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Bicycle
Around Lake Superior!
Day 1: Day 2:
Day 3: Day 4:
Day 5: Day 6:
Day 7:
Day 8: Day
9: Day 10:
Day 11:
Day 12:
Day 13 & 14: Day
15: Day 16:
Day 17:
Day 18: 18 Days in 2008 |
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Wednesday August 27- Saturday Sept 13 We are back from our bicycle trip around Lake Superior and would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers for us! We had an exciting time, we saw the Lake from every angle, ate some wonderful meals, and saw lots of kinds of roads on this 18 day, 1,300 mile trip from August 27th to Sept 13th, 2008. Many have said they followed our journey in the Daily Mining Gazette newspaper but wanted to know more, so we will summarize it a little here.
Julie and Mary had planned this bicycle trip around Lake Superior for a long time to celebrate their "significant" (whisper: 50th & 60th) birthdays and to celebrate both their retirements this spring from "decades" of school teaching. As the time neared, they lost their volunteer sag driver so with just weeks before leaving, Julie asked Connie one Sunday after church if she would be interested in joining them on this road ride. Even tho Connie's experience was limited to mountain bike riding on mostly single track thru the local forests, she immediately said YES! to the chance to ride around Lake Superior. Julie had it planned, we
start in Chassell in
the Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan, first traversing the Upper Peninsula
from West to East, thus, circling the Lake, some 1,300 miles, counter-clockwise.
We stayed in hotels at night, getting a room with 2 beds plus a rollaway by
calling ahead each night. So we each had our own bed, but the rollaway was often
less than ideal! Next time, an air mattress to use instead of those rollaways would probably be a great
improvement to bring along! We usually were able to have "continental breakfasts"
in the hotels and then ate the rest of our meals in restaurants. Connie had
oatmeal along to microwave in case the provided breakfasts were just sugar
donuts. Julie woke us up early
in the mornings while still dark outside; after eating and packing, we were ready to start riding by the time
the sun came up and it was safe to ride. We bicycled until about 3 pm each day; by the time we checked into the hotel and had our showers, it was time for
dinner. We ate regular sized meals each day, but sometimes ending our dinner
meal with a great desert which we often shared. The desert was usually something
chocolate, a favorite for Julie and Connie! (A few of those after dinner
chocolates had so much caffeine that Connie found it hard to sleep.) After
dinner, calls were sometimes made back home, a few notes written in journals and a
check of the next day's ride, meals and night's lodging. (after gripping the
handle bars all day long, much of it "white knuckled" because of the narrow
Canadian road sides and truck traffic, I found it difficult to grasp and write
with a pen) We had a laptop computer along so when we had internet in the room,
we checked on hotels for our next stop. Otherwise we used the "Lake Superior"
book from LakeSuperior.com to find hotels, dining etc for
the next day.
We used a very helpful webpage to determine how many miles our next day's ride
would be using this webpage: Not long after dinner, we turned in for the night to get a
good night's sleep for the next day ride. Click
on the days listed below, to see a few of our pictures taken by Connie, Julie and Mary and
comments about each day of the trip. Also, we each answer the oft asked question
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me, Connie Julien, webmaster and bike rider on this trip. 18 Days: Wednesday August 27- Saturday Sept 13 Day 1: Michigan; Chassell to Ishpeming, 82 Miles Day 2: Michigan; Ishpeming to Munising Aug 28; 62 miles Day 3: Michigan; Munising to Grand Marais, Mi Aug 29; 52 miles Day 4: Michigan; Grand Marais to Paradise Aug 30; 76 miles + 10 miles up to Whitefish Point Day 5: Michigan; Paradise to Sault Saint Marie, Mi Aug 31; 51 miles Day 7: Ontario Canada; Montreal River to Wawa Sept 1; 67 miles Day 8: Ontario Canada; Wawa to Terrace Bay Sept 3; 50 +110 miles Day 10: Ontario Canada; Red Rock to Thunder Bay Sept 5; 60 miles Day 11: Ontario Canada to Minnesota; Thunder Bay to Grand Marais, MN Sept 6; 85 miles Day 12: Minnesota; Grand Marais to Silver Bay – Sept 7; 56 miles Day 13 & 14: Minnesota; Silver Bay to Duluth - Sept 8 & 9; 71 miles Day 15: Minnesota to Wisconsin; Duluth, Mn to Bayfield, Wisc. Sept 10; 75 miles Day 16: Wisconsin to Michigan; Bayfield, Wisc to Ironwood, Mich – Sept 11; 62 miles Day 17: Michigan; Ironwood to Greenland – Sept 12; 74 miles + 26 miles (returning to Silver City) Day 18: Michigan; Greenland to Chassell LAST DAY!! 50 miles Day 19: one last ride: Eagle Harbor, near the tip of the Keweenaw to Chassell; 54 miles You asked, we answer: Would you ever ride a bicycle around Lake Superior again?!!
Day 1: Day 2:
Day 3: Day 4:
Day 5: Day 6:
Day 7:
Day 8: Day
9: Day 10:
Day 11:
Day 12:
Day 13 & 14: Day
15: Day 16:
Day 17:
Day 18: If you have any questions, feel free to contact me, Connie Julien, webmaster and bike rider on this trip.
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