u/info2x

Preparing for a long ass ride so I took to route 1 starting on the portion closest to me (West Bloomfield) and then booked it across the state. Figured I'd break this down by trail so it's easier to digest. Feel free to ask questions as I probably left out plenty!

TLDR - Loved the ride. Kalamazoo sucks. 200 miles is long. Happy for a light to finish the ride

West Bloomfield trail - Great suburban trail. If this isn't your starting point there is a water station on the trail which can be mighty helpful. They cut down a lot of trees this year so areas that used to be shaded are not as great as they were.

Airline trail - Also a great suburban trail. They redid the bathrooms at one of the parks but I think they got rid of the bottle filling station. I haven't confirmed that.

Port Huron trail - Same as above. One of the steeper climbs is here on your way to Island Lake

Island Lake - I spent most of my time on the road and not on the walking path. Eventually you're on the road so I just skipped the people part. Water is nice. This was my first water stop.

23 connector - Meh... It's a path that keeps you out of the road and then it ends. At least the construction at 9 mile is done so you can get under 23. Construction at silver lake road is also done.

Mike Levine Lakelands Trail State Park - Delightful. For your suburban spoiled biker this is where water started to become difficult to come by. (side comment: I love how much trail infrastructure we have in this state. My water gripe here is trivial compared to riding in other states). I am happy to report that a new fountain was installed in Stockbridge! It's easy to miss because it's near the equestrian staging area. Had a good mix of gravel and paved sections along with shade and exposed areas. Enjoy the prisons.

Mike Levine to Jackson - The only protected bike lane that I came across. Honestly I was shocked it existed. Clearly new.

Grand River Arts Walk - Kind of neat. MI Trails said there was water in Lions park but I certainly couldn't find it

MLK Equality trail - I'm not sure I was on this but somewhere in Jackson the trail was closed and poorly marked for detour. It wasn't hard to figure out but annoying. Google shows it as "Inter city bike trail". Generous path size and very new. Get some mature trees and it will be lovely. Looks well illuminated for the night too. For those from Sterling Heights they have their own interpretation of the golden butthole

Falling Waters Trail - Started with a nice art exhibit and the scenery was pleasant.

Trail in Concord was taped off by the sheriff. Looks like they were having an event in the park. It's interesting to me that Concord claimed to be a very bike friendly place and there was just a single port-a-potty. Maybe in the closed park there was more.

Random roads - Took a bunch of roads through Michigan farmland to Albion. Very little traffic so it was enjoyable.

Albion River Tail - Fine trail. Plenty of people were out and about enjoying the park. There is a natural spring with a big sign saying it was not potable, darn. There was also a water fountain downtown that didn't work. I should have stopped downtown to get some water this is on me. Oh there was a really cool Coke sign on the side of a building on the river.

More random roads - Headed to Marshall and it was at this point that I had run out of water. Luckily there was a gas station so I bought a gallon of water and restocked. They had a nice square that had plenty of shade and a fountain that was a nice spot to recover a bit. Marshall itself was pretty nice from what I could tell. Back on the road I headed towards battle creek.

Calhoun County Trailway - Another nice trail. They had water (yay!) There was also a really entertaining run of gravel here. I wish it lasted longer. There were signs that this was part of the North Country National Scenic trail which I'll definitely have to look at because this was fun.

Battlecreek linear trail - Great except for part of the trail being closed. Detour signs just sort of stopped too but again nothing too hard to navigate. Was surprised I didn't come across any water in the downtown area.

M96 - The paved trail here is not in great shape. I debated numerous times about just getting on the road and in hindsight given what I found in Kalamazoo this is probably for the best. Not a fun part of the trip.

Kalamazoo river trail - I was hoping for more from this. The eastern most section starts well and then you're just zipping along M96 (albeit this was in better shape). Needed to be on alert for traffic on side streets. When you do veer off M96 you end up with what could be nice, but alas... Plenty of homeless camps and trash everywhere. One of the parts of the trail was closed so I had to use a cross walk and boy were people pissed. The whole experience left a lot to be desired. I hope your ride goes better. Once you get the the other side of the city things are better.

Kal-Haven Trail - I got to this point pretty late and the sun was setting. It's a nice trail and I'd love to have been able to see it beyond what my bike light could illuminate. What I can say is that it was a well deserved downhill. It was dark, the rain was coming in, and the lighting was entertaining if not a bit concerning at this point in the trip. I almost missed the buoy for route 1! I did grab water at the eastern end. Water was pretty rusty and the hand pump is difficult to operate so just put that bottle on the ground. I ended up not using this water. I did see a few other pumps along the route but didn't stop.