BikeSuperior

Today I finished the Google Map misguided bike path detour, ending in Brimley at the South end of Lake Superior.  I encamped early hoping to do some beach walking but just as I got everything set up, a thunderstorm blew through and dampened my enthusiasm.  I managed to get all of the equipment and bags into the tent before the rain started so I should (fingers crossed) be dry tonight. It this still light up here until 9:00pm so I just may get that beach walk in yet. I am now just 14 miles from completing the circle tour of Lake Superior. I could have ridden into Sault St. Marie and finished today but it is nice to spend one more night under the stars (yes it is supposed to clear) with a campfire as the temps dip. Don't get me wrong; I'm happy that tonight is my last night on an air mattress and that by Sunday I will be in repose on the memory foam that I so love. After a month in the saddle I am just reflecting on the experience and waxing nostalgic. I will craft a more elo

Today was not the most glamorous ride. The geniuses at Google marked a bike path along the shoreline that is actually a snowmobile trail. Google has made that same mistake almost everywhere in the U.P. except in city centers. Just a guess; the teenage gamers in Silicone Valley have not seen nor heard of a snowmobile.  The route change to accommodate this took me through the middle of the U.P. which does not have quite the same cachet as Lake Superior. So I had a chance to see the guts of this peninsula and am sorry to report that it looks just like home. Every going concern has a help wanted sign. Hospitality business service is spotty up here and I chalked that up to cultural differences. Rethinking that supposition however, it is likely that every business is just short staffed. My friend Todd has this same issue in Elkhart so I don't recommend that he spend any money trying to recruit Yoopers. The day ended with a call from my buddy Patrick just checking up on me and offerin

Waking up with 2,200 feet of kinetic energy in the bank justs makes a body feel good all over. It would be hard to piss me off right now. Thanks to yesterday's slog up hill, I will be able to mostly coast to Marquette 35 miles away. Whee!  I left at 7:15 and arrive in Marquette at 10:00a.m. without breaking a sweat. The one disappointment in this otherwise uplifting experience is that I arrived in Marquette too early to sample Asian food at Jasmine. I have yet to disclose that any and every opportunity to dine at an Asian restaurant gets my attention. Vietnamese, Chinese or Thai - it doesn't matter - I'm all in. Now I fear my next opportunity will be Nina's kitchen in Zimmyville. Not that I don't appreciate that venue, it's just that it is a whole week away. I rode by the cabins where I spent a week's vacation with daughter Heather and my neighbors from Farmington Hills in the mid-70's.  The contrast was striking. In those days of yore, this stretch

Left from Baraga State Park with the sun just breaking the horizon of Superior. The village of L'anse is just three miles away and my plan was to have coffee and breakfast at the Subway and also get a sub for lunch. This stretch of road doesn't have any services for about 40 miles - not a gas station, convenience store, restaurant or Indian casino. There is one small market about 8 miles before my intended destination and then again nothing for 10 miles after. It is really remote here so I have to figure out how to eat for the next 24 hours. So, back to the plan. Subway breakfast and lunch and find something in the market for dinner. Last resort is the could store with hot dogs and ice cream.  Wouldn't you know, Subway opens late on Saturday in L'anse.  I don't feel like killing an hour doing nothing so I have a protein bar and move on.  So, 35+ miles later I pull into the market and load up with coffee, salami, cheese, Pringles and some assorted fruit.  Dinner is

Stayed in a motel in downtown Houghton last night and dried out all of the camping gear.  The motel was decorated in '60's era paneling with furniture to match. Clean, comfortable and the real bonus is that you register in the bar next door.  I have never had lodging and a beer all one one tab before. Sleeping in a real bed along with being packed and ready to roll in the morning can improve your outlook on life considerably. Pedaling out of Houghton on a quiet morning along the shore of Portage Lake on the Michigan Tech campus was the perfect remedy for yesterday's case of optical rectitis. It is hard to believe that college students live here all winter and abandon it in the summer. If MTU engineering grads were as smart as that say they are, their breaks would start in January not in June. It is in the 80's up here in the U.P. which is unusual. While I might prefer slightly cooler temps, the lack of rain in the forecast is welcome.  I have a 75 mile ride to Marqu

Got back to camp after dinner just in time for a thunderstorm.  I slept well through the carnage but the     morning aftermath was discouraging. Unlike camp-in-place people I don't have the luxury of waiting until the afternoon to pack up. I have miles to make and morning, before the traffic revs up, is the best time to ride. So, I packed the wet tent, rain fly and ground cover soaked and dirty into a panier and headed off into the sunrise. Sorry to be a downer, but the extra effort and downright cold conditions made me cranky. I finally got on the road a full two hours later than intended. To add to the misery, the road was hilly, curvy and  busy with no shoulder for the first 10 miles. I made Houghton in no better mood than when I started.  Sorry but that's all I got for you today. Today's ride was 47 miles for a total of 1,121. Some days you're the windshield - some days you're the bug