Homer - Marshall - Albion (Day ride, July 2005)

From Black Hawk Slept Here

I've ridden from Marshall to Homer many times. It's a good way to get to the Old Sauk Trail (now Highway 12) in Hillsdale or Lenawee County. Recently a fellow Phred told me that he grew up in Marshall and when he is home for a visit, likes to ride the triangular loop from Marshall to Albion to Homer.

So I tried it, too, one Saturday in July 2005. The photos on this page are from that ride, taken along the route highlighted on the above map.

That exact route isn't the only way to complete the loop, though. There are good alternate routes on at least two of the three sides of that triangle, and one of these days I'll have to check out the 3rd, too. (The 3rd is the one from Homer to Albion.)

The fountain in Marshall is in the middle of a busy traffic circle, which is NOT an easy place to ride. But this is a good place to start. The traffic circle is usually ridable and is a good place to begin and end the circuit. (A few Black Hawk war scare sites are within a stone's throw of the circle, though some of them would require an exceptionally good arm.)

When I neared Homer, just for something different, I took a different route than the usual from L Drive into town. I was surprised to encounter a bike path. I hadn't known it was there. (Figure 5.)

It's one of the strangest things I've ever seen. The county road has very little traffic, so there's not much need of a separate bike path. The path is just a half mile long, and basically goes from nowhere to nowhere. It doesn't connect with the park in Homer, or with anything, so it's not as though it's a place where kids can ride without going out into the traffic. They have to ride on the roads to get there. There are no residences along the path that I can remember. It was weird.