(I wasn't really taking a lot of pictures at this point. At the time, I thought I was going to return along this route so I figured I'd be able to take more on the trip home.)
June 19, 2008 - 55.6 miles
When I started this trip, I rode through mostly suburbs, farmland, and small towns that almost seem to be a suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Now, the landscape has changed to forest and small towns that seem to be mostly populated with vacation homes and resorts. There's a lot of people vacationing up here for the fishing and boating. I didn't hear too much about hunting but maybe it's just not hunting season for anything.
Honestly, so far, most of the trip has been me plodding along from town to town and not really stopping except to take brief rests and load up with more food and water. Today held the first truly exciting moment. As I was leaving Edgewater, a mall resort town near Long Lake, a small black bear emerged from the woods about 300 feet in front of me. I'm not sure if it was a baby bear or just small. (Maybe I watch too much tv and expect all bears to be HUGE, growling grizzlies?) Anyway, I squealed in delight and rummaged through my handlebar bag looking for my camera. Unfortunately, the bear crossed the road and dodged back into the woods by the time I got the camera out and ready. I suppose it might not be that exciting to people who live in the area but most of my life has been spent in cities. That was the first time I've seen any large animal other than a deer out in the wild.
A few miles down the road, I stopped to rest where some railroad tracks crossed the road. A couple of loaded cyclists passed by. Chris and Ed were from St. Paul and were using the Adventure Cycling maps to go to the Great River Ride in Wisconsin. (This event, I think? Not that it really matters.) Chris asked if I wanted to ride with them for the day. I did for a little bit but I simply couldn't keep up. I was experiencing some soreness in my right knee and riding fast just worsened it. Anyway, my World of Warcraft-addicted mind translated the conversation to this:
Me: O hai! Chris: Hey! Are you following Adventure Cycling's maps? Me: Yeah, I downloaded them from the site. (Not literally. I actually bought them. :-p) Chris: We're going to a guild event in Wisconsin. Is that where you're going up? Me: Nah, I'm soloing through the Wisconsin and Michigan zones. Chris: Cool! Party up for the day? Me: Nah, I'm a noob. You guys go on ahead. Chris: You sure? Me: Hmm, well, okay. /follow Chris
(20 minutes later)
Me: *pantpant* O hey guys. I'm gonna let you go on ahead. I'm, like, level 10 and you're 50. Them: Oh, okay. Well, good luck. Me: You too! Have fun at your guild event. *dies by the side of the road for the next ten minutes*
June 20 - Rest Day
Last night, I ended my day at the Lac Courte Oreilles casino 4 miles east of Hayward, WI. Spent too much for the room ($99/night) but it all worked out in the end. When I saw it, I nearly died of happiness. I had spent so much time on these quiet backcountry roads that when the complex showed up, it was like an oasis of LIGHTS and PEOPLE and CIVILIZATION. Didn't do very much today. Played with my cellphone a lot (I bought a word game called Text Twist Turbo to pass the time. Cheaper than blackjack and less boring than television.) and ate tons at the buffet. In the evening, I played bingo and won $200 which almost paid for my room! On a side note, though, bingo halls are a little depressing. It's like a bunch of bored lower middle-class people are herded into a room where they peck at pieces of paper with their daubers in the hopes of winning a little bit of cash. It was a pretty decent casino though with blackjack, bingo, slots, roulette, craps, a poker room, a buffet, a bar, and a very nice hotel.
I'm hoping the knee pain has resolved itself by staying off it for 36 hours. Next destination: Glidden, WI!
The railroad tracks where I met Chris & Ed
Failed picture of the bear :( It's somewhere in the woods on the right side of the road.
I took this on June 27, 2008, somewhere between Escanaba, MI and St. Ignace, MI. There's nothing particularly exciting about it, just me videotaping while riding the bicycle.
At the DN campground, my campsite was right next to the Apple River. When I woke up, there was a misty fog covering the ground and the river.
Just a little blurb about Cumberland's history.
I was actually trying to capture the hills off in the distance and not a huge chunk of road. :-p
Just some structure I passed on my way to the River's Edge campground that I thought looked interesting. No clue what it actually is.
A city park in Amery, WI. Right after I took this photo, I saw two loaded bicycle tourists coming from the other way. We waved at each other. Later, when I stopped at the convenience store near the DN campground, the owner was telling me about two women going from Maine to Washington. I wonder if that was them?
I finally worked up the motivation to blog again. I'm going to transfer three entries per day from my paper journal written during the bicycle tour into this blog. Any more than that and I'll probably overload you readers. :-D
June 16, 2008 - Minneapolis, MN to Osceola, WI - 64 miles
Ack! I did too much on my first day. I woke up pretty late at noon and didn't get started until 1pm or so. There's one small problem with the Minneapolis-St. Paul spur on the Adventure Cycling maps. From Maplewood until Osceola, WI, it doesn't list any places for lodging. I had every intention of stopping at 45-50 miles but there was really no place to stop. As night fell, I was seriously considering stealth-camping somewhere along the road. Part of it was that I was exhausted. But, I also had little faith in my weak bike lights as far as making me visible to drivers in the middle of the night. I'm really not comfortable stealth-camping, though, so I kept going.
Honestly, I didn't see much I haven't seen before. I've seen the Gateway State Trail before on my first bicycle trip to Somerset, WI and most of it is just a tree-lined path. Don't get me wrong. It's a great trail and is a lot better for uninterrupted cycling than the roads of Minneapolis-St. Paul. But, as far as scenery goes, trees make me yawn. I did have a pleasant moment when I stopped to rest (and covertly pee in the woods O.o) at the "Welcome to Minnesota" sign. It was late at night and, above a wooded hill, the full moon shone while fireflies blinked around me.
Around 10:30pm, I finally reached Osceola, WI and began to look for a hotel. I would've preferred a campground since they're usually $60/night cheaper but the closest one that I knew of was in Taylor Falls, MN, another 5+ miles away. Eventually, I found the River Valley Inn and checked in. I had to lug my loaded bicycle up to the second floor since there was no elevator. Thankfully, the girl at the front desk helped me with it. Don't think I could've done it myself. (Added later: Since then, I've learned to just take the panniers and camping equipment off and carry them up in separate trips.)
June 17, 2008 - Osceola, WI to Amery, WI - 48 miles
Oops! Made a slight mistake when I left Osceola this morning. I missed a turn and added 7 or 8 miles onto my trip. I felt like such a wuss when I was going up the hills today. (Added later: Lol, those were tiny little bumps compared to the ones in Michigan.) Just north of Amery, I had an "Oh, no! This is going to suck!" moment when the road I was on turned to gravel. All I could see ahead of me was gravel road and it definitely wasn't a rideable surface. I couldn't see any alternate routes on the map so I jumped off and walked the bicycle. Luckily, it only lasted for 1/2 mile and not the 6 miles I was fearing. Now, I'm at the DN Campground 11 miles north of Amery. Hope I can actually sleep in a tent!
June 18, 2008 - Amery, WI to east of Cumberland, WI - 50.7 miles
I did manage to fall asleep eventually. I was a little worried when it was nearing 11pm and I still wasn't asleep. I thought, 'Screw it. I'll just lay here until morning comes if I have to.' I hadn't put the rainfly on last night since the skies looked clear. That could have turned out to be an uncomfortable mistake but I lucked out and watched the fireflies darting through the trees as I drifted off to sleep.
When I woke up, it was freezing. Not literally, of course, but it was cold enough where I could feel it. Low 60's? High 50's? Anyway, I packed up and set off around 8:00am after grabbing a cheese danish and chocolate milk from the nearby convenience store.
I pulled into Cumberland around noon, checked my messages, and called my parents back. I got somewhat lost in town when Third Avenue ended and I couldn't find the street I was supposed to be on. I eventually got that sorted out and back on track. I stopped to rest for a bit at the city park that overlooks a small lake where I watched some girl floating on an inflatable raft in the middle of the water. For a second, I thought, 'Wait! That's what other people do on their vacations. What the hell am I doing?!?' as I nursed my aching right knee. I shrugged to myself, downed some ibuprofen, and kept going down the country roads. About 5 miles in, I was getting a little wiped so I stopped to rest at an intersection. Apparently, I shouldn't do that because three cars stopped to make sure I was all right! At least now I know I can flag people down if something goes awry. J
About 6 or 7pm, I pulled into the River's Edge campground and checked in. Spent most of the night playing with my phone, reading, or chatting with the friendly 70-something woman who runs the place.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Well, hell! I just got home, looked at the blog, and realized some of the posts sent from my cell phone were getting cut off early. I'm not very pleased with some of the photos either. They weren't really showing off what I was hoping to. Of course, I didn't really expect much from a cellphone camera. Hopefully, the pictures and videos from my camera will be better.
I'm sure I'll babble more after I fall asleep for 20 hours straight.
I'm 35. I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In June, I'm bicycling the North Lakes tour through Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. Till then, I'm wandering through my own city playing tourist.
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