10 | JULY 4 • 2024 
J
N

M

errill Gordon of West 
Bloomfield recently 
completed a 700-mile 
bike ride around Lake Superior 
over the course of seven days 
for his 70th birthday. Gordon, a 
lawyer who has lived in Metro 
Detroit his whole life, is an avid 
cyclist. 
Gordon has been riding for 
about 25 years, ever since his 
brother gifted him a bike for his 
birthday. He started riding and 
quickly fell in love, successively 
riding longer distances and get-
ting better bikes and equipment 

over the years.
Gordon rides almost every 
day and estimates riding 
between 3,000-5,000 miles a 
year.
He generally rides with a 
friend or two, and rides with 
groups in the city of Detroit 
and around town. Gordon rides 
almost exclusively on the road, 
as opposed to trails and other 
surfaces.
Though he doesn’t partake 
in competitive races, he cycles 
recreationally for hours a day at 
a pretty good clip. “It’s not just 

dawdling,
” Gordon said. 
Gordon rides in the morn-
ings. A normal morning to 
Gordon would be to wake up at 
5 a.m., start riding at 6 a.m. and 
ride all the way to Birmingham 
and back — returning home by 
7:30 a.m. 
Gordon and his wife, Susie, 
have three children: Carly, 
Lindsay and Jacob. 
“Back in the day, when the 
kids were little, Susie’s mantra to 
me was on Saturday mornings 
you can leave as early as you 
want, just be back by 9:30 with 

bagels,
” Gordon laughed. 
“When I ride, I feel good. It 
makes me feel young. So, I do 
it,
” Gordon said. “
And I ride 
inside in the winter. I put the 
bike on a trainer, and I ride out-
side in even generally inclement 
weather.
”

COMMEMORATING 
HIS 70TH BIRTHDAY
Gordon’s 70th birthday was 
back on Feb. 2, and he was 
thinking about how he wanted 
to commemorate it. He had 
done a number of other long, 
multi-day rides in the past. 
The first long bike trip 
Gordon went on was from San 
Francisco to Los Angeles about 
20 years ago for a friend’s 50th 
birthday. 
He’s also ridden from home 
to Mackinac Island, from home 
to Niagara Falls, and a trip 
across the Upper Peninsula 
from Sault Ste. Marie to Copper 
Harbor on the southern shore 
of Lake Superior. 
He was looking for a 700-
mile ride for this occasion, and 
eventually came up with the 
perfect route. The trip went 
from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, 
over the top of Lake Superior 
through a number of small-
er towns, and then through 
Thunder Bay, Ontario, and 
Duluth, Minnesota, and then 
almost to Ironwood, Michigan. 
A good friend of Gordon’s, 
Jeff Poe, went on the trip with 
him and drove his car along 
Gordon’s bike route with his 
dog, Maddy. 
“I’
d get up in the morning 
and start riding. He’
d meet me 
for breakfast, and then we’
d 
meet for dinner when I was 
done for the day,
” Gordon says. 
“
And then start off the next 
day again. We stayed in motels 
along the way.
” 
They drove up on June 7, 
Gordon started riding on June 8 
and rode everyday through June 
14. They drove back on June 15.
Gordon says the route wasn’t 

For his 70th birthday, 
Merrill 
Gordon 
embarked on his 
longest-ever bike ride 
in consecutive days.

DANNY SCHWARTZ
SENIOR STAFF REPORTER

in
 7 
Days

700 
miles

OUR COMMUNITY