Friday, June
18, 2004
The boundary waters
wilderness area has a special draw on me: Its remote country and its hills,
forest and lakes are a very rewarding scenery for long-distance bike riding. I
had come here last August (2003) and still have great memories from that trip.
So
I decided to come out here once again for a long weekend bike ride. I left
It’s
a beautiful evening, except it will be quite cool over night and tomorrow
morning. The radio weather report said something about it going down to 32 F (0
C) !! This will be a good test environment for the long pants and long-sleeved
bike shirt my parents bought for me last Christmas.
The
sun sets after 9:00pm and it slowly gets dark. I see 7 deer either on the road
or less than 10m away from it. Luckily none of them decides to jump out right
in front of my car, so I arrive without incident in
As
an additional extra, tomorrow morning they have the annual Duluth Marathon run
with almost 10.000 runners! So there is a lot happening even at this late hour
– as the bar is right smack next to the finish line outside. I end the day by
calling my parents in
Saturday, June
19, 2004
The day dawns clear and
cool, near 40F (4C), but with the intense sun it is rapidely warming up. I
drive up to a gas station to wash my face, change into the bike cloth and stock
up on Gatorade and an improvised breakfast. I notice several school buses
transporting and unloading runners – wait: This must have something to do with
the Duluth Marathon! (duh) Ok, I was somewhat slow in making the connection,
but now I realize that the marathon starts here in Two Harbors; the race
follows the old highway (“scenic route”) along the shores of Lake Superior
while the traffic is routed on the parallel 4-lane Expressway. Very smart. So I
wallow in the spectacle of thousands of runners preparing for the race, with
music, 2 F-16 fighter jets flighing by and lots of logistic announcements. They
finally take off at 7:45am; I take some pictures and then ride along
side-by-side with the lead group.
The runners are very
efficient and fast (~ 20km/h). I hear later that an athlete from
Finally the organizers
pull me aside and make me leave the scenic route – only registered bicycles
with VIP passes are allowed to ride side-by-side. (Back in the 80’s in
Negotiating
Relief
comes in the form of reaching Wild Rice Lake and resting along its shores –
just like a short stop last year. This time I’m taking a ½ hr break and also
try to get some nap time – I guess going to sleep at 2:30am with <5 hrs
sleep is not exactly the best preparation either! At least the weather is fully
cooperating now (except for the wind) and so I revel in sunshine up here “in
God’s country” and dry out my bike jersey.
This
break refreshes me quite a bit. The road has also improved and so it is a lot
easier to find a rhythm. Speaking of rhythm: I also use my iPod to get into the
groove – something which has worked very well for me 2 weeks ago on the looong
day ride down to
I
come to the point where the road was under construction last year; thankfully
this year they are largely finished and so I get to enjoy a smooth surface for
a little while. I stop at the “JT” store where I got picked up last year by my
cousin’s wife’s mother’s cousin’s son. (No kidding!) I had again called my
distant relatives who live up here yesterday evening and informed them of my
passing through the area. Brad unfortunately was doing shift work and would not
be at home. But Ruth would be there and as always happy to have me stop by for
a chat. So much like last year I stopped in to say Hello and chat about family
and the life up here in the North.
It
is always nice to know some people along the way – this adds even more color to
an already nice trip and creates long-lasting memories. I sure hope Brad will
read this trip report and lock forward to more of his entires in my guest-book
;-)
Well,
this was refreshing. I continue on North. This time it is much cooler than last
August when the 90+F heat was almost unbearable. It is around 70F and almost a
bit chilly when you start riding after a break. But soon you warm up and it
gets very comfortable, at least temperature-wise.
Due
to the lack of sleep, the added “marathon” distance, the bumpy road and the
head-wind I am now considerably more tired than last year. I realize that 200km
can be pretty hard, always depending on external conditions. When I blew
through the 200km mark at 10:30am on my Fargo-Winnipeg down-wind hammer-fest I
wasn’t tired at all. Now I am struggling at the 150km mark and need to rest a
lot more often. But then again, it is the weekend with the most daylight of the
year and I can take plenty of time to relax. So relax is what I do at the
Four-Corner Café near the turnoff to Embarrass.
A
couple of cups of coffee and a large warm apple pie with two bowls of vanilla
icecream give me the much needed energy boost for the last leg of the trip. And
oh what a joy: After getting back on the saddle I turn on the road straight
East towards Embarrass and later NE to Ely. With the 10-20 mph NW wind this
means good tailwind for the first time today! What a difference: Without much
effort I can coast along at 35km/h. This boosts my morale significantly. As
always on long trips you have these intense ups & downs; usually none of
them lasts too long so you always have some change to look forward to.
The
obligatory stop at the
As
I’m counting down the last km and approaching Ely I also remember some turns in
the road as well as the place where I took a self-timed picture last year! This
year it is earlier in the day when I pass the same mailboxes, but the same
brilliant evening light, so I need to take the same picture again:
Shortly
after taking this picture I roll into town at 7:00pm. I am happy to get off the
bike after 205km and slighlty over 8hrs in the saddle. The second motel has vacancy
and after the receptionist gives me a slight rebate I waste no time looking for
a cheaper place. I need a shower and hunger for dinner. In classical bike-trip
fashion, I exchange my bike jersey for fresh shorts and T-Shirt after the
shower. With some slippers I make for a half-way decent tourist and can get
admitted to restaurants who might balk at my outfit or otherwise take offense
with sweating bike riders…
Note
the warm evening light. I am walking through the streets in Ely until after
9:00pm just enjoying the last rays of sunshine for the day. I stock up on some
groceries for tomorrow morning’s breakfast – how convenient to be able to shop
until 9:00pm on a Saturday! Then I stop by in the same Italian place called
“Sir G’s” where I also ate last year. I end up in the exact same booth, and
naturally, I take the same self-timer picture with nearly the same pasta dish
for dinner J
You
might say, what a boring routine! But trust me: It would take many, many rides
up here to make a long day like this boring. Sometimes those weekends feel to
me like a 16 hr movie where you don’t get to leave the theater until the entire
weekend is over! I get back to the hotel and sleep soundly within minutes of
laying down.
Sunday, June
20, 2004
Today
is Father’s Day. And it is as sunny and crips outside as ever. My back and leg
muscles are aching a bit, but then I have less distance today due to the Tow
Harbors – Duluth leg which I did yesterday already. I start out with an extra
long-sleeved bike jacket due to the temperature in the mid 40’s F (5-10C).
Soon
the muscles warm up and I can shed the extra jacket. The first 50km or so to
the SE of Ely are among the finest roads I know for bike riding. Lots of windy
road and hills through a dense forest , occasionally opening up for a little
stream or lake. Throw in lots of wild life, deer, even wolf and moose, lots of
birds and hardly any traffic. And a nice smooth road on top of that. Going E to
N on a map this is the only road for a long while, it is fairly remote up here.
At one point I actually get to see a moose maybe 5m to the side of the road.
When the animal notices me it bolts away into the underbrush. Too fast to get a
picture – just a passing glance. Later I get to see a deer right on the road as
well as another to the side. No wonder there is occasional road-kill with
either deer or some smaller animal up here in this area.
Back
to the fairytale forest road: I really enjoy this scenery just like I did last
year. This is the reason I came all the way driving across
You
won’t find that anywhere near
I
stop in a little coffee house in Isabella to get a second breakfast. The folks
there remember me from last August, in part because there are very few
long-distance bike riders up here, in part because I had that defect last year
with the lose bottom bracket which they helped me to fix. (Few riders, even
fewer with their screws lose…) The trip goes on and I need to apply sunscreen
for the umpteenth time to avoid sunscreen.
In
total I will log almost 15 hrs in the saddle, and a few more out in the sun.
Enough fresh air and UV light for a while, that helps me sit back in the office
during the week. I stop at the
And
then of course the trade-mark photo shoot with the Split Rock Light House and
my Colnago Bike:
Today
the air is extremely clear. Upon descending from the hills down to the Lake I
already noticed that the opposite shores of
Another
stop at the
I
try to follow the bike path next to the road. At times this is a great path,
w/o traffic, somewhat separated from the main road and often winding
picturesque through the forest and offering nice views of
It
is a great relief when I finally get back to Two Harbors and reach my car
there. I switch back out of my sweaty bike cloth and re-fuel at the local
gas-station with Gatorade, coffee and some sweets and cereal bars as well as
fruit for the drive. I stop in
The
drive back is done mostly in daylight and evening sun. I stop in
