trip in Muskegon. This journey has now taken me across parts of six states and one Canadian province. My path through Wisconsin will first take me toward Lake Superior, and then west to Superior, WI, at the northwest corner of the state. I will continue my trek north through parts of Ozaukee, Sheboygan, and Calumet Counties tomorrow.