I did a two week, 800-mile tour around Lake Michigan when I was 18. I started from my home in Milwaukee, WI, rode clockwise around the Lake, and ended in Muskegon, MI where I caught the ferry back across the Lake. Bought the bike from a neighbor and took off a few weeks later. Planned the trip with a friend but ended up riding it solo after they got a good paying summer job. Sadly, the 30 year old bottom bracket only made it part of the way, seizing up somewhere near Traverse City, MI. Before then, I didn't even know what a bottom bracket was. A local mechanic stayed late after work to wrench on my bike and get me back on the road the next day. Bless him. The whole endeavor was one of the most rich and vivid experiences of my young life. Bike touring still does that for me.
