Coast to Coast, LA to Chicago

Don't ask me why but Michigan has always been one of those bucket list states for me, no family there or any real reason other than I always thought it'd be a cool place to visit. I was not wrong. Late last year we decided to sign up for the Coast to Coast Gravel Grinder in Ludington, MI and take a week to travel up there and take in the sites along the way. Jackie had done the Coast to Coast in 2021 but due to navigational issues she got lost and missed the cutoff time at the checkpoint so never finished it, so there was a little bit of redemption for her in there also. It didn't take much, well zero really, convincing due to my strange affinity to the state.


Last week we packed up the tiny teardrop and off we went on our adventure up north to see what there was to see and do what there was to do in Michigan... oh yea, and do a little gravel racing as well.




Jackie does have family in Michigan so we did stop and spend the night there and visit for a bit. Growing up in both the Seattle area and in Montana, I'd say Michigan is Pacific NW meets Montana, except that's technically Idaho geographically but for the purposes of this story we will go with it. Depending on where in the state you are it really reminded me of both, closer to the shores of Lake Michigan and it had that Seattle vibe to it, minus the smell of salt water, further inland and it was heavily wooded and reminded me of my youth in Montana, minus the mountains of course because where we were Michigan was somewhat flat... "Nebraska flat".




One thing I wasn't expecting was all the sand, not just on the beaches either where you'd expect to find sand but everywhere the entire part of the state where we traveled seem to be one giant sand dune. Talk about a great calf work out, try walking a few miles in fluffy, unbinding sand and that'll get those baby cows mooing.




Friday night we pulled into the campground just outside of Ludington and on Saturday we made our way over to Sterns Park on the shores of Lake Michigan to toe the line for the 2023 Coast to Coast. I have to say the backdrop for this race did not suck, water, beaches and the quaint little coastal town wasn't the most horrible place to have a gravel race.


As we were in the chute waiting for the start of the race, Mike came over and introduced himself. Mike is from the Chicago area and a reader of the blog, he recognized us from here and decided to come over and say hi. I'm glad he came over and we had a nice chat and again later on in the race when we saw him again... to be honest though it was kind of surreal at the same time, I mean I guess you don't realize that people actually read these things... you just sort of put it out there in the ether and never really think about it. It was a pretty cool experience also and I'm glad we got to meet Mike, thanks for stopping over and saying hi!




Race started at 8 am and to be honest for us Nebraskans it was almost a little chilly to start with, luckily there was about 6 miles of pavement before we hit the gravel so a bit of time to get warmed up before the real fun began.





Gravel was mostly a mix of really hard packed almost pavement like sections to a fair amount of loose sand at the beginning so you really had to pay attention to changing road conditions or you'd get sucked into a sand trap. Corn seemed to be a pretty common farm commodity in the area but man was it still pretty diminutive compared to the almost 4 foot tall stocks we have here already. Maybe Michigan is where baby corn comes from.





The first three hours or 45ish miles we were cruising right along, probably averaging between 15-16 mph... then the horrible, sandy double track started rearing it's ugly head and things slowed down considerably. I knew it was coming because Jackie lamented about how bad it was the year she rode it and there had been rain the day before on that year so this year was bound to be worse, and it was. It was literally like trying to ride your bike on the beach is some sections, one stretch of this sand volleyball like substance was about three straight miles of slip sliding and walking with the bike. I was never so glad to see a real gravel road in my life after that section.




The chill of the costal morning had also given way to the heat of the day farther inland, that combined with the longer stretches of sand had taken their toll and even after returning to more normal gravel the pace never did get back up to what we saw prior to those sections. We were still clipping along decently but instead of 15-16 we probably slowed to a more party paced 10-12 mph. Jackie had a bit of a battle with nausia, likel caused by the heat, the more difficult sections we'd just survived and the smoke coming down from the fires in Canada and Minnesota. None of that helped but we managed to keep moving and pushed on toward the finish line.





We came back in the same way we went out so that last 6 miles was paved, not going all roadie or anything but after 90 miles of sand and gravel the pavement felt butter smooth and fast. We rolled into the end of the 102.3 miles with a 13.4 mph average finishing in 7 hours and 37 minutes of rolling time and were given a finisher sticker and stem cap. We shed our helmets and hydration packs and sought shade to sit down in and enjoy a cold chocolate milk. Unbeknowst to us, Jackie had taken 2nd in the women's single speed and I took third in the men's single speed category. We found out by scanning the QR code for results that was sitting near the announcers tent of all the ways to find out. Not a bad showing for some flat landers from the land of corn. Coast to Coast was a great event, well organized and while challenging at times due to sand it was a beautiful course, I'd do it again... as a matter of fact we may go back next year. If you're looking for an event outside the Midwest with a gorgeous back drop this might be one to consider on your calendar as well.