UP Bike Tour Day 6 - Iron Mountain to Lake Michigamme

 Made it!

It was a scorcher today. I was on the road at 6:30 AM to beat the heat. I stopped for breakfast at 10:30, after getting in 47 miles. After eating, it was brutally hot. I rode 21 more miles, taking it easy with shade breaks.

There was no messing around today. I took the highway with the direct route and the rumble strips on the shoulder most of the way (Michigan 95). It looks like this, mile after mile:

Sometimes there is a giant sawmill. 

At least there was no traffic to speak of because it's Sunday Morning.

Once it started getting warmer, I did 11 miles on a country road that ran sort of parallel to M95. My though was there would me more shade and that would be offset the rougher pavement and extra hills. I didn't take into account that when you are riding up a hill in the shade, the biting black flies come. Luckily I have bug spray.

Lunch was at the Summer Place in Republic, MI. I had French toast and polish sausages on the side.

For I think the third day in a row I had to ride over 40 miles to find a place to eat.

I got in about 10 minutes earlier than expected. My sister Amy was (of course) out on the lake fishing. She came in, with her son Nate carrying a stringer of huge fish (Northern Pike, Walleye, Bass). My dad started stroping his filleting knife, and an hour later, it was tasty delicious time.

I didn't remember to take a picture until we had eaten most of the fish.

Here's the Strava page: https://www.strava.com/activities/15256149987

UP Bike Tour Day 5 - Menominee to Iron Mountain

 This was the toughest day of the trip so far. I rode 68 1/2 miles, with 2200 feet of climb. Most of the climb was in the last 20 miles, and there were some 10% grades. The temperature was mid-80s but the humidity was reasonable. I was pretty wiped out when I got in. Which was at 3:00 PM on the dot, when motel check-in starts.

The motel is the Hotel Iron Mountain Inn and Suites. Based on the electronic key cards, it used to be a Super 8. Now it is independently owned by an older Indian couple. I would give it the Red Dot of Quality, except they have Bible verses all over the place. It's immaculately clean and everything works, although furnishings are worn and dated. But that's fine. It's only $72.

The owners are determined to keep it spotless. There is no coffee maker in the room, there are signs in the breakfast area saying no food is to be brought back to the rooms, and they were very reluctant to let me bring my bike into the room. "Aren't the tires dirty?" "The tires are no more dirty than the bottoms of my shoes." I promised there would be no damage to the room from the bike and I showed them this picture to reassure them.

Notice how there is a hand towel between the handlebars and the wall.

Turns out the other walls in the room are hardly unblemished. Despite the concern with eating in the room, the room has a refrigerator and microwave...

The room is quite nice, though. This is a great cheap motel all in all.

The motel is located far from everything except a Subway in the parking lot.

The only other restaurant anywhere close was an Italian place a half mile away. After a tough ride, do I want to walk in the heat to the Italian place which may or may not be any good and which may or may not have a long wait on Saturday evening, or do I want to make do with Subway? 

<sigh> It was Subway. It was not great, even for Subway.

The morning part of the ride was flat, beautiful, sunny, and cool. It doesn't get any better. With lots of cool wildlife! Here are some Sandhill Cranes!

And some Wild Turkeys!

And Art! It's a miniature Statue of Liberty by the side of the road!

The guy sitting in a lawn chair minding Lady Liberty came up to talk to me and offer me some cold water. He said the statue is owned by a truck driver who came upon it on one of his trips. It was going to be thrown out, so he took it and installed it in his yard here in the middle of nowhere in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He keeps the area around it mowed nice, I was told.

The first opportunity for lunch was 45 miles into the ride, at the Long Branch Saloon in Faithorn. That's "Faithorn", not "Farthorn". People are so nice up here. I did not see one vandalized road sign that said Farthorn.

That's my tractor parked out front too! John Deere 3203.

I parked my bike under a sign on the porch intended to educate me about the Constitution.

Up here in the UP it's the land of Trump. There are Trump signs everywhere. I don't think I've been to a place of business without a Trump sign except this motel. I'm just being chill and soaking up the vibe. Basically:
* It's really nice up here
* People are generally happy and content
* And somehow that means they like Donald Trump a lot.

Go figure.

I got to the saloon about 11:30 and I was the first customer of the day. But just a few moments later, three middle-aged women arrived and ordered Bloody Marys. They were served with every pickled thing imaginable stuffed in the top. These three women plus the bartender quickly formed what was basically a PTA Mom Coffee Klatch, except with Bloody Marys instead of coffee. And the conversation was held in a thick Upper Midwestern accent with many asides about "going down to the lake" and fishing.

Lunch was a winner winner...

It was quite tasty, although the chicken was pretty dry. I'm spoiled by Royal Fried, which is not actually fried, it's cooked in a giant pressure cooker like an Insta-pot. This chicken was deep fried, I watched them cook it from my seat at the bar.

There is an annual bike ride around the UP called "Tour Da Yoop" or something like that. Turns out there was a break stop in the parking lot of the saloon, where guys were handing out snacks and providing special Norway water. "Norway" refers to the town of Norway, Michigan, not the country, and no actual Norwegians were involved.

Can you tell which bike is not like the others?

Hint: The big Yooper tour is supported, and nobody has to carry their stuff in panniers. I spent the rest of my ride being passed by people on speedy carbon bikes shouting "On your left".

Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/15245848872

UP Bike Tour Day 4 - Green Bay to Menominee

I'm at the Econolodge in Menominee, Michigan, which is just across the Menominee River from Wisconsin. 

The Econolodge, while not so cheap, is the cheapest option. I was horrified to discover there are no Indians running this place. When the cheap motel is *not* run by Indians, it's usually a complete disaster. 

It does have a nice view of the bay behind it.

So far, there is nothing at all bad about this Econolodge. It's probably the nicest Econolodge I've ever stayed in.

There was a lot of great Wisconsin scenery this morning. I got on the road at 7:30. It was pleasantly cool, and the route was completely flat. There was a light headwind.

First up was this very cool egret rookery just north of Green Bay.

Most of the day my route hugged the shoreline. There are many little rural neighborhoods clustered around inlets where people tie up their boats.

This interesting decaying farm was just before Peshtigo. At this point, I'm heading inland from the bay, and there are farms. Near the water, it's very marshy, with huge expanses of reeds. Note the asparagus growing wild in the ditching the left foreground.

Peshtigo is the first town with food, and it's 45 miles into the ride. I got here at 11:30 and I was pretty starved. And the Diner Gods smiled upon me. Check it out!

Look at this mess of perch! The sign in front of the Peshtigo Cafe did not lie. It's my last meal in Wisconsin, and perch appears!

The Peshtigo cafe was great. First of all, all the customers know each other. And they have conversations across booths and tables. While speaking in the thickest upper Midwestern accent you can imagine. Wisconsin is great. 

I rode ten more miles into Marinette, Wisconsin which is just across the river from Menominee. Check-in time wasn't for another hour and a half, so I did some bike maintenance. First I went to a bike shop to borrow a floor pump to put air in my tires. It's a good idea to do this every week or so. To my surprise, both tires had 80 psi in them. I filled them to 65 psi before I left. I think my gauge at home is not accurate.

Then I rode into Michigan. There is no "Welcome to Michigan" sign. But the river is the boundary.

i stopped in this park to lube the chain and the derailleurs. All morning the drivetrain was a bit noisy, and it seemed like I was working too hard for how fast I was going. Maybe it was headwinds, maybe it was because the chain needed lube after two days of rain. I think the lube helped.

The bike is now all tuned up, and it's still over an hour until check-in.

I decided to check out "Gino's Pine Knot".

What we have here is a classic dive bar. On tap, there is Bud, Bud Light, and Miller Lite. Cash only.

I asked the bartender, a nice old lady about my age, if she could make me a Margarita. The look on her face said the answer was "no", but she looked behind her at the shelf and said "Oh f*** they bought some Triple Sec, so now I don't have an excuse." With lots of advice from the other customers, she put together a reasonable approximation of a Margarita. She and I concurred that my next one would be a Bud draft. I explained that I rode my bike 50 miles so far today, and I need electrolytes.

While I was savoring my Margarita, some guy with a uniform comes in and has a chat with the bartender, who appears to know him well, and she signs a form he has with him. My guess is the guy in uniform is her parole officer.

Then another lady comes in and orders a Bloody Mary, which the bartender makes expertly with pickles and pickled green beans and serves right up in a red Solo cup. The lady with the Bloody Mary and I agreed there are lots of electrolytes in Bloody Marys so I got one too. 

The lady says if I like tequila, I should get a tequila Bloody Mary, which is what she is drinking. So I ask for tequila in mine. The bartender then absentmindedly starts making it with vodka. 

"Isn't that supposed to be tequila?" I ask. 

She says "Oh no, I f***ed this one up too." 

"That's OK, vodka is fine. I don't want the vodka to go to waste." 

"No I'll make you one with tequila. The vodka won't go to waste."

So she makes me a Bloody Mary with tequila. And she drinks the vodka over ice false start herself.

The bartender said she's been tending bar for over 20 years, and she's never had the need to learn how to make a margarita. Most of her customers at the Pine Knot were drinking shots with beer chasers...

I had a great time. This is not some fancy place that some guy with a business plan opened and named "Dive Bar". It's an actual dive bar. It made me miss Fells Point from back in the day.

Later, for dinner, I went out for a pizza at the Ellie's Pizzaria and Pub down the block from Gino's Pine Knot. I didn't push my luck and try to get a Margarita.

Ellie's puts the toppings on the bottom under a thick layer of super gooey cheese. This pizza has a lot of miles in it for tomorrow I bet.

Wisconsin is really nice. Every place except Green Bay is neat and tidy. Every kid on a bike is carrying a a fishing pole. As soon as you cross the river into Michigan, it looks like Green Bay.

Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/15234966460

UP Bike Tour Day 3 - Sheboygan Falls to Green Bay

 I've got it figured out now. If I leave at 8:00 am, I get in at 3:00 PM. Which is typical motel check-in time. This allows time for a meal.

Today has a chance of being hot and horrible, but it was cloudy with light rain all morning, and the heat never came. It was low 80s and humid mid-day, but I'm fine with that. There was a headwind, which slowed me down but also kept me cool.

I am in Green Bay.

This is not a place I ever thought I would visit. I did not ride through any nice parts of Green Bay to get to my cheap motel. Maybe I will discover nice parts on the way out tomorrow.

The first 30 miles of my 70 mile ride today paralleled the shore of Lake Michigan. The road runs a ways back from the shore, but now and again you get a nice vista of the lake. There are lots and lots of wildflowers along the side of the road. That's milkweed in the foreground.

I got to Manitowoc I headed inland. I got there before any places were open for lunch, but as I was heading out of town, my leg muscles were feeling a little twitchy and crampy, so I decided to stop for a snack, since there isn't much between Manitowoc and Green Bay. 

This was quite a score, it's getting really hard to find V8 and corn nuts any more.

I did about 10 miles of unpaved rail trail. The surface is really good, but it is still faster to ride on pavement. So I rode on the paved road parallel to the trail until it wasn't parallel any more and the trail was much more direct. This is the Devil River State Trail. It's really buggy, which is motivation to ride faster, and it has many bad smells due to swamps and dairy farms.

I rode by this cool old grain elevator, which is still operating, even though it hasn't had rail service in a long time. It was loading stuff into that truck on the left side. 

When the 10 miles of unpaved trail came to an end, I still had 15 miles to go, and it was another 10 miles until delicious food. I rode 60 miles on coffee, corn nuts, V8 and Gatorade.

I must eat at Culvers when visiting Wisconsin. Butterburgers are yummy.

And I'm done. It's 3:00 PM, not quite 70 miles ridden, and 7 hours since I set out. It was a fairly tough day, but I feel good.

The room here at the very cheap Village Inn Motel looks nice, but it reeks of cigarette smoke even though the motel is supposed to be non-smoking. It's so no-frills that there was no soap or shampoo. I have my own so I am ready for this circumstance.

There are a bunch of Asian restaurants a couple blocks away. Apparently there is a large Hmong population here.

Which means this was my big chance to add Wisconsin to the list of states where I've had pho.

This was some pretty weird pho. Note the rib. I've never had a rib show up in my pho before. There is also shrimp and fake crabmeat in there too. But no tendon or tripe, which surprised me given that Green Bay is famous for meatpacking. It was good though. Maybe it's Hmong pho.

Here is the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/15224821266

UP Bike Tour - Day 2 - Milwaukee to Sheboygan Falls

 It was supposed to be hot and humid today. So I left super early, at 6:30, to beat the heat as best I could.

Instead of getting super hot it rained. I could have slept in.

It was not as easy as yesterday. It was flat, but not as flat as yesterday. The wind wasn't always a tailwind. And it rained. But I look pretty good! I feel good.

I'm in an older motel, the "Oasis Inn and Bar". It is impeccably maintained.

There are so many bike trails in Wisconsin. I had a bike trail the whole way through downtown Milwaukee. I don't know what this building is, but it sure looks cool.

This is Port Washington, a cool little town that I blasted through before anyone was awake. This is where the rain hit.

North of Port Washington there was 15 miles of paved rail trail, the Ozaukee Interurban Trail. This was great! I don't have to worry about being run over in the rain!

 

I got to my destination, Sheboygan Falls, at 11:00. It's still cool out. I would have got here sooner, but there was all this construction on the road I chose, which was the most direct road. There were lots of barriers that said the road is closed ahead. I always ignore such barriers, because you can almost always get through the construction zone on a bike. And 2 of 3 times, I did get through on my bike. But right before Oostburg (not a typo, this is Wisconsin. They have towns named "Oostburg") they road was closed because they were rebuilding a bridge, and at this point in time the old bridge was gone and the new bridge didn't exist yet. So I had to backtrack and take a two mile detour. You can't win them all.

I enjoyed a Cuban sandwich at Junior's Eats. It was so good I enjoyed it even though me and my clothes were soaking wet.

Since it was three hours until check-in time at the Oasis Motel and Bar, I hung out in the library. Sheboygan Falls has a really nice library! I changed into dry clothes in the parking lot and hung my wet clothes over the bike to dry.

Here I am in a comfy chair by a fireplace at the library.

I rode the last couple miles to the Oasis Motel and Bar. This was around 3:00, it had stopped raining and it was starting to heat up, but it was not oppressive. The Oasis Motel and Bar has a pool and hot tub. Which was awesome.

Just down the road from the Oasis Motel and Bar, past the Kwik-Mart, is a nondescript, newer shopping strip anchored by the "Richardson Hospice Resale Store." After you are done shopping the personal possessions of the recently deceased, you can go next door to Legend Larry's and get a Bloody Mary and some wings. Which is what I did, except I didn't go to the resale store first.

Larry's Bloody Marys are so spicy they are served with a beer chaser.

I know I said I was going to only eat Wisconsin food from now on, and not Buffalo wings, but the bartender at Steny's last night claimed that in Wisconsin they specialize in sauces other than Buffalo wing sauce, so I decided to try some Teriyaki wings. And some more Buffalo wings, in case Steny's was an aberration. Also, Larry's pretty much only serves wings, and I wanted the Bloody Mary, which is prominently featured on their web page. The beer is Spotted Cow.

The wings were great. They can make good Buffalo wings in Wisconsin. Also, you have to specifically ask for celery, they don't give it to you automatically.

Here is the Strava page: https://www.strava.com/activities/15213892981