Looking at These Pictures, It Was Like Yesterday

Twenty years ago, Ken Webster and his brother Don set out to bicycle around Lake Michigan together.

They left on September 8, 2007, and completed the journey in seven and a half days. These restored photographs bring back more than a route. They bring back the weather, detours, landmarks, long evenings, and the quiet humor that made the trip theirs.

An early route marker from Ken and Don's 2007 ride.

A Trip Built on Brotherhood

Ken and Don carried what they needed on their bicycles and worked their way around the lake through Michigan and Wisconsin. The route did not go exactly as planned. They rode through rain, encountered a road closure, carried their bikes over a temporary crossing, and woke one September morning to temperatures around 32 degrees.

The road had other ideas.

Those moments were never the point of the story. They became the story. At one point, Don did not have anything warm and dry to cover his head in the rain. Ken handed him a yellow bag to put over his helmet. It was not elegant, but it worked. That practical, keep-going spirit was part of how the two brothers traveled.

The kind of detour that becomes part of the story.

Moments Between the Miles

The ride was full of details that a map cannot show: a quiet stop for prayer at a church, friends who met them along the way, and Dan Vogt and his son setting up a camper so the brothers had a place to stay for two nights.

There were fall colors, sunrises, sunsets, and the ferry ride from Manitowoc to Ludington. There was only one flat tire on the entire trip. There was also Don's sense of humor, including a piece of wood on the rear rack as a joke and his running commentary about trading the bicycles for something easier.

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In the final 100 miles, Ken's youngest son, Jeremy, joined him on the road. Sharing that stretch of the journey gave them a meaningful father-and-son bonding experience and added another layer to the memories Ken still carries from the trip. The photos trace that same rhythm: route signs, shadows on the road, a bridge out, familiar landmarks, and two loaded bicycles against a sunset. They are not simply proof of miles traveled. They are pieces of a shared memory.

One more landmark on the route around the lake.

The trip was made of landmarks as much as miles.

A Lake Michigan landmark that still carries the weight of the journey.

Carrying Don's Memory Forward

Don passed away a few years after their Lake Michigan ride. Now Ken is preparing to make the trip again at 68, stronger and more prepared than he was the first time around.

This year's ride is not about recreating 2007 exactly. It is about honoring what the trip meant, carrying Don's memory forward, and using the miles to help children around the world through Operation Christmas Child.

A sunset that holds more than the end of one riding day.

Ken's goal is to raise $6,000 to help cover the $10 shipping and handling cost for 600 shoebox gifts. Every gift, no matter the size, helps put encouragement, practical supplies, and hope into the hands of children.

Please leave Ken a comment or a word of encouragement here and on Facebook. A like, a comment, and a few kind words will mean more than you may realize as he prepares for the miles ahead.

Support Ken's Operation Christmas Child fundraiser: https://fundraise.samaritanspurse.org/fundraiser/7346307