Bikepacking the Coast to Coast Gravel 100

Another bikepacking adventure in our beautiful state of Michigan.

This time, my friend and I chose to bikepack a well known race route, the Coast to Coast Gravel Race 100 miler.

The Coast to Coast is a gravel race that offers two routes; A 100 mile loop that begins in Ludington, MI, on the shores of Lake Michigan, sets out East to Big M trail system just West of Wellston, Michigan, and loops back to Ludington. The other option is a race across the state, with riders dipping their wheels in Lake Huron, biking 210 miles west, and ending with a wheel dip in Lake Michigan in Ludington. The route offers up all the Northern Michigan beauty; lush forests, quiet gravel roads, river crossings, and enough hills to make a challenge.

I have raced the 100 miler 3 times, and completed the 210 once, which was enough, spending 19 hours on a bike tested my toughness, and I am proud to say that I persevered alongside my good friend Erik, and we both felt the sense of a great accomplishment when we dipped our wheels in Lake Michigan at 2:30 am the next day.

So, when my friend Sharon asked if I would be interested in bikepacking the route, I quickly said yes.

We began the adventure at the routes midway point, Big M, as it's close to my home and made sense to begin and end there.

It was a much different experience bikepacking the route vs racing it, and Sharon's mantra for the adventure was "you can't do this in a race" whenever we pulled over to enjoy a picnic lunch, a dip in a river, or just taking in the beauty at a nice easy pace.

We started our adventure on a Thursday around noon, biked 35 miles to Ludington, where we had reservations at a campground, biked 50 miles on day two to another campground, and finished day 3 with a nice easy 16 miles, back at Big M, where my hubby was waiting for us.

Here is a full video from our adventure, I hope you enjoy watching as much as I enjoyed creating it!