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