When we left Manistique, it was cool. I almost stopped to pull out arm warmers. A nice change, actually, especially for someone like me who associates August with chilly fog & wind. It was cloudy and there was a fairly strong north wind. Just like home.
We were riding along the water much of the day, too. I guess it's not news that Lake Michigan is big. Still, riding along it for two whole days with more to come gives a sense of scale I did not have before. We saw lighthouses and beaches and gulls and all the tacky little businesses that seem to be attracted to waterfront settings. My personal, uh, favorite? A hand made sign announcing Honest Injun's Tourist Trap.
Jim looked forward to riding again; it was a long day, so Bruce was happy to quit before reaching St. Ignace; Aline wanted to have a beach day; I just wanted to ride. We did all sorts of calculations & gave Jim names of the towns we expected to be near at 2:30.
The clouds stuck with us. A couple of hours out we saw another rider pulled over. We stopped to be sure she was ok, and of course we got to chatting. She had stopped to add a layer - we were feeling a very few drops of rain, and that wind. She is getting started on a trip around the UP, 800 miles, and she will be giving talks along the way about moving beyond domestic violence. It seems that most of the people on long tours these days are doing it for a cause. They are surprised we are just out here 'cause we want to be. Anyhow, as we were leaving she told us about some road work ahead, and described a detour we might want to consider.
We thought it would not be worth the extra miles, and we didn't want to risk having Jim miss seeing us and worry. That was until we saw the construction. The lanes were narrow, enclosed by those big orange barrels, and there was no paved shoulder. We were on a major road with lots of big trucks. Yikes. Detour, here we come! Fortunately we were able to call Aline & tell her about our new route.
It led us to Engadine and another great lunch place. There's a little cafe & bakery with a beautiful flower garden in front. We had great soup and sandwiches on bakery bread. I asked if they had lemonade. "Yes, but it's organic," said the waitress dubiously. I asked if that made a big difference in the flavor (I was a bit concerned it might be sweetened with some exotic - but organic - fruit) & she looked mildly alarmed & admitted she had no idea! It was good. Bruce ordered some after he tasted it.
Back on the road. The detour probably added 4 miles to the six the construction zone would have taken. Well worth it.
Not long after we got back to the main road we saw a car pulled over on the shoulder. As we approached we realized it was our support car. We pulled up figuring Aline & Jim were checking on us. It was only Jim, and he was deep in a nap. It was only 1:30, so we figured we'd let him rest & see him down the road. Got that one wrong.
At 2:30 we stopped for a snack & watched the road carefully. No Jim. We called Aline, who was at a beach by herself. Jim doesn't carry a phone. We couldn't think what to do other than keep going, so we did. After about 45 minutes, we came upon Aline who was sitting by the road hoping to see Jim. Uh oh.
Fortunately he pulled up a few minutes after we had. He had no idea we could have passed him without waking him & had assumed we'd had problems somewhere before reaching his nap spot. He did the detour deluxe, searching unsuccessfully for two cyclists who just weren't there any more. What a mix up!
Now we had finally connected, Bruce handed over the bike & helmet and we were off. Instead of the thirty miles we had planned, Jim only rode about 18, so he needed to move. I fell back - my legs already had 70+ miles and we agreed to regroup as we approached town. Then it started to rain. Other than making the city riding just that little bit more exciting, it really didn't matter. We didn't get hit by any cars, didn't skid or fall, didn't make any wrong turns, we just pulled right into tonight's place, a Victorian style B&B with very spacious rooms.
Tomorrow we take a ferry to Mackinac Island for two nights. We will probably rent bikes for Jim and Aline & explore tomorrow, then get off the bikes for a day before going on to the lower part of Michigan.
Miles today: 90
Total miles so far: 2890
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Gettin' better all the time
Today's forecast: 90% chance of showers & thunderstorms. Doppler radar showed a huge system marching inexorably towards us. We all opened one eye from time to time last night in hopes of seeing lightning that would mean the system was going by fast, but no luck. It was raining lightly when we got up, and the chances were excellent that it would just keep getting worse. What to do?
Bruce expressed a preference for giving in & riding in the car ( give 'em an inch...) but took it very well when I said I would really like to ride at least until it got too bad. So we dug out our rain gear, figured out how best to send panniers in the back of the Baja, and rolled out onto the busy road. The cars and trucks were very polite. It only took about 20 minutes to reach the highway with the nice, big shoulder. It still wasn't raining very hard.
After about 15 miles, we stopped for a snack. It was hardly raining at all. I cleaned my glasses and things looked lots better. The highway was a busy one, running mostly along the shore of Lake Michigan. There were nice views but the traffic and the endless spray from all the trucks made it hard to look around.
Still, there was less and less rain all the time. I looked at the sky in all directions and simply could not find any dark, threatening clouds. And soon Bruce pointed out some ducks rushing through the grasses at the side of the road. Then we saw a family of turkeys. Then we saw something in the shoulder ahead of us. Could it be? Yes! Another touring cyclist. No! Two more touring cyclists on a tandem. We eventually caught up. They were carrying their gear; Aline & Jim had ours. So we talked for a while. They are a couple from New Mexico who are doing a route quite similar to ours, but they will go all the way to Maine, then turn south to visit family in Virginia. 5000 miles.
Soon after we met them we stopped for lunch. They joined us & we had a good time comparing notes. Today's cafe offered a beef pasty, which everyone else had. There was a sign by the inner door: We are not FAST. We are GOOD. For fast, go to Chicago...
It really was quite good.
Not long after lunch I saw some big birds in the grass. Sandhill cranes, the birds I have been watching for in the last three states. Two adults, two half-grown babies. They looked up as we stopped abruptly to stare. They were close enough that binoculars would have been pointless, but they showed no alarm. They just walked with great dignity into the nearby pines and gently disappeared.
Not much later, we realized we had a pretty good tailwind & we whizzed into Manistique.
Aline & Jim had just arrived & had discovered a state park for us all to visit. Kitch-iti-kipi, or The Big Spring. It's a large, perfectly clear spring. There is a great big raft attached to a cable that people can take from one side of the water to the other by turning a wheel. It has an opening in the middle like the ones on glass bottom boats. We could look down and get a glare-free look at the 45' deep water, the large trout that live in it, and the swirling sands that well up as the 10,000 gallons per minute of water surge in. We were all intrigued. Bruce & I would not have ridden the extra miles to see it. We are lucky to have our great support crew. There is so much to see in this country!
Bruce admitted he'd have felt pretty silly if he'd gotten here by car today.
Miles today: 55
Total miles so far: 2800
Bruce expressed a preference for giving in & riding in the car ( give 'em an inch...) but took it very well when I said I would really like to ride at least until it got too bad. So we dug out our rain gear, figured out how best to send panniers in the back of the Baja, and rolled out onto the busy road. The cars and trucks were very polite. It only took about 20 minutes to reach the highway with the nice, big shoulder. It still wasn't raining very hard.
After about 15 miles, we stopped for a snack. It was hardly raining at all. I cleaned my glasses and things looked lots better. The highway was a busy one, running mostly along the shore of Lake Michigan. There were nice views but the traffic and the endless spray from all the trucks made it hard to look around.
Still, there was less and less rain all the time. I looked at the sky in all directions and simply could not find any dark, threatening clouds. And soon Bruce pointed out some ducks rushing through the grasses at the side of the road. Then we saw a family of turkeys. Then we saw something in the shoulder ahead of us. Could it be? Yes! Another touring cyclist. No! Two more touring cyclists on a tandem. We eventually caught up. They were carrying their gear; Aline & Jim had ours. So we talked for a while. They are a couple from New Mexico who are doing a route quite similar to ours, but they will go all the way to Maine, then turn south to visit family in Virginia. 5000 miles.
Soon after we met them we stopped for lunch. They joined us & we had a good time comparing notes. Today's cafe offered a beef pasty, which everyone else had. There was a sign by the inner door: We are not FAST. We are GOOD. For fast, go to Chicago...
It really was quite good.
Not long after lunch I saw some big birds in the grass. Sandhill cranes, the birds I have been watching for in the last three states. Two adults, two half-grown babies. They looked up as we stopped abruptly to stare. They were close enough that binoculars would have been pointless, but they showed no alarm. They just walked with great dignity into the nearby pines and gently disappeared.
Not much later, we realized we had a pretty good tailwind & we whizzed into Manistique.
Aline & Jim had just arrived & had discovered a state park for us all to visit. Kitch-iti-kipi, or The Big Spring. It's a large, perfectly clear spring. There is a great big raft attached to a cable that people can take from one side of the water to the other by turning a wheel. It has an opening in the middle like the ones on glass bottom boats. We could look down and get a glare-free look at the 45' deep water, the large trout that live in it, and the swirling sands that well up as the 10,000 gallons per minute of water surge in. We were all intrigued. Bruce & I would not have ridden the extra miles to see it. We are lucky to have our great support crew. There is so much to see in this country!
Bruce admitted he'd have felt pretty silly if he'd gotten here by car today.
Miles today: 55
Total miles so far: 2800
Monday, August 1, 2011
Lots of landmarks
We reached the eastern time zone; we finished another Adventure Cycling map; we have completed 2/3 of the miles.
All that on an easy day. Well, when I say easy...that's one of the things that this trip has changed. I rode over 80 miles today, and although it was more down than up (according to Ride With GPS we climbed about 1200' and descended about 2400') it was more flat than anything. Not many days go by when I don't think about how I got here. The exercise bike, Bruce talking me into a ride up to Sawyer Camp Trail, our July 4th Tiburon rides - I was so amazed to realize I had covered 25 miles - then Velo Girls & Lorri, my first road bike, first 40 miles, ALC, all Curtis's advice & PT, Ride FAR, 6000 miles a year, and now I am sitting in Escanaba, MI with most of the width of North America behind me. All in less than 10 years.
So many people have asked about the trip and have exclaimed that they certainly could not do it; almost all of them are younger than I was when I began to ride. Really ride, I mean. So I tell them not to assume they can't.
But back to today's news.
Our place for the last two nights was another favorite. The Listening Inn was really a treat. Les and Carol took wonderful care of us and have an incredible setting. Hundreds of acres, part cultivated, much of it wild. Last night we saw two bears at the turkey feeder at the same time. I hope we can return some day with time to explore more thoroughly.
Today was a longish route, so we left right after breakfast. Breakfast was wonderful, so we never considered peanut butter to give us an early start! There were a few minor climbs in the first part of the day. Bruce was a little achy today, but I felt great. An extra day really works for me. The Upper Peninsula is very, very attractive. It is a mix of mostly evergreen woods and farms with the occasional town. The trees are not very tall. My guess is that they don't have a very long growing season; they sort of remind me of Anchorage. I like the style of many of the farmhouses, and I always love old red barns. It was fun arriving at Lake Michigan, too. Our views are likely to be pretty different as we ride along the shore for the next several days.
We had a surprising lunch today. There were not a lot of choices, so we stopped at the Nordic Trading Post feeling very uncertain what we might find. The sign was pretty worn out. I was a bit surprised to find the door open. It was, though, so we went in. The seats at the counter were those chairs we used to have to use in grammar school. The tables and booths were clean. The menu was fairly typical except: there was a very good beef & barley & vegetable soup; there were three varieties of homemade bread for sandwiches; there were several topping and condiment options we have not been seeing in these tiny places. I got talking to the woman there. She had a brace/bandage-thing around her shoulders. It turned out to be for the collar bone she had broken falling off her bicycle. So she was quite interested in our trip.
At about 2:00, Jim and Bruce traded places, and Jim & I whizzed right in to Escanaba. He pretty much doubled his previous mileage today & seems to be feeling fine. He also plans to ride some of the day on Wednesday when we are supposed to cover more than 90 miles. Bruce is pleased he will have some time to explore by car with his sister.
There have been a couple of rough spots.
Logging trucks. I can't say I had never heard about them. Adventure Cycling even refers to them in its brief description of riding conditions. It never occurred to me that they would actually be different than other big trucks. At breakfast this morning I was telling the other people how impressed I always am by truckers in general. They make tons of space for us, they wave, they toot their horns - not to make us move, just to say hi.
Not the logging trucks. Oh, they don't exactly aim at us. They just try to pretend we don't exist. It was so consistent - we were on a route much of the day where one of the loaded logging trucks passed us every several minutes - that I found myself imagining their training manual:
Drivers must NEVER cross the center line of the road.
Drivers have full use of all paved shoulders. Should an obstacle (farm vehicle, fallen tree, disabled vehicle, bicycle) limit driver's ability to use the shoulder safely, driver may move to the left edge of the lane, but may NEVER, we repeat, NEVER, cross the line at the left edge of his lane.
Driver should not give any signal of intentions; driver owns his lane and other users of the road must yield to his big, scary load.
Or something like that. Anyway, I learned a lot more about logs today than I ever thought I would. I did not need my glasses to see them in great detail.
And then there was the glass bottle heaved out a pick up truck window towards, but not quite at us this afternoon. Its path was just far enough away, and the throw was just strong enough that I am reasonably sure that it was not meant to do anything but startle us. It did.
It was an isolated act. Everyone else has continued to be very, very friendly and helpful. Many other drivers waved, most made it clear they'd be happy to wait for us at intersections. We always waved them through ahead of us, though.
Good dinner, good local ice cream.
Miles today: 83
Total miles so far: 2745
All that on an easy day. Well, when I say easy...that's one of the things that this trip has changed. I rode over 80 miles today, and although it was more down than up (according to Ride With GPS we climbed about 1200' and descended about 2400') it was more flat than anything. Not many days go by when I don't think about how I got here. The exercise bike, Bruce talking me into a ride up to Sawyer Camp Trail, our July 4th Tiburon rides - I was so amazed to realize I had covered 25 miles - then Velo Girls & Lorri, my first road bike, first 40 miles, ALC, all Curtis's advice & PT, Ride FAR, 6000 miles a year, and now I am sitting in Escanaba, MI with most of the width of North America behind me. All in less than 10 years.
So many people have asked about the trip and have exclaimed that they certainly could not do it; almost all of them are younger than I was when I began to ride. Really ride, I mean. So I tell them not to assume they can't.
But back to today's news.
Our place for the last two nights was another favorite. The Listening Inn was really a treat. Les and Carol took wonderful care of us and have an incredible setting. Hundreds of acres, part cultivated, much of it wild. Last night we saw two bears at the turkey feeder at the same time. I hope we can return some day with time to explore more thoroughly.
Today was a longish route, so we left right after breakfast. Breakfast was wonderful, so we never considered peanut butter to give us an early start! There were a few minor climbs in the first part of the day. Bruce was a little achy today, but I felt great. An extra day really works for me. The Upper Peninsula is very, very attractive. It is a mix of mostly evergreen woods and farms with the occasional town. The trees are not very tall. My guess is that they don't have a very long growing season; they sort of remind me of Anchorage. I like the style of many of the farmhouses, and I always love old red barns. It was fun arriving at Lake Michigan, too. Our views are likely to be pretty different as we ride along the shore for the next several days.
We had a surprising lunch today. There were not a lot of choices, so we stopped at the Nordic Trading Post feeling very uncertain what we might find. The sign was pretty worn out. I was a bit surprised to find the door open. It was, though, so we went in. The seats at the counter were those chairs we used to have to use in grammar school. The tables and booths were clean. The menu was fairly typical except: there was a very good beef & barley & vegetable soup; there were three varieties of homemade bread for sandwiches; there were several topping and condiment options we have not been seeing in these tiny places. I got talking to the woman there. She had a brace/bandage-thing around her shoulders. It turned out to be for the collar bone she had broken falling off her bicycle. So she was quite interested in our trip.
At about 2:00, Jim and Bruce traded places, and Jim & I whizzed right in to Escanaba. He pretty much doubled his previous mileage today & seems to be feeling fine. He also plans to ride some of the day on Wednesday when we are supposed to cover more than 90 miles. Bruce is pleased he will have some time to explore by car with his sister.
There have been a couple of rough spots.
Logging trucks. I can't say I had never heard about them. Adventure Cycling even refers to them in its brief description of riding conditions. It never occurred to me that they would actually be different than other big trucks. At breakfast this morning I was telling the other people how impressed I always am by truckers in general. They make tons of space for us, they wave, they toot their horns - not to make us move, just to say hi.
Not the logging trucks. Oh, they don't exactly aim at us. They just try to pretend we don't exist. It was so consistent - we were on a route much of the day where one of the loaded logging trucks passed us every several minutes - that I found myself imagining their training manual:
Drivers must NEVER cross the center line of the road.
Drivers have full use of all paved shoulders. Should an obstacle (farm vehicle, fallen tree, disabled vehicle, bicycle) limit driver's ability to use the shoulder safely, driver may move to the left edge of the lane, but may NEVER, we repeat, NEVER, cross the line at the left edge of his lane.
Driver should not give any signal of intentions; driver owns his lane and other users of the road must yield to his big, scary load.
Or something like that. Anyway, I learned a lot more about logs today than I ever thought I would. I did not need my glasses to see them in great detail.
And then there was the glass bottle heaved out a pick up truck window towards, but not quite at us this afternoon. Its path was just far enough away, and the throw was just strong enough that I am reasonably sure that it was not meant to do anything but startle us. It did.
It was an isolated act. Everyone else has continued to be very, very friendly and helpful. Many other drivers waved, most made it clear they'd be happy to wait for us at intersections. We always waved them through ahead of us, though.
Good dinner, good local ice cream.
Miles today: 83
Total miles so far: 2745
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Michigan is off to a great start
We are spending our rest day outside of Crystal Falls. After breakfast, our host packed us into his truck and dropped us off on the Paint River with a couple of canoes. We were to drift.downstream for a few hours; at the next launching point he would meet us and bring us back. It is another perfect day although the sun was a bit intense at times on the river. A kingfisher flew put ahead of us and landed over and over. There was a family of small hawks calling in their shrill voices.
We had been assured that the Paint River would be calm - no rapids. We floated along, taking the occasional paddle stroke to keep going in the right direction. We had also been warned that there would be a couple of places where we'd have to walk where the water was too shallow. I guess I just didn't think much when I pictured that. I imagined a sand bar or something that we'd carry the boats over. It didn't occur to me to think about how the water moved through to continue the river's course.
We soon found out. We began to see lots of little disturbances in the water, and quite a few rocks protruding. We heard the water rushing. We looked very carefully, chose the best path we could, and made it through. Hurray! But then it happened again, and again, and eventually our luck ran out and our canoe ran up on the rocks. Bruce ended up getting out to lighten the boat and push it through the shallows a few times. After three hours we reached our landing spot & headed back.
We went to town to do laundry and find lunch - we are so lucky to have Jim and Aline with us! We are almost ten miles from town here - it would have been peanut butter & washing clothes in the shower without them.
Or perhaps we'd have had to stay closer to town, and then we would have missed the bear. Our hosts have a big barrel of feed for the local wild turkeys out in the back. Only the bears have figured it out. Now, most mornings & evenings, guests can watch various members of the local ursine crowd lying there like dissipated ancient Romans and stuffing themselves with turkey food. Yes, we do have pictures.
One more miscellaneous observation: I like the way towns in the midwest have water towers with their names written on them. We can generally see the big, round towers from a few miles out which is an encouraging landmark.
No miles today.
We had been assured that the Paint River would be calm - no rapids. We floated along, taking the occasional paddle stroke to keep going in the right direction. We had also been warned that there would be a couple of places where we'd have to walk where the water was too shallow. I guess I just didn't think much when I pictured that. I imagined a sand bar or something that we'd carry the boats over. It didn't occur to me to think about how the water moved through to continue the river's course.
We soon found out. We began to see lots of little disturbances in the water, and quite a few rocks protruding. We heard the water rushing. We looked very carefully, chose the best path we could, and made it through. Hurray! But then it happened again, and again, and eventually our luck ran out and our canoe ran up on the rocks. Bruce ended up getting out to lighten the boat and push it through the shallows a few times. After three hours we reached our landing spot & headed back.
We went to town to do laundry and find lunch - we are so lucky to have Jim and Aline with us! We are almost ten miles from town here - it would have been peanut butter & washing clothes in the shower without them.
Or perhaps we'd have had to stay closer to town, and then we would have missed the bear. Our hosts have a big barrel of feed for the local wild turkeys out in the back. Only the bears have figured it out. Now, most mornings & evenings, guests can watch various members of the local ursine crowd lying there like dissipated ancient Romans and stuffing themselves with turkey food. Yes, we do have pictures.
One more miscellaneous observation: I like the way towns in the midwest have water towers with their names written on them. We can generally see the big, round towers from a few miles out which is an encouraging landmark.
No miles today.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Ready for a rest day
Only 30 + miles today.
I am sitting in the great B&B we will be staying at for two nights listening to thunder roar, watching lightning flash, and not worrying at all. We rode very gently into Michigan, our seventh state, we stopped for a quick lunch in Crystal Falls and headed a few miles north. Jim came out to meet us in the car. He told us we were headed for a gravel road, and assured us it would not be cheating to accept a ride - we are about eight miles off the official route and will just be riding back to resume our journey on Monday- and besides, he was at a loose end. Poor Aline twisted her ankle on their walk this morning & was resting. We weren't hard to persuade. We hopped in, came to this very nice place, took long baths and are looking forward to doing very, very little for a whole day.
I am sitting in the great room surrounded by stuffed animals. Not the toy store variety. There is a raccoon climbing the support post of the staircase. A bobcat stares down from the rock chimney. A moose head graces the wall above the back door. A black bear reaches hopefully for a mud-based hive hanging from one of the interior logs of this log building. So who cares if it's raining? The wildlife viewing is great right here. For the more domestic of us, there are a couple of (not stuffed! very active) dogs and a cat. The perfect setting for a very welcome quiet day.
Another random observation: signs showing family names outside their houses - usually out by the mailbox. The trouble is, a distressingly high proportion of the people producing the signs have declared war on Lynne Truss, author of Eats, Shoots and Leaves. If she were to come here with her apostrophe removal kit, she would have one big job ahead of her. The thing is, they all want to call themselves the Brown's, or the Miller's. Maybe I should be more charitable in my assumptions. Maybe the woods are full of single, possessive people. Maybe that's not much more charitable?
Miles today: 34
Total miles so far: 2662
I am sitting in the great B&B we will be staying at for two nights listening to thunder roar, watching lightning flash, and not worrying at all. We rode very gently into Michigan, our seventh state, we stopped for a quick lunch in Crystal Falls and headed a few miles north. Jim came out to meet us in the car. He told us we were headed for a gravel road, and assured us it would not be cheating to accept a ride - we are about eight miles off the official route and will just be riding back to resume our journey on Monday- and besides, he was at a loose end. Poor Aline twisted her ankle on their walk this morning & was resting. We weren't hard to persuade. We hopped in, came to this very nice place, took long baths and are looking forward to doing very, very little for a whole day.
I am sitting in the great room surrounded by stuffed animals. Not the toy store variety. There is a raccoon climbing the support post of the staircase. A bobcat stares down from the rock chimney. A moose head graces the wall above the back door. A black bear reaches hopefully for a mud-based hive hanging from one of the interior logs of this log building. So who cares if it's raining? The wildlife viewing is great right here. For the more domestic of us, there are a couple of (not stuffed! very active) dogs and a cat. The perfect setting for a very welcome quiet day.
Another random observation: signs showing family names outside their houses - usually out by the mailbox. The trouble is, a distressingly high proportion of the people producing the signs have declared war on Lynne Truss, author of Eats, Shoots and Leaves. If she were to come here with her apostrophe removal kit, she would have one big job ahead of her. The thing is, they all want to call themselves the Brown's, or the Miller's. Maybe I should be more charitable in my assumptions. Maybe the woods are full of single, possessive people. Maybe that's not much more charitable?
Miles today: 34
Total miles so far: 2662
Not quite perfect
We set out for Santa's place with more perfect weather, perfect scenery, and promising food options. As we approached the first likely town, things looked great - there were lots of people around on bicycles. Always a good sign. I stopped briefly to make a few notes (my brain gets mushier every day) and one young guy stopped to see if I was ok. We got talking and he asked about our trip. Where in Connecticut were we headed? When I told him, he happily announced that he works on a very cool farm in Old Saybrook! He told me a bit about it. Did I know what a stupa is? Oh, you're from San Francisco - you must know. (An interesting perception about our city - and as it happens, I did have a vague idea). Anyway, he encouraged me to visit if we have time.
When we pulled in to Boulder Junction, I was not too surprised to find that it is the sort of resort town I had expected to see more often on the trip. Plenty of newish cafes and gift shops, places to rent bikes & kayaks. We immediately found lunch and more great ice cream at a place with a very full bike rack. We set out to do the next stretch on a nice little bike path. The maps only told us to take it for about two miles, but it must have been extended considerably since the maps were made; we stayed on it for maybe four miles, and could have gone on. We chose to get back on the road, though. It was surprisingly busy and there was no shoulder. I was mildly surprised that Adventure Cycling had chosen it. Well, sometimes there's not a lot of choice. The bike trail continued to appear regularly beside us for about four more miles. Hmm.
We reached a major intersection, and Bruce had the presence of mind to ask why our supposed road was not mentioned on any of the signs.
Oh.
Cost us about 8 miles. We found a way to rejoin our route without starting all over again, but so much for another perfect day. I think this was our first serious wrong turn, though, which isn't too bad.
Really, it was ok. It wasn't a very hilly day & we were moving right along & the temperature was very pleasant. So we found our way back and continued towards Santa's. Just short of our last turn, Jim and Aline came along. Jim & Bruce decided it was time to give Jim a turn to ride, so at about mile 70, I had a new companion who was not familiar with Shimano road gearing, who did not have bike shoes to go with the SPD pedals, whose shorts wrre meant for swimming, who is mostly a runner these days, who is pretty darned competitive, and - oh, yeah - who was not a bit tired. He gave me quite a workout. I was actually pretty excited to realize I could do it without much trouble. I guess 2500 straight miles have really made a difference.
So we pulled up to Santa's Backwoods Motel. (What will I have to talk about now that it's behind us??!) It turns out to be a very small, basic but very clean motel in a very remote area. Oh, the walls in our room were green, and there was a green lace curtain, but the pictures were of wolves, not reindeer. Turns out the whole area has a bit of a Christmas theme - of sorts. The place we had dinner had subdued Christmassy decorations. When we rode out this morning, we saw Christmas stuff in a front yard. The others told me the motel offers for sale Christmas tree lights - multi-colored lights in shotgun shells.
Oh, and this is a day late because Santa has yet to get WiFi.
Miles Friday: 84
Total miles so far: 2628
When we pulled in to Boulder Junction, I was not too surprised to find that it is the sort of resort town I had expected to see more often on the trip. Plenty of newish cafes and gift shops, places to rent bikes & kayaks. We immediately found lunch and more great ice cream at a place with a very full bike rack. We set out to do the next stretch on a nice little bike path. The maps only told us to take it for about two miles, but it must have been extended considerably since the maps were made; we stayed on it for maybe four miles, and could have gone on. We chose to get back on the road, though. It was surprisingly busy and there was no shoulder. I was mildly surprised that Adventure Cycling had chosen it. Well, sometimes there's not a lot of choice. The bike trail continued to appear regularly beside us for about four more miles. Hmm.
We reached a major intersection, and Bruce had the presence of mind to ask why our supposed road was not mentioned on any of the signs.
Oh.
Cost us about 8 miles. We found a way to rejoin our route without starting all over again, but so much for another perfect day. I think this was our first serious wrong turn, though, which isn't too bad.
Really, it was ok. It wasn't a very hilly day & we were moving right along & the temperature was very pleasant. So we found our way back and continued towards Santa's. Just short of our last turn, Jim and Aline came along. Jim & Bruce decided it was time to give Jim a turn to ride, so at about mile 70, I had a new companion who was not familiar with Shimano road gearing, who did not have bike shoes to go with the SPD pedals, whose shorts wrre meant for swimming, who is mostly a runner these days, who is pretty darned competitive, and - oh, yeah - who was not a bit tired. He gave me quite a workout. I was actually pretty excited to realize I could do it without much trouble. I guess 2500 straight miles have really made a difference.
So we pulled up to Santa's Backwoods Motel. (What will I have to talk about now that it's behind us??!) It turns out to be a very small, basic but very clean motel in a very remote area. Oh, the walls in our room were green, and there was a green lace curtain, but the pictures were of wolves, not reindeer. Turns out the whole area has a bit of a Christmas theme - of sorts. The place we had dinner had subdued Christmassy decorations. When we rode out this morning, we saw Christmas stuff in a front yard. The others told me the motel offers for sale Christmas tree lights - multi-colored lights in shotgun shells.
Oh, and this is a day late because Santa has yet to get WiFi.
Miles Friday: 84
Total miles so far: 2628
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Perfect day
When we headed out it felt a bit humid. There was some fog early this morning. We went uphill almost right away. It didn't matter. The fog lifted quickly, but left lots of clouds behind - puffy, nice looking clouds that didn't threaten and did keep the intense sun at bay. The hill was less steep than it looked. What little wind there was came from behind. We knew where the best stops would be. My legs seemed more than ready. The temperature was warm, never hot. The road was rolling. The scenery was great. Wisconsin lived up to its reputation for good pavement most of the day. It was the sort of day that makes it hard to imagine not riding.
We went through one town quite early & picked up some extra stuff to drink. As we were riding out we passed two women walking along with binoculars. They told Bruce what they had been seeing, so I kept my eyes open and saw the trumpeter swans they mentioned. We stopped to gaze at them, and spotted a loon as well. Back on the bikes to Glidden, where we actually had to choose between restaurants, and we were not confined to hamburgers. I got a chicken sandwich, and I got to choose grilled rather than fried. I had no idea how great that would feel until we got out here! I stopped at the local bakery and got some cookies; the baker's young son rang up the sale & I could here him muttering the calculations
Back on the road. A deer came out and stated at me. It bobbed its head, and I nodded back. Again, again. Then I looked around to see how close Bruce was, and when I turned back the deer had vanished. We reached Butternut, the last town we would see before our destination, Mercer. Bruce had suggested we stop for ice cream, an idea I never turn down, and almost the first thing we saw in town was an ice cream shop. It was definitely the best ice cream I have had on this trip, and some of the best I have ever had. We sat & chatted with the owners as we ate & learned that it has won first place among Wisconsin ice creams for 9 years. Aline and Jim are toying with the idea of going back to try it tomorrow.
After the ice cream we turned on a less major road & were sort of concerned about the pavement condition. It actually was almost all great. Soon after we turned we stopped by a little pond and saw cedar waxwings, a wood duck, a green heron and a muskrat. It was one of those idyllic days. The hills got shorter and steeper, the trees backed away a bit to give us views of lakes, marshes and meadows.
This is why we came.
Odds & ends:
I can't believe I forgot this yesterday. While Jim was cooking that fish, he and Aline called out to me that there was a bird in the cabin. Before I got inside they had changed their minds - it was a bat. A nice, healthy bat swooping around (eating mosquitoes, or so we were told). I managed to close it into one of the bedrooms, but the windows had fixed screens so we could not think how to shoo it out. We dragged the poor manager down & he valiantly went in with a towel. He came out thinking he had accidentally killed it, and picked it up with a paper towel, but it was only stunned & it flew away - fortunately just as he had gotten outside.
Jim went out to run this morning early but had to come back because the bugs were so aggressive. A shirt and some spray allowed him to finish, and by the time we were ready to ride they had subsided. Although I have had quite a few bites since June 1 (did you know mosquitoes know how to draft off a cyclist???) I have not ever been kept awake by that annoying whine. And the mosquitoes and flies are no worse in Minnesota and Wisconsin than they were in Montana and North Dakota, probably because of the extraordinarily wet weather those usually dry states have had this year.
We now know what a supper club is. We had seen a few but had not ventured in yet. The guy at the great ice cream place recommended The Dingaling Supper Club for dinner tonight, and it was very good. Apparently supper clubs are generally nicer restaurants than cafes. We will most likely be visiting more of them.
I am sitting in a laundromat waiting for our stuff to dry. Soon after I arrived, a hummingbird came in and could not find its way out again. It flew to the windows; it flew up to the light fixtures (flourescent ceiling panels); it couldn't find the open doors. There was a couple here - the man was tall and was wearing a baseball cap. As the poor little bird got tired, the man was able to catch it in his hat and send it on its way.
When we first saw a sign for Mercer, it claimed the title of "Loon Capitol." When we rolled into town, we spotted a giant statue of a loon - we plan to try for a family calendar picture there in the morning; soon after that as we passed a lake, we could hear loons calling.
Tomorrow is a day we have been wondering about since we made our reservations. We will be staying at Santa's Backwoods Motel. Really. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.
The clouds are getting very pink. The days are a bit shorter now- we can actually stay awake for sunset. Sometimes.
Miles today: 67
Total miles so far: 2544
We went through one town quite early & picked up some extra stuff to drink. As we were riding out we passed two women walking along with binoculars. They told Bruce what they had been seeing, so I kept my eyes open and saw the trumpeter swans they mentioned. We stopped to gaze at them, and spotted a loon as well. Back on the bikes to Glidden, where we actually had to choose between restaurants, and we were not confined to hamburgers. I got a chicken sandwich, and I got to choose grilled rather than fried. I had no idea how great that would feel until we got out here! I stopped at the local bakery and got some cookies; the baker's young son rang up the sale & I could here him muttering the calculations
Back on the road. A deer came out and stated at me. It bobbed its head, and I nodded back. Again, again. Then I looked around to see how close Bruce was, and when I turned back the deer had vanished. We reached Butternut, the last town we would see before our destination, Mercer. Bruce had suggested we stop for ice cream, an idea I never turn down, and almost the first thing we saw in town was an ice cream shop. It was definitely the best ice cream I have had on this trip, and some of the best I have ever had. We sat & chatted with the owners as we ate & learned that it has won first place among Wisconsin ice creams for 9 years. Aline and Jim are toying with the idea of going back to try it tomorrow.
After the ice cream we turned on a less major road & were sort of concerned about the pavement condition. It actually was almost all great. Soon after we turned we stopped by a little pond and saw cedar waxwings, a wood duck, a green heron and a muskrat. It was one of those idyllic days. The hills got shorter and steeper, the trees backed away a bit to give us views of lakes, marshes and meadows.
This is why we came.
Odds & ends:
I can't believe I forgot this yesterday. While Jim was cooking that fish, he and Aline called out to me that there was a bird in the cabin. Before I got inside they had changed their minds - it was a bat. A nice, healthy bat swooping around (eating mosquitoes, or so we were told). I managed to close it into one of the bedrooms, but the windows had fixed screens so we could not think how to shoo it out. We dragged the poor manager down & he valiantly went in with a towel. He came out thinking he had accidentally killed it, and picked it up with a paper towel, but it was only stunned & it flew away - fortunately just as he had gotten outside.
Jim went out to run this morning early but had to come back because the bugs were so aggressive. A shirt and some spray allowed him to finish, and by the time we were ready to ride they had subsided. Although I have had quite a few bites since June 1 (did you know mosquitoes know how to draft off a cyclist???) I have not ever been kept awake by that annoying whine. And the mosquitoes and flies are no worse in Minnesota and Wisconsin than they were in Montana and North Dakota, probably because of the extraordinarily wet weather those usually dry states have had this year.
We now know what a supper club is. We had seen a few but had not ventured in yet. The guy at the great ice cream place recommended The Dingaling Supper Club for dinner tonight, and it was very good. Apparently supper clubs are generally nicer restaurants than cafes. We will most likely be visiting more of them.
I am sitting in a laundromat waiting for our stuff to dry. Soon after I arrived, a hummingbird came in and could not find its way out again. It flew to the windows; it flew up to the light fixtures (flourescent ceiling panels); it couldn't find the open doors. There was a couple here - the man was tall and was wearing a baseball cap. As the poor little bird got tired, the man was able to catch it in his hat and send it on its way.
When we first saw a sign for Mercer, it claimed the title of "Loon Capitol." When we rolled into town, we spotted a giant statue of a loon - we plan to try for a family calendar picture there in the morning; soon after that as we passed a lake, we could hear loons calling.
Tomorrow is a day we have been wondering about since we made our reservations. We will be staying at Santa's Backwoods Motel. Really. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.
The clouds are getting very pink. The days are a bit shorter now- we can actually stay awake for sunset. Sometimes.
Miles today: 67
Total miles so far: 2544
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