Tour Da U.P. 2009 Bike Tour Pictures

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The 2009 Tour da UP is in the books as another awesome tour marked by many “firsts”. While certain aspects of “da Tour” have remained the same from year to year, we did have a few changes for 2009. It was the first time we camped in one location for three nights. It was also the first time we were able to show the TFH campus to our tour participants, give tours of the facilities and explain in detail how we help children. Another first was the weather. Usually, August brings warm temperatures sunny skies and maybe a bit of rain, but this year it was a constant north wind to battle. It was the first year we had such cool weather that participants were wearing long sleeves and pants.Our route included a little of everything.

We began in Gladstone and rode flat roads to Gwinn where the Lions Club of Gwinn put on a wonderful lunch. The rest of the day of riding was a head wind into Marquette with a nice downhill decent into Tourist Park. Marquette Lions grilled an incredible chicken dinner which was followed by a camp fire and s’mores. On Monday morning we were treated to the buffet at NMU’s Wildcat Den. Cyclist’s would need all the energy they could get as the ride to west Ishpeming included 1,000 feet of elevation change from the campground. Our destination was da Tourist Trap and lunch at Lake Bancroft, provided by the Ishpeming Tri-Township Lions. After returning to Marquette, the group was served a Mexican Dinner at our campus. The evening included tours of our facilities and a presentation about TFH with a few words from our youth Mayor. The following day was a rest day to explore the local area or sign up for activities such as sailing, kayaking, mountain biking, massages, hiking, and of course a mine tour!

On Wednesday, Day 4 of the tour we broke camp and rode east to Autrain. Many explored the beaches in the area before finishing the day’s ride at Superior Central School and Eben Junction. Weather improved on the last day and it was warm and sunny for our return to Gladstone High School. The Gladstone Lions supplied us with our traditional pasty lunch ready as riders made their way into the school. An awards ceremony concluded the tour with many great stories and memories of another fantastic tour.