🚲"Wheels, Trails, and Brewery Tales: Our E-Bike Adventure on the Grayling Bicycle Turnpike"

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🚲"Wheels, Trails, and Brewery Tales: Our E-Bike Adventure on the Grayling Bicycle Turnpike"

There are days when you wake up and say, “You know what sounds relaxing? A 20-mile bike ride.” And then there are days when you do that anyway... on e-bikes… while pretending it was always part of the plan.

Welcome to Grayling, Michigan: home of pine trees, paved trails, and more breweries than your quads have excuses.

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🏁 The Grand-ish Start

We rolled out of Grayling City Park, which sounds fancy but basically meant Kellie and I wrangled our e-bikes into motion while trying not to look like the “before” photo in a back pain commercial. The trailhead is tucked just past the park bridge—easy to find if you follow the smell of damp pine needles and dignity being slowly lost to cardio.

Once on the Grayling Bicycle Turnpike, it was smooth pavement, light breeze, and that satisfying hum of an electric motor doing most of the work while we took in the sights like nature-loving frauds.

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📍Trail Vibe Check: 10/10 Would Cruise Again

This trail is a hidden gem. Shaded most of the way, lightly rolling hills, and zero cars. The pavement is clean and smooth, and even when we passed the occasional hiker or biker, everyone had that polite Midwestern smile that says, “I won’t judge your compression socks if you don’t judge my fanny pack.”

Halfway through, we spotted the map board for the Turnpike—an actual artifact from the ancient era of “where the heck are we?” Paper maps! Photos tacked on with staples! We took a picture, of course. For... documentation. And Instagram.

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🛑 Midpoint Stop: Hartwick Pines & the Wagon That Time Forgot

The trail winds you right into Hartwick Pines State Park, which feels like stepping into a Bob Ross painting: happy trees, log cabins, and a giant red lumber wagon that definitely qualifies as “Instagram bait.” (See Image #1.)

We parked the bikes next to this enormous wheeled monument to Michigan’s logging past—basically the original SUV—and took a breather. You could almost hear the ghosts of lumberjacks whispering, “Use your legs, ya wimps.”

Also, big shoutout to the picnic tables nearby. You haven’t truly earned your trail snack until you sit down on a sun-warmed bench and realize your legs have gone full Jell-O.

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🍻 The Promise of Beer Is a Powerful Motivator

The turnaround point achieved, we coasted back toward Grayling with a renewed sense of purpose—that purpose being Paddle Hard Brewing.

Listen: nothing motivates tired glutes like the thought of a cold craft IPA. It's basically science.

Back in town, we rolled into Paddle Hard looking like slightly windblown adventurers. If anyone noticed our electric assist or questionable helmet hair, they were kind enough not to mention it. (Bless you, beer people.)

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📷 About the Photos (a.k.a. Proof We Actually Did This)

Image 1: Our e-bikes and that iconic red logging wagon at Hartwick Pines. If a tree falls in the forest and no one takes a photo beside it, did it even count?

Image 2: The Grayling Bicycle Turnpike map. Useful? Yes. Slightly intimidating? Also yes.

Image 3: Kellie mid-climb, looking way cooler than me and at least 40% less winded.

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🧭 Tips for Fellow Trail Dabblers

Trail Start: Park near Grayling City Park, then cross the bridge to hit the trail.

Trail Distance: ~10 miles one way to Hartwick Pines. E-bike makes it feel like 3.

Trail Perks: Mostly shaded, lightly trafficked, plenty of “we could totally do this again” vibes.

Post-Ride Perks: Paddle Hard Brewing is like finding Narnia but with hops.

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Final Thoughts from the Saddle

Let’s be honest—I didn’t expect to love this trail ride as much as I did. It had trees. It had silence. It had a map that made me feel like Lewis and/or Clark. And it had beer at the end.

That’s a full-on adult field trip if I’ve ever heard one.

So if you're looking for a day that blends nostalgia, nature, and a touch of self-deprecating athleticism, Grayling's got your back. Just don’t forget your bike charger—or your sense of humor.

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