Good morning, lakeshore. Bike Time turns 20 tomorrow, and downtown Muskegon is about to sound like a completely different city for five straight days, so treat this issue as your last calm morning before the engines start revving. Temperatures keep climbing all week too, so the water might be your best bet once the crowds show up downtown. This issue has everything you need to make the most of it.

In this week’s Lowdown:

Let’s get into it.

- Sam Johnson, The Lakeshore Lowdown

Muskegon's biggest week of the summer starts tomorrow, and if you've never navigated it, here's the lowdown on where to go and when.

Wednesday, July 15: Both events kick off at 5pm. Head to Hot Rod Harley-Davidson for the opening stretch through 11, with Uncle Klunk taking the stage from 6 to 7:30. A few blocks over, Rebel Road opens on Western Avenue too, with live music on the Miller Lite Mainstage running all four days. Pick a side of downtown and get moving.

Thursday, July 16: Hot Rod runs 9am to 11pm, with Dutton Hollow at 5:30 and the Rick Deez Band closing the night at 8. Western Avenue keeps rolling all day too, with the vendor village and more Mainstage sets keeping the street loud.

Friday, July 17: This is test ride day at Hot Rod, with the H-D Demo Truck on-site from 9 to 4 if you've ever wanted to throw a leg over a new Harley. Post Fontaine plays at 3, Vincent Hayes at 5:30, and cornhole tournament registration opens at 5 ahead of a 6pm start.

Saturday, July 18: Both venues run their fullest days. Hot Rod's open 9 to 11, and Rebel Road hosts its Bike Show and Audio Competition, presented with Riding With Brendan, alongside another full day on the Mainstage.

Sunday, July 19: Things wind down early. Hot Rod's open 9 to 3 for one last pass before everyone heads home.

A handful of acts on both sides of downtown were still TBA as of this newsletter, so if a specific band matters to you, it's worth a quick check of Hot Rod's and Rebel Road's socials before you head out.

Wherever you land, plan for Western Avenue to be bikes-only through the weekend, and give yourself extra time getting around downtown either way.

Today rolls in hot, with the lakeshore climbing into the upper 80s and sun sticking around most of the day. Rain barely factors in, sitting around a 10 percent chance, so it stays dry if you're headed downtown for Bike Time's opening night. Wednesday and Thursday keep pushing warmer, nearing 89 by Thursday as the whole stretch runs a couple degrees hotter with each passing day. Inland areas are dealing with a heat advisory pushing temps into the mid-90s, so anything you've got planned away from the water this week is going to feel noticeably hotter than it does right on the shoreline.

Lake Michigan is holding around 70 degrees off Muskegon, warm enough that most people forget about the temperature within a minute of getting in. Winds have stayed light through most of the week, keeping the water calm along the beaches, though it's worth checking conditions again closer to the weekend since a wind shift can stir things up fast this time of year.

The verdict: Mornings and evenings are the move for anything outdoors this week. Afternoons are hot enough that the beach or the shade both make more sense than standing around downtown in direct sun.

7 Day Glance: The whole week trends hotter as it goes, climbing from the upper 80s Tuesday into the high 80s by Thursday before easing back slightly to end the week. Rain chances stay low throughout, so it's a dry stretch overall, just an increasingly warm one.

Weather sourced from the National Weather Service the day prior to this issue.

Thursday brings the 5th Annual Java Jam to Lynne Sherwood Waterfront Stadium in Grand Haven, a night built around inclusive hiring and local music. A talent show opens things at 5, Grand Haven's own Mojo Dojo and The Domestic Problems take the stage after, and a raffle benefiting Kenzie's Cafe runs alongside it all.

The Grand Haven Farmers Market keeps its weekly rhythm going too, open Wednesday from 8 to 1 at Chinook Pier before it shifts over to Mulligan's Hollow in August. Same produce, same slower morning by the water, worth building a stop around if you're downtown midweek.

And if downtown Muskegon feels like too much this week, Ravenna's Dog Daze and Car Cruise-In gives you a quieter option Friday evening. Expect close to 300 cars lined up, an arts and crafts show, and enough kids' activities to make it an easy family stop from 5 to 9.

Tonight's a pick-your-shoreline night. The Electric Red plays Bolt Park in Grand Haven at 7 as part of the summer concert series, while over in Muskegon, Innuendo takes the stage at The Deck at 6, bringing their brand of West Michigan rock n' roll right onto the beach.

Wednesday shifts the Grand Haven side downtown, where Livin' the Dream headlines Music on the Grand at Lynne Sherwood Waterfront Stadium from 7 to 9.

Thursday brings the Carl Webb Trio to BoDocks on Muskegon Lake, 6 to 9, right as Bike Time and Rebel Road get rolling a few blocks over if you want music without wading into the crowds.

With the lake sitting calm and warm this week, conditions are about as good as boating and paddling get right now. Kayakers and paddleboarders have had smooth mornings straight through the week, and that holds through Thursday before things get a little less predictable heading into the weekend. Boaters out of either Muskegon or Grand Haven should stick to early starts, since the afternoon heat tends to stir up just enough breeze to turn glassy water choppy by early afternoon.

If you don't have your own boat, this is a good week to book a sunset cruise or grab a paddleboard rental rather than wait for cooler, calmer months to pass you by.

For the anglers: Salmon and trout action stays mixed off Muskegon, with boats still finding a combination of kings, coho, and lake trout on spoons, flashers, and meat rigs in 40 to 80 feet. Herring's been working too, if you want another option to run in the spread.

Muskegon's Lakeside Pizza Co. is expanding across the water, opening The Slice Shoppe on Washington Avenue in Grand Haven later this summer, a New York-style pizza-by-the-slice concept. The original Muskegon spot built its name on a 72-hour cold-fermented dough and imported Italian flour, so if the slice shop follows the same standard, it's one worth keeping an eye on.

If downtown Muskegon feels like too much this week, JW's Food & Spirits in Grand Haven is a quieter, cozy alternative. Happy Hour runs Monday through Friday from 2 to 5, with a French dip and BBQ slider for $2.50, crab rangoon for $1.50, and $2 off pitchers.

Aaron Piasecki got the call every kid dreams about on Sunday. The 2022 Mona Shores grad was picked by the Houston Astros with the 241st overall selection, the eighth round of the MLB Draft, capping a senior season at Troy University where he hit .337 with 10 home runs and 17 doubles. Piasecki's path ran through Kellogg Community College and Central Michigan before landing at Troy, and he's no stranger to Marsh Field either: he earned a Great Lakes League All-Star nod playing for the Muskegon Clippers back in 2023. He's the fifth Mona Shores product ever picked in the MLB Draft, and the first since 1994.

Speaking of the Clippers, they're right in the thick of a playoff race and welcome the Xenia Scouts to Marsh Field tonight and Wednesday. Muskegon sits at 16-15, a game behind the Flag City Sluggers for the final North Division playoff spot, after taking down the Hamilton Joes on the road last weekend. With the regular season winding down, these next few series matter.

There's a new way to golf year-round in Grand Haven, no matter what Lake Michigan's weather decides to do. Matt Schultz opened The Back Nine Golf this spring in the old Family Video spot on Beacon Blvd, bringing three simulator bays and a putting green into a space that used to rent out VHS tapes and, later, DVDs. Schultz geeked out a bit describing the setup: five cameras, a mix of infrared and blue LED, track every detail of your swing and translate it onto a 15-foot screen. The whole place runs on a fully automated model too, so members and golfers alike can book a bay and let themselves in whenever the mood strikes, day or night. Michigan winters just got a lot less of an excuse to put the clubs away.

On the night of March 8, 1994, something strange lit up the sky over the lakeshore. Hundreds of people from Holland to Muskegon flooded 911 lines describing five or six objects with red, green, white, and blue lights, moving in tight formation before scattering and hovering in ways no aircraft should. Local police confirmed seeing the same lights. But the detail that still gives people chills is the radar operator on duty that night at the National Weather Service office in Muskegon, who watched fast-moving blips merge and split on his screen and was caught on tape saying, simply, "Oh my God." Three decades later, nobody's ever explained what it was.

That's the lakeshore this week. Hot days call for the water, and downtown's about to get loud. Add a hometown kid one step closer to the majors, and it's shaping up to be one to remember.

We’ll see you Friday.

-The Lakeshore Lowdown
Email: [email protected]