UP Trip - Part 1

I've been quiet for a bit on this blog, but not because I haven't been biking.  Quite the contrary, actually.   Last week I went on a five day tour of the beautiful Upper Peninsula with the local bike club.   It was a huge trip, as you can imagine, so I'm planning to take a few posts to write about the whole thing.   I'm hoping to add pictures as others post them, so you might want to check back from time to time if you like that sort of thing.

On the road
I hitched a ride up to Michigan in pretty much the coolest rig ever -- The Beast, pulling the Silver Bullet.

Photo by Ann Paulson

Bikes in the trailer, kayaks on the roof and a party in the Land Rover!  We got on the road a bit after 5 PM, destination -- well, that's actually an interesting story.   See, we had reservations in Carlton, MN for the evening.   An unnamed, fantastically awesome woman in the vehicle was slightly confused as to what hotel we were staying in so we added a bit of a detour to our trip.   No harm, no foul, right?  This was also my first time ever seeing or being in Duluth.  It was a brief encounter, but she was beautiful in the night.  

Day 1 - Wakefield to Silver City
We jumped in the Beast bright and early and drove the rest of the way to our first ride location, Wakefield, MI.   The day was a bit iffy, weather wise.   The clouds proved more persistent than the forecast predicted (this was a common theme for the trip), and it was a bit drizzle-y.

It was also cold.

Nonetheless, we changed and saddled up...then promptly dismounted for lunch.   After fueling up, we set out  (for real) to our first rest stop in the Porcupine Mountains State park.    

The Porkies (as they are called, sadly), were an early high point for me.   The geography of northern Michigan is so different from that of southern Minnesota and NE Iowa, so it all seemed very novel to me.   The trees grow thick along the sides of the seasonal roads and you have the feeling of riding through a kind of secret land.    We had a rest stop at the state park, and while there the group went to explore a nearby falls.    Naturally, all signs advising people to stay on the path were ignored, despite the fact that we were all clacking around in spandex and bike cleats.

This was when I decided I was coming back to the UP

Dave being Dave

My roomie, Howie

Sadly, we had to leave and continue on to Silver City.   This was the hardest part of the ride, as there was a long, though not very steep, climb.    It also started raining again.   There was a silver lining, however.   The place we were staying for the night was on the water, so it was a fun descent down to the Lake Superior shoreline.

Photo by Scott Duffus 

Silver City is pretty much a ghost town.   The town has no gas or grocery stores and the only restaurant is in the hotel.   Still, the shower was hot, the food was good and really, what more could we ask for?  

Day 1 GPS