Found Objects

Tonight I'm just east of Manistique, on the northern shore of Lake Michigan. Supposed to storm tonight (of course!) and it was too chilly by the time I got here to go swimming, but it's still exciting to be by this lake. I think a lot of people don't realize how big the Great Lakes are... it's like being on the coast of the sea, but it smells different. (It smells cleaner, I think; I noticed that riding along the lake this afternoon.)

It was another really great day of riding - flat, a big smooth shoulder on the road, nice breeze pushing me along... not to mention the people and artifacts I encountered along the way.

The sculptor I met in Escanaba told me to stop by and say hi to his friend Ritch Branstrom, in Rapid River - right along my route. "Look for metal stuff," he said. "You can't miss it. It's across from the Dairy Flo." I had no idea what I was looking for but I knew it when I saw it.

Ritch wasn't there when I stopped, but I took advantage of an old car seat in the yard and hung out having a snack - and he showed up soon after. His work is stupendous in scale and detail and I think everyone should go see it the next time you're in the U.P.

Or you can check out his website: www.adhocworkshop.com/about.asp

Then it was on to artifacts of a sentimental nature -lunch at the rest area by Garden Corners. It's only a few miles from the tiny town near the cabin my family used to go to (though that town was a little too far off route for me to visit, today)...

And then - yes, my first flat on the road. It's been inevitable, and while I've sort of been dreading it, I have to say I mostly found it amusing. Another cyclist rode by and offered help (it is handy to have a third hand to manuever releasing my rear brakes - and I told him where to find the good beer in Escanaba so it was a fair trade) and a vacationing fire-fighter stopped to help pump up the tire after I fixed it. It's sort of boring and tiring so I was happy to take turns with the task. What I want to know is: What was a giant staple doing on the shoulder of Hwy. 2?! (It's pretty amazing that I've only had one flat on the road in over 2,800 miles. I had one at the Cycle America camp in Jackson, but it was on a rest day, and we sat around drinking beer & gossiping while I fixed it, so that hardly counted.)

I'm aiming to reach the north side of the Mackinac Bridge tomorrow and camp there in St Ignace - wow. I think it might remind me of camping in the Marin Headlands near the Golden Gate Bridge, but without coyotes (or the big city on the other side!). It's supposed to rain though so I might be a little bogged down and stop to camp before I get that far - it's kind of nice to have options, and to have some flexibility. Most days I've had a strong impulse to reach a specific place - well, usually because it's close to food or a nicer place to camp, etc. I still have a strong impulse to ride now that I'm only a week away from Ann Arbor - wow...

Sentimental journey(s)

Once again I managed to spend my "rest day" running around town doing errands - which included getting my rear wheel trued, rigging up a new bell after breaking my old one the other day, doing my laundry & getting my hair cut (at the same time! what a great mini-mall that was) - and wishing Camilo a happy birthday. It feels ok to be this far away on such an important occasion, but a little weird at the same time... and I've been remembering the night he was born - probably the most important night of my life!

All this jolly nattering has sort of gotten in the way of explaining how deeply sentimental I feel being here - in Michigan, and specifically in Escanaba. My family used to come here every summer; we would spend a week at a cabin about 50 miles away, on Lake Michigan, and come to Escanaba once during that time to do laundry (!) and I guess grocery shopping. I don't know if this was a big painful chore to my parents, or a break from the hard work of "vacationing" in a small cabin with five kids, one bathroom, electricity supplied by a generator that was constantly in need of repair (which my dad had to fix) and plumbing dependent on the pump running on the same not-very-reliable generator.

To me the whole thing was a huge adventure - and so, even though my adult self can empathize with how hard our vacation might actually have been for my parents, just being here evokes so much joy and so many memories. (Like getting to drink Tang all the time, probably because my mom didn't like the metalic taste of the water, either. And spending nearly the entire day swimming around in Lake Michigan, til our lips would turn blue and shivering we'd insist "But I'm not cold!" and resist coming inside...)

When I was in high school I would come up to the U.P. on these nutty road trips with my friends Clare, Kenny & Ken - including one winter trip that found us sleeping in Kenny's dad's Suburban (old-style: this was 1977) at the point in the road they stopped plowing the snow, and we simply couldn't drive any farther. I won't go into any more details since this blog is rated PG-13 (on account of the disgusting road-kill and diaper-rash situations) but suffice it to say: The U.P. is where my sense of adventure was cultivated - and it remains a thrill to be here.

Today I made a point of talking to people who live here to get a better sense of what's happening in town now. All along the road I've noticed that many small towns are becoming more ghostly - so many of the shops and restaurants are either boarded up or for sale. In Wisconsin earlier this week I found a spot marked on my map as a town w/many services was completely boarded up. Escanaba is fairly big and has both an old downtown (with some thriving small businesses like bike shops, restaurants, and other sporting goods stores - but also a fair number of empty store-fronts) and a commericial strip along US Route 2, with fast-food restaurants & Walmart and the like, which serve the surrounding area but are obviously also part of the tourist trade.

And that's something I've seen across the country so far: where there are tourists, there are espresso shops, neat little stores, nice parks and places to walk, etc. But away from those areas it's hard to find groceries, let alone thriving community businesses... (or pie - pie seems to have become a tourist commodity... at least good homemade pie has. Which makes no sense!)

What really struck me here is that among the five people I had deeper conversations with, three of them were artists! Including a guy working the tech counter at Staples; a woman named Dany who teaches art in middle school in Grand Rapids (and who bought me a beer - thanks again!) and a guy named Ed who's a sculptor... Ed said it's because studio space is so cheap here; people get jobs doing whatever and can afford to do their art too. I asked the guys at Staples if they wanted to stay here or get out - one is heading to art school but would stay if there were more opportunities here; the other one just wants to travel. (Imagine that!) They all said this is a great place to grow up and to live in - just somewhat limited. It made me wish I'd taken the initiative to have these kinds of conversations along the way, and I mean to make the effort from here on. (I've been talking with lots of people, but usually answering their questions re: biking, and asking where they're from - but not going very deeply into anything.)

So: Here are this week's pictures - starting out in St Paul Minnesota, crossing Wisconsin, and hitting the U.P. I've been amazed at the number of off-road bicycle paths I've encountered along the way... the funny street signs... and the rolling hills of this landscape. (Also the humidity and biting insects - but those didn't show up in the photos so well.)

The picture of my tent was from a night I cowered between mobile homes in an RV Park because "severe" thunderstorms were predicted - I know, I know, they're tornado magnets, but it was my only option. (There was a big storm but it veered around us - I could see the lightning but it was a few miles away.)

http://picasaweb.google.com/106458209676650999720/WisconsinToEscanaba#5502497369823620194

Michigan: The Great Beer State!

Who knew?! But that's the name of a magazine I picked up at the pub last night in Escanaba, Michigan - the stomping grounds of my childhood and youth. I still can't believe I have ridden my bike to Michigan...

I am very excited and sentimental to be here, in the Upper Peninsula (the U.P. is what we call it). And now I have a map of craft breweries across the state, which I can plot onto my official bike route map.


Today is Camilo's 16th birthday! That also has me excited and sentimental, not to mention more than slightly incredulous: I have a nearly-grown-up son?! That's even wilder, crazier, and potentially more dangerous than riding your bike across the country.

It's also my layover/rest day for the week, which I am thrilled to take in Escanaba. After doing my laundry, stocking up on yet more deet, and cleaning the debris out of my bike's chain, I'm spending the afternoon at the waterfront park - which includes a BEACH! On Lake Michigan! I might even get to read an article in the magazine I've been carrying since Seattle - but then again, I might just take a nap.

Tonight I'll post photos of the past week - and maybe even write up some of the things I've been seeing/noticing/thinking about over the past 2,800 miles. I had to write that number because I still can't believe I'm doing this. I guess I should stop saying that and just accept it, but it's a little weird to be living out a dream (and have it be even better than I imagined).

I'm riding a lot more easily these days - and managing to average over 75 miles a day, which is getting me back on schedule to connect with my sister Peg downstate next week. (And for those who have asked, yes, my butt is feeling better, too - thanks to wildly expensive butt cream from Switzerland that the tatooed & pierced folks at the bike coop in Minneapolis recommended.) I still think riding my bike is fun, and still laugh out loud every day at the fact I get to do this.

In the meantime, here are a few memorable moments from the road the past two days, including seeing where all those logging trucks were actually headed, and yet another great road sign.

In the North Woods

After days of slogging through the swamps of Wisconsin, I finally feel like I've arrived in the Woods that I'd been expecting for a while now. It's been really muggy and raining nearly every evening this week, but the sun was out today and I was happy to see it (though it was also about 90 degrees out - I probably drank a gallon of water.) Oddly enough, there was also a sudden squall around 6pm - I came out of the shower to find it pouring rain. Oh lucky me: after days of camping in the wet, and riding over 80 miles in the heat, I'd just checked into a motel room...

Then the power went out. I figured it was some problem with the motel and walked down the street to the bustling little vacationy town of Boulder Junction - to find the power was out for the whole town. There was one restaurant open, with a generator running... and just after I ordered some food their generator went out. Slightly desperate & thinking I'd have to have peanut butter sandwiches for dinner (the only provisions I still have) I just hung out in the bar having a beer... but then the lights came back on and they kept cooking.

The power's back on at the motel now too so I guess they got the trees down off the wires... it's sort of funny now but I was pretty unhappy at the thought of not getting dinner...!

Tomorrow I hope to stock up on food and plan to camp in Crystal Falls - Michigan!! It's supposed to storm in the evening but as long as I get set up before the rain starts it's ok. I like sleeping in my tent when it's raining - and the storms here aren't as scary as the ones on the prairie. (Or I guess in St. Paul... that was a big one...) I've actually been finding it really hard to find grocery stores on my route - mostly they're just little "convenience" stores at gas stations, with nary a vegetable or fruit on the premises, or even instant oatmeal... but I'm counting on Conover (it has a population over 1,000 so that seems promising...).

Internet is also harder to find - but I plan to reach Escanaba on Thursday and take a rest day on Friday, so - just like when I was a little kid - that's the Big Town to get things done in.

Things have felt really different in Minnesota and Wisconsin from Wyoming and South Dakota; there are a lot more roads here, and I'm riding the little back ones, so there's hardly any traffic at all. These little roads have great names & odd numbers, which is fun... It's great not to be stressed about trucks whizzing past my shoulder, but sometimes it feels just a little *too* quiet. Sort of alienating, after hours and hours of it. I've always liked having time to myself but it's kind of unsettling to see no people for so much of the day.

It's also a big change from three days and four nights in St. Paul, where I stayed with Jon Duncan in his little attic house... especially since Jon also drove out (along with his dog, Lefty) to camp with me last night in the woods. I got used to all that company so this is a readjustment. Today was a great ride, though, which helped - and tomorrow I get to Michigan - and eastern time!

On Wisconsin!

I'm in Wisconsin, and the first thing that happened is that fight song (from whatever Big-10 school it is) got stuck in my head... (That is apparently the kind of thing I think about on the road: songs I used to play, badly, on the tenor saxophone when I was in marching band in high school...)

I am finding that campgrounds on my route don't have internet access, but some of the little towns have cafe's with wi-fi so I'm developing a new pattern: snacking & being online. Every day is a little different, which is great... though I'm also perpetually inefficient, it's actually not bothering me. The mosquitos are, a little, but not too badly - my new bottle of deet is working out.

I'm using Adventure Cycling route maps now instead of making up my own, and finding they are great - though sometimes a little complicated, and I've missed a couple of turns & had to relocate myself. They tend to keep you off busy roads and on very small, low-traffic country lanes, which is pretty neat - but sometimes the signs are a little too little for my spaced-out self to notice.

Couple of signs from the back roads of Wisconsin... (I'm hoping the bullet holes in the deer part of the sign, rather than the bike route part, indicate a general friendly attitude towards bikers...)

Some new pictures!

It's funny - I usually have a lot to do on my "rest days" and St. Paul has been that way too. Re-stocking supplies that are harder to find in small towns, mailing stuff home that I don't need anymore (wool hat & gloves, long underwear & wool socks, for example - pretty sure I'm done with these!), cleaning & tinkering with the bike... but finally I've got some more pictures to put up. These go from Miller, SD to St. Paul - not a lot of dramatic landscape, but still plenty of interesting things along the road... including the last of the yellow arrows.

For the past few weeks I've been a day or two behind the Cycle America group I started out with, and found many of their yellow arrows on the roads. On Monday our paths diverged and I saw the last yellow arrow of this trip, I think - unless we cross paths around Niagra Falls, which would be really fun. Well, more than fun, honestly: I feel a pretty deep connection to the folks in the group, and it's been comforting to maintain that through sightings of the arrows. But it's also exciting to strike out on my own path - well, such as it is: now I'll be using Adventure Cycling Association route maps. (Until I get to Bufffalo, NY, where I'll jump onto the Erie Canal bike trail.)

Anyhow, here's the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/106458209676650999720/SouthDakotaToStPaul#

Here in St. Paul: Halfway haven

Last night I made it to St. Paul, Minnesota, which makes 2,362 miles (!!). This is the symbolic and I think actual mid-way point for my journey. Yow! I can't really internalize the scope of this thing, still - but it feels like a big deal to have made it here.

Pam & James & Pat & Todd's and now my friend Jon, who lives here, drove out to Hutchinson and then rode his bike in with me yesterday, and now I'm staying with him a couple of days to rest up, do laundry, get re-supplied and then head out for the Wisconsin & Michigan legs of the trip.


Crossing into Minnesota was exciting but kind of grueling: cross-winds and head-winds that day, and a very narrow shoulder with rumble strips, gravel, and lot of traffic. I was very stressed by the combination, plus the heat & humidity. There were a number of great moments on the road, though (armed gnomes!), and I really loved the city campgrounds in Montevideo and Hutchinson. They even had showers!

The real blast was riding from Hutchinson into St. Paul - nearly 80 miles, all of it on car-free bike trails. Along the way the trail changed from tractor tread-marks through a corn field, to fine gravel, a paved trail, and then an urban bike path with lovely signs. The twin cities of Minneapolis & St. Paul have an incredible, complex set of pedestrian/bike paths - it's really amazing. Even though it was so hot there was a heat advisory (meaning: avoid strenuous activities, d'oh), it felt relatively easy & relaxing, just from not having to worry about traffic blasting by me. (Or into me.)





















And then - lucky me, yet again - only after we'd safely gotten here, taken showers and headed out to dinner, another tremendous thunderstorm hit. We sat in a restaurant by the window, watching the lightning and sheets of rain blowing across the street...













I'll be heading for Wisconsin on Saturday, on track (I think) to meet up with my sister Peg in central Michigan on August 12th...