Boulder Junction seems to have started life as a "nowhere" stop on a local railroad serving the local iron mines. The immediate area industry seems to have been logging for mining timbers. At some early point, recreational fishing and support industries seem to have taken over. It is still going strong though other "Northwood" type recreations have been added such as snowmobiling and ATVing. It bills itself as the musky (as in muskellunge) capital of the world. (I have noticed a tendency in American towns to make themselves the capital of this or the first of that.)
So on the surface, there wasn't a whole lot to pique my fancy on my rest day (The rest day was imposed by the related concepts of the 4th of July long weekend and room availibility.) as fishing is something I am quite happy to let other people do. (My apologies to Grandpa.) However, it worked out very well. I slept in late, moseyed around town in my civvies. I was surprised by the large number of cyclists on the sunny day. Mostly casual recreational, but there was a tourer passing through. I waved at him as a fellow soul then realized he would only see a tourist in a Hawaiian shirt and a Tilley hat. I almost felt like a fraud!
There was a fire department chicken barbecue advertised. I added it to my gastronomic plans for the day. After using the Internet at the Library, I wandered in to the tourist information office to inquire where a swimming beach might be found. The lady informed me of a suitable location before telling me about the fire department barbecue. She then warned me that it typically sold out early.
About half past noon, I took in the event. As I paid, a voice behind informed the man taking my money that I had come all the way from Winnipeg in order to sample their chicken barbecue. It was the manager from my motel who was a volunteer fire fighter. He later told me they went through 1500 chickens! They had quite an installation for barbecuing all that chicken.
I went back to my motel room to prepare for my swimming expedition. I was delayed by sight out my window of a white tailed doe nursing her twin fawns! I couldn't quite see the fawns due tall grass and brush but I could see their white tails waving vigorously! The area has a significant deer population including a number of albino deer.
A decent day all told.
Saturday, 5 July 2014
On being pushed by fear and being surprised by new bike paths
I have an aversion to yellow and black insects owing to having been stung too often as a child. Consequently, when a bee or similar insect comes into my vicinity, my reaction is try to leave. The problem yesterday, was that the insects were following me, partly in my bubble of air (c.f. "large nephews make good windbreaks"). When I was on the level or going down a hill, I got usually lose them, but going up hills became the challenge of not pushing myself to go faster!
I rode East on Highway 2 to Hurley, then shifted to Highway 51 South. The sun was out and winds were low. While it wasn't very hot, I was working in the direct sun which was demanding. At the town of Mercer, I took a long break for the final push to Boulder Junction. This also marked the start of using the Adventure Cycling maps. I had been afraid they would take me onto nasty back roads. Instead, they got me onto flatter roads with less traffic but also less in the way of a shoulder.
I must digress to explain something that is about to be relevant. The numbering system of American roads is a mite problematic with roads having numbers created by the federal, state and county levels of government. To further muddy the waters, there are at least two numbering systems at the federal level, viz the Interstate and the "old" U.S. highway system. It is not always easy to figure which "Highway 12" the map or sign is referring to. The State of Wisconsin in an apparent awareness of this issue has ordained that County road be instead "lettered" instead of numbered. Thus, at Mercer, I turned off Highway 51 onto County road "J". (There are also a few double lettered roads such as "UU".)
After a dozen miles, I turned onto County road "K". I noticed there was a freshly paved bike path on the right. I got onto it but was keeping a very close eye on the "K" road. After a few miles, I asked a passing cyclist about where the path lead. I was happy to hear it lead most of the way to Boulder Junction (my destination for the day). The path wasn't finished for the rest of the way, but it was obvious that the county was working on it. The path wasn't on the Adventure Cycling map, so I will have to let them know about it!
I rode East on Highway 2 to Hurley, then shifted to Highway 51 South. The sun was out and winds were low. While it wasn't very hot, I was working in the direct sun which was demanding. At the town of Mercer, I took a long break for the final push to Boulder Junction. This also marked the start of using the Adventure Cycling maps. I had been afraid they would take me onto nasty back roads. Instead, they got me onto flatter roads with less traffic but also less in the way of a shoulder.
I must digress to explain something that is about to be relevant. The numbering system of American roads is a mite problematic with roads having numbers created by the federal, state and county levels of government. To further muddy the waters, there are at least two numbering systems at the federal level, viz the Interstate and the "old" U.S. highway system. It is not always easy to figure which "Highway 12" the map or sign is referring to. The State of Wisconsin in an apparent awareness of this issue has ordained that County road be instead "lettered" instead of numbered. Thus, at Mercer, I turned off Highway 51 onto County road "J". (There are also a few double lettered roads such as "UU".)
After a dozen miles, I turned onto County road "K". I noticed there was a freshly paved bike path on the right. I got onto it but was keeping a very close eye on the "K" road. After a few miles, I asked a passing cyclist about where the path lead. I was happy to hear it lead most of the way to Boulder Junction (my destination for the day). The path wasn't finished for the rest of the way, but it was obvious that the county was working on it. The path wasn't on the Adventure Cycling map, so I will have to let them know about it!
Thursday, 3 July 2014
On pushing myself subconsciously
I push myself on these trips. Sometimes, I know am doing it, others times...well it is only when I stop and try to talk to someone only to stumble over my words and I am suddenly stunned by just how tired I am. That happened a few times today.
Looking back I can identify several things that caused me to burn more energy than usual today. The first was getting from Duluth over the St-Louis River to Superior, Wisconsin. My intel had picked out the William Bong (what a name!) Bridge as being the one bikes were supposed to use. So, armed with a bike map of Duluth, I set off for the bridge which was upstream from downtown. When I got to entrance of the pedestrian and bike access to the bridge, I found it shut with orange construction netting. Grumbling, I found the car access route and rolled along keeping a close eye out for signs that actually said "no bikes". I didn't see any and the construction workers I saw around didn't bat an eyelash.
The bridge gave me a vantage point of some of the massive mineral loading docks complete with elevated railway lines so the minerals can dumped from the rail cars straight into the lake boats. (Great Lake freighters are called "boats" not "ships" even when they over a thousand feet long.)
Once across and on the streets of Superior, I was changing maps in my map case when a small detail caught my eye. There was a bike path that ran parallel to Highway 2 along the water front. Cross-checking between two maps I learnt there seemed to be bike path between Superior and Ashland (the day's destination). Intrigued, I made quick change in plans and got on the trail. At first, the path was a paved bike only trail that ran beside the waterfront which included the only surviving whaleback lake freighter. (Whalebacks were an odd and possibly dangerous form of cargo ship that had a vogue in the late 19th century or so. A link to Wikipedia will be added when I get home.) The trail gradually became a gravel former rail bed called the Tricounty Corridor. The surface was initially acceptable but became softer and sandier as the miles wore on. From the signs and the tracks, ATVs were allowed to use the Corridor which explained a lot, including the financing of the 61 mile length of it. However the surface made it a challenge to keep going safely. Eventually, I decided to return to Highway 2 as soon as the opportunity presented itself. This took a while and I guess I took in 10 miles of the Corridor. This was the second source of extra fatigue.
My tribulations were not over as there was a lot of roadwork being done on Highway 2 at about that point. Some of it was easy to negotiate but near the end I had to use the one lane available to traffic going East and the only safe way to do it was to take up the whole lane. The pickup truck behind me was very courteous but I really didn't wish to be too much of a bother so I pushed myself to get out of the area as quickly as possible.
Once past the construction zone, I had the concentration to admire the landscape of rolling dairy farms with their concrete silos so like the Eastern Townships. So like home that I felt I was almost home and therefore unconsciously pushed myself to go faster as I was "almost home".
Then there were the hills which while nothing horrendous did take some effort to climb.
Around 3 PM, I stopped at what turned out to be a bar for hunters in search of a cold drink. A trio of older people arrived at the same time. One of the women wanted to know about my bike and journey. It turned out she was the support team for her husband who was biking from Anacortes, Washington to Bar Harbour, Maine. We chatted for a bit over beer (root beer in my case). Looking back, I wonder if my thought processes had been so muddled that I may have neglected to possibly cajole her into adding my luggage to her van as they had already acquired a "stray". ;-) That and I neglected to give her one of my business cards.
All this to say that it has been a relatively demanding but rewarding. The weather was sunny with quietly favourable winds.
Looking back I can identify several things that caused me to burn more energy than usual today. The first was getting from Duluth over the St-Louis River to Superior, Wisconsin. My intel had picked out the William Bong (what a name!) Bridge as being the one bikes were supposed to use. So, armed with a bike map of Duluth, I set off for the bridge which was upstream from downtown. When I got to entrance of the pedestrian and bike access to the bridge, I found it shut with orange construction netting. Grumbling, I found the car access route and rolled along keeping a close eye out for signs that actually said "no bikes". I didn't see any and the construction workers I saw around didn't bat an eyelash.
The bridge gave me a vantage point of some of the massive mineral loading docks complete with elevated railway lines so the minerals can dumped from the rail cars straight into the lake boats. (Great Lake freighters are called "boats" not "ships" even when they over a thousand feet long.)
Once across and on the streets of Superior, I was changing maps in my map case when a small detail caught my eye. There was a bike path that ran parallel to Highway 2 along the water front. Cross-checking between two maps I learnt there seemed to be bike path between Superior and Ashland (the day's destination). Intrigued, I made quick change in plans and got on the trail. At first, the path was a paved bike only trail that ran beside the waterfront which included the only surviving whaleback lake freighter. (Whalebacks were an odd and possibly dangerous form of cargo ship that had a vogue in the late 19th century or so. A link to Wikipedia will be added when I get home.) The trail gradually became a gravel former rail bed called the Tricounty Corridor. The surface was initially acceptable but became softer and sandier as the miles wore on. From the signs and the tracks, ATVs were allowed to use the Corridor which explained a lot, including the financing of the 61 mile length of it. However the surface made it a challenge to keep going safely. Eventually, I decided to return to Highway 2 as soon as the opportunity presented itself. This took a while and I guess I took in 10 miles of the Corridor. This was the second source of extra fatigue.
My tribulations were not over as there was a lot of roadwork being done on Highway 2 at about that point. Some of it was easy to negotiate but near the end I had to use the one lane available to traffic going East and the only safe way to do it was to take up the whole lane. The pickup truck behind me was very courteous but I really didn't wish to be too much of a bother so I pushed myself to get out of the area as quickly as possible.
Once past the construction zone, I had the concentration to admire the landscape of rolling dairy farms with their concrete silos so like the Eastern Townships. So like home that I felt I was almost home and therefore unconsciously pushed myself to go faster as I was "almost home".
Then there were the hills which while nothing horrendous did take some effort to climb.
Around 3 PM, I stopped at what turned out to be a bar for hunters in search of a cold drink. A trio of older people arrived at the same time. One of the women wanted to know about my bike and journey. It turned out she was the support team for her husband who was biking from Anacortes, Washington to Bar Harbour, Maine. We chatted for a bit over beer (root beer in my case). Looking back, I wonder if my thought processes had been so muddled that I may have neglected to possibly cajole her into adding my luggage to her van as they had already acquired a "stray". ;-) That and I neglected to give her one of my business cards.
All this to say that it has been a relatively demanding but rewarding. The weather was sunny with quietly favourable winds.
On my day off in Duluth
The slack in my rear brake lead me to Continental Ski and Bikes which is a bike store I would patronize as much as needed if lived in Duluth. Friendly, nice and knowledgeable. One of the people suggested I check out a nearby waterfall which I did.
I then went to the Lake Superior Railway Museum which houses one of the world's largest steam locomotives. I haven't the energy to go into the details of the thing and I suspect I would bore much of my audience if I did. I will say it was designed haul trains full of iron ore from mines in the Mesabi Iron Range down to Duluth. I approached it from the rear and struck at how ginormous the tender alone was. (A tender is where your store fuel and water for steam engines unless it is a tank engine like Thomas). Very cool in a train spottery way.
I lunched on about six types of deep fried food from a "Cap'n Fishy Bob" type booth on the waterfront. While I waited, a small boy proudly told me he had just been on a big bike trip. Smiling, I asked him where he had gone. I don't recall the precise details but it was essentially out along the spit and along the waterfront. Translated into Vancouverese: around the Seawall in Stanley Park and along part of False Creek. Then the boy's father asked where I had biked from. They were impressed at my answer to say the least. ;-)
While I was eating lunch a small girl managed to knock over Leonardo onto his right side. I couldn't see any damage.
I then tour3d the William Irvin lake freighter built in the 1930s for use a freighter and yacht for the company's president, cronies and potential cronies. Apparently a third of the construction cost of the ship went into the guest quarters. Impressed the tour guide by remembering the name of the ship's telegraph between the engine room and the pilot house. On traditional lake freighters (like the Irvin) the former is in the stern and the later in the bows. Apparently most people on these tours forget in the time it takes to get from one to the other.
The ship served into the 1970's. She bore signs of having been updated over the years including two radars and sign on the bridge giving instructions about what to do if a nuclear attack was likely. To paraphrase, the orders were: "Get the hell out of Dodge and into a dispersal area and rig the ship's fire hoses to spray water to reduce the effects of fallout." I was struck at the almost surreal concept of "dispersing" freighters on the Great Lakes which are inherently relatively confining.
The fair which I had shared the road with on Monday, was busy setting up shop in the waterfront area. I know this was the same fair as I asked one of the carnies if they had been on Highway 2 that day.
The Great Lakes Aquarium was a mild disappointment mostly because their otter had just been fed and therefore wasn't in the mood to entertain me with its antics. I did get to admire some huge lake sturgeon and pose with fiberglass moose.
Riding in search of a grocery store, I found Leonardo was shifting imprecisely. To be on the safe side, I went back to Continental Bikes were one of mechanics (an old guy with a huge beard) checked things out and made a few adjustments. I was struck at beauty of the chain changing gears up on the stand. The mechanic said there hadn't been much wrong but tactfully suggested I clean the chain. I did and Leonardo has shifting more accurately.
I then went to the Lake Superior Railway Museum which houses one of the world's largest steam locomotives. I haven't the energy to go into the details of the thing and I suspect I would bore much of my audience if I did. I will say it was designed haul trains full of iron ore from mines in the Mesabi Iron Range down to Duluth. I approached it from the rear and struck at how ginormous the tender alone was. (A tender is where your store fuel and water for steam engines unless it is a tank engine like Thomas). Very cool in a train spottery way.
I lunched on about six types of deep fried food from a "Cap'n Fishy Bob" type booth on the waterfront. While I waited, a small boy proudly told me he had just been on a big bike trip. Smiling, I asked him where he had gone. I don't recall the precise details but it was essentially out along the spit and along the waterfront. Translated into Vancouverese: around the Seawall in Stanley Park and along part of False Creek. Then the boy's father asked where I had biked from. They were impressed at my answer to say the least. ;-)
While I was eating lunch a small girl managed to knock over Leonardo onto his right side. I couldn't see any damage.
I then tour3d the William Irvin lake freighter built in the 1930s for use a freighter and yacht for the company's president, cronies and potential cronies. Apparently a third of the construction cost of the ship went into the guest quarters. Impressed the tour guide by remembering the name of the ship's telegraph between the engine room and the pilot house. On traditional lake freighters (like the Irvin) the former is in the stern and the later in the bows. Apparently most people on these tours forget in the time it takes to get from one to the other.
The ship served into the 1970's. She bore signs of having been updated over the years including two radars and sign on the bridge giving instructions about what to do if a nuclear attack was likely. To paraphrase, the orders were: "Get the hell out of Dodge and into a dispersal area and rig the ship's fire hoses to spray water to reduce the effects of fallout." I was struck at the almost surreal concept of "dispersing" freighters on the Great Lakes which are inherently relatively confining.
The fair which I had shared the road with on Monday, was busy setting up shop in the waterfront area. I know this was the same fair as I asked one of the carnies if they had been on Highway 2 that day.
The Great Lakes Aquarium was a mild disappointment mostly because their otter had just been fed and therefore wasn't in the mood to entertain me with its antics. I did get to admire some huge lake sturgeon and pose with fiberglass moose.
Riding in search of a grocery store, I found Leonardo was shifting imprecisely. To be on the safe side, I went back to Continental Bikes were one of mechanics (an old guy with a huge beard) checked things out and made a few adjustments. I was struck at beauty of the chain changing gears up on the stand. The mechanic said there hadn't been much wrong but tactfully suggested I clean the chain. I did and Leonardo has shifting more accurately.
Wednesday, 2 July 2014
On yesterday
The weather was quite favourable with semi-cloudy skies, cool temperatures and a tailwind that allowed me to cruise at over 30 km/h for extended periods. I stopped for coffee at a truck stop where I was a surprised to see they also sold ammunition. The ride until Duluth was relatively uneventful, as the road crossed extensive wetlands, one of which was the home of a family of Canada geese which resented my presence when I tried to photograph them. At another point, I stopped to photograph an osprey on its nest.
Tuesday, 1 July 2014
On my current status
I am:
-In Duluth.
-Pleased with my day's biking.
-Glad I found reasonable lodgings in a part of Duluth that suits me very well.
-Ecstatic over my new niece.
-Pleasantly drunk.
-Going to call it a night.
Most of these points will be discussed in greater detail on the morrow.
-In Duluth.
-Pleased with my day's biking.
-Glad I found reasonable lodgings in a part of Duluth that suits me very well.
-Ecstatic over my new niece.
-Pleasantly drunk.
-Going to call it a night.
Most of these points will be discussed in greater detail on the morrow.
On a new niece
Alice had her baby yesterday! A girl called Kerry. 8 lbs, 8 oz which I believe is relatively large. Alice seems to have had a rough time of it, but is recovering. I am vaguely disappointed it wasn't a boy (poor Edward will be outnumbered by girls at family gatherings) but I am pleased Alice and Mark chose a name that didn't start with "A" or "M". ;-)
Best wishes.
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