day 6

The cyclist i mentioned yesterday left about 45 minutes before me in the morning, but I soon caught up to him on the road.  As promised, I honked as I went by and he waved.  He quickly caught up to me, though, a few miles later as I was stopped at a bridge construction site which only allowed one lane of traffic and was controlled by a stop light.  I never saw him again after the light turned green.  He should be somewhere on the south shore of Lake Superior by now.

It was a relatively short ride and there was hardly any traffic.  The one place I stopped was the Agawa Pictographs.  These are right on the shore of Lake Superior and it was a short hike to get to them.  They are several hundred years old and are fading due to the waves and weathering.

I got into Sault Ste. Marie, ON in the early afternoon.  I visited the Bushplane Museum, which had a wide range of bush and fire fighting planes, including this one, which was used to drop water on forest fires.

I then met up with my college roommate Dan for dinner.  We hadn't seen each other for years, so we had a lot of catching up to do.  I ended up spending the night his and his wife Jen's place south of the Soo, just a few hundred feet from Lake Huron.  It was good to catch up after not seeing them for so long.

day 5

After a somewhat sleepless night camping due to nearby trains and trucks and having to re-learn how to break down and pack a tent, I finally got going on my way to Wawa, ON.  The ride out of Thunder Bay was nothing special until I got past Red Rock, just north of Sleeping Giant Provincial Park.  Just as I was pulling off to take some pictures I got a call from aLex.  She and the dogs are getting by without me, but everyone is a little out of sorts.  This is what I was looking at while talking to her.

The road up through Marathon, ON was primarily along the lake and was again chilly.  I was again surprised by the changes in elevation and curves of the road while winding over and around all of the rock formations.  These formations create many valleys or gorges, through which rivers often run.  An impressive one was the Agausabon River Gorge.

After going through Marathon, the road was more inland, and the temperature rose to a much more comfortable ride; although the riding was a less interesting.

At the campsite, I met another person who had been on the same route as me, except on a bicycle.  He started in Duluth and was going around Lake Superior.  I probably passed him on my way to the campsite.  Coincidentally, he also used to own a BMW motorcycle, but it was stolen a few years ago.  Seeing mine made him want to get another one more than he already did.

day 4 (updated with pics)

In all of my trips to Duluth and Two Harbors, MN, I hardly ever went much further up the shore than a short ways past Two Harbors.  The furthest I recall going was Gooseberry Falls and Tofte.  So today’s destination, Thunder Bay, ON, was definitely taking me to some new places.  As indicated by my previous posts, the water of Lake Superior is still very cold, even more than usual.  I knew it would be cold riding so close to the lake, so I donned arm warmers, an extra insulating jacket, and my cold weather riding gloves.  Even with all of that, and the heated grips, it was still very chilly.  At places where the road drifted away from the lake, it felt like there was 10 degree change in temperature.

My first stop was Anderson’s Greenhouse in Two Harbors, MN.  My grandfather Jerry used to own the greenhouse and lived behind it.  I remember playing in it with my brothers when we visited as kids.  I stopped in and met the current owner (?), Jeff Peterson.  He had been working there since he was a teenager.  As I was walking through the new greenhouse, I saw his BMW 1150 GS parked in back.  We chatted for a while about our bikes and my ride before he took a picture of me in front of the greenhouse.  I then made the obligatory stop to see the town’s namesake.

For the remaining part of the ride, I was pleasantly surprised by the curves and elevation changes along the coast.  There was one point near Grand Portage where the elevation rose and then fell by over 500 feet within about 7 miles.

When it came time to cross the border, I was all ready with my passport.  Given the helmet, though, they asked me to get off the bike and take off my helmet.  After several questions about where I was from, where I was going, how long I would be there, what I did for a living, did I have any weapons, etc., etc., they then told me to pull over to the side and speak to someone else.  I immediately thought they were going to make me unpack all of my gear so they could go through it, which would mean I would have to re-pack it all.  Thankfully they were only running some additional checks on my passport while I waited, so I able to be on my way to Thunder Bay, ON.  This part was uneventful; however, I had to keep reminding myself that when the speed limit around curves was 40, it was not in m.p.h., but in k.p.h. (40 k.p.h. ~ 25 m.p.h.).

day 3

Today was another intentional short riding day.  I was staying in Duluth, MN with my aunt Karen and uncle Dan.  I needed to exchange some Duluth Trading Co. pants and check out the Aerostich store, where I picked up a few small items for my trip.  I also stopped at Aerostich on my last trip to pick up an additional Ortlieb dry duffel bag (the red one in the pictures of my bike).  After so much riding on relatively flat roads, it was a bit of a challenge dealing with the hills of downtown Duluth (http://attic.areavoices.com/2012/04/09/the-steepest-streets-in-duluth/).

In addition to these errands, I also planned on visiting my 98  year old grandmother and my aunt Kathy.  Karen and I visited my grandmother just after lunch.  She is still very lucid for being 98 (almost 2 1/2 times my age) and was very inquisitive of what is going on in my life and with my family.  She keeps busy with her bridge clubs (she usually wins) and making jewelry.  She makes earrings and beaded bracelets and necklaces.  Some of the beading is so intricate that I don’t think I could even do it.  Later in the day we met Kathy at her house before going to dinner, and I got to see more of her intricate basket weaving skills.  Her latest baskets are made with pine needles.  Her husband David and their son Doug were on a fishing trip in Canada, but their dog Mattie was more than willing to let me rub her ears and belly.  I guess she likes men; sounds like some other dogs I know.  We then had a nice dinner at the Lighthouse at Emily’s in Knife River.  It’s interesting to hear the different variations in stories between my two aunt’s and my father.

day 2

I knew I would have a long day of riding in order to get to Duluth, MN, so I got an early start and was on the road by 7:30 AM.  The start quickly slowed when I realized that my GPS was not charging while plugged in on my bike and was about ready to die.  I had gotten a new GPS since my last trip and there must be a problem with the new wiring.  Every time I stopped for gas or food I would have to plug it in to the auxiliary charger on the side of my bike.  Even though I did this, it would still usually die before I made it to the next stop.  I guess I'll just have to make sure it is fully charged every night before heading out the next morning.

My rain gear worked perfectly, though.  Every time it looked like it was going to start raining, I would pull over and put on my boots, pants and jacket.  And each time I did this, it wouldn't rain.

The northbound traffic was very light, while the southbound lanes were full of cars and their trailers returning south after their holiday weekend adventures.

I ended up using my iPhone for the last part of the trip to find Karen and Dan's place.  Although it was in the 80's in Duluth, there was still ice on Lake Superior.  It was weird seeing people in t-shirts along the lakefront with ice filled water in the background.

day 1

I planned a shorter starting day compared to the last trip, 90 miles vs. 560 miles.  After saying goodbye to aLex, Seamus and Blanca, I headed off to my first stop, Comet Cafe in Milwaukee.  Since that was my first stop last trip, I thought it would be good luck to do the same on this trip.  As I hve done the Chicago-Milwaukee trip several times, it was uneventful, except for the surprising coolness by the lake near downtown Milwaukee.  After a quick snack and chatting with Adam, I headed to my final stop, his sister Val's place, where his other sister Robyn was hosting a Memorial Day barbeque.  I wasn't expecting to see Val, but she cut her own trip short and ended up being there.  It was good to catch up with all of them, as well as their family and friends.

next trip

it's been 8 years since my last sabbatical and road trip, and now i am taking another one, this time around the great lakes.  it will be somewhat shorter than the last one (~5,000 miles over 4 weeks), but should be just as exciting.