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COPYRIGHT 2001 Ehlert Publishing Group
Riding the Lake Michigan Circle Tour
What's 307 miles from top to bottom, 925 feet at its deepest point, and is surrounded by some of the best motorcycle touring in four states?
As Midwesterners we knew the answer--Lake Michigan. But as riders we had only heard others tell of it. To find out for ourselves we rode off--Doug, on his '99 BMW K1200LT; Nick, atop his '97 Honda ST1100; Dennis, riding a brand-new Harley Wide Glide; and me, aboard my '94 BMW R100 Mystic--on the official Lake Michigan Scenic Tour.
We started in Chicago, home to us and to the most-publicized scenery on the route. But a motorcyclist can get lost amid the taxis, trucks and tourists in the Windy City so we made a beeline for Lake Shore Drive (U.S. 41) where we joined the official tour route and headed north. Few cities in the country offer as scenic a lakeside ride as Chicago--a 26-mile breeze of parks, beaches, museums and skyscrapers that gives travelers a vista unrivaled on the Great Lakes.
Continuing north we opted to make time and, riding in a staggered formation, we joined Interstate 94 at the Wisconsin border. Once we were past Milwaukee, the roadside scenery gave way to rolling farmlands, thick green fields of corn and beans and lounging dairy cows. Along this leg of the trip Lake Michigan offered only a hint of its presence. To the east a line of puffy clouds marked the lake...
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