After having done the C & O Canal with Lee in June, I took on another riding challenge, this time with my friend, Steve, in July of 2011. The Bike Northwoods Tour is the third organized ride put on by bikewisconsin.com, who also put on GRABAAWR & SAGBRAW. As the name implies, the ride is through the northern part of the state, and it pretty much hugs the south shore of Lake Superior.
The tour started in Iron River, WI, with a nice buffet dinner and entertainment by a local four-piece band the evening before the ride. The first day of riding was northwest to Superior, WI through Wisconsin farmland and woodlands. I remember getting to the Superior city limits, after a fairly long day of riding, and having to ride what seemed like forever to get to the campground, but that was probably just my perception. Once I get into a town, no matter how large, I tend to think the ride is almost over, so five miles more seems much longer. Over the years I have found that an extra five miles at the beginning of the ride isn’t a big deal, but an extra five miles at the end of the ride can seem daunting. Anyway, we camped at a high school in Superior, happy to know that we would be returning to the same place after the next day’s ride, meaning we didn’t have to take down the tents in the morning and put them back up after the ride. That’s nice.
Later in the afternoon, a bad thunderstorm moved through the area and I sat it out in my tent hoping lightning wouldn’t strike, the wind wouldn’t blow the tent down, and the absolute downpour wouldn’t cause a leak. None of that happened (I really love that tough little tent!) and I & the tent survived the night none the worse for wear.
The second day of riding was across one of the bridges leading to Duluth, MN, through very scenic Canal Park, along the boardwalk & bike trail through Duluth, north along Minnesota’s beautiful North Shore to Two Harbors, MN, then returning to Superior. There were several rides offered–shorter, mid-range, and longer–and we took the mid-range ride of about 60 miles and stopped on the way back at Canal Park to have a beverage (okay, okay–a beer [okay, okay–two beers]) and watch ships enter the harbor under the lift bridge. That is really interesting and fun to watch.
The next day we rode east along the South Shore of Lake Superior, not as dramatic as the North Shore but scenic in its own right, to Port Wing, where we spent the night. There was a very nice ice cream shop just as we entered town and the malt I had there was a real treat after a day of riding in the heat. This time there was no worry about riding a long way after entering town, you can see the west end of town from the east end of town. There was a nice little bar at the east end of town and we had a very nice meal there while meeting some local folks, as well as other riders.
Next up was Bayfield on day four, the route going through Herbster, Cornucopia, and Red Cliff, all of which are small, quaint villages on lake shore. Once again we riders spent the better part of the day alongside the lake which, besides being scenic, helped keep us cool with its soft breeze. Each village through which we rode had a park of some kind on the shoreline that made for a nice stop. For a good share of the day we rode through the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, and somewhere along the route we got to see an old fashioned windmill and what is reputed to be “The World’s Largest Ball of Twine.” We actually watched the owner (somewhat of a character, as you may have guessed) standing on a ladder weaving more pieces of twine into the ball.
Bayfield was another two-day stop so we spent the fifth day of the ride exploring the area around the town, a very “touristy” but very nice little town on the lake shore. There were, again, three routes offered, and as it was a cloudy day threatening rain, I took the short (30-mile) ride which took me onto the ferry to cross to Madeline Island where I rode around the entire island on almost traffic-free roads. I was glad I had taken the shorter route when, just as I got back to my tent, it started to rain.
That evening the ride organizers had arranged for buses to pick us up and take us to Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua, a large circus tent venue three miles south of town where performances are put on. I was especially interested in this as I have often listened to a radio show called Big Top Chautauqua on Public Radio that airs performances by big time bands, usually folk, blue grass, or country, from this locale. It is especially fun in the winter, when there are a couple feet of snow on the lawn and the temperatures are below zero, to listen to the replay of a performance given in the summertime on top of this big hill overlooking Lake Superior. This night we saw a play about the history of the area put on by a local group.
Along the Apostle Island National Lakeshore
The last day of riding had us heading back to Iron River, about twenty miles of it along the lakeshore south of Bayfield, then turning west into the interior, once again through woodlands. The woodland part led to one of the more exciting parts of the ride for me as, while I was riding down a small hill I heard the rider far ahead of me shout, “bear!” I looked to my left and saw, coming out of the woods and running perpendicular to the road on which we were riding, a medium-sized black bear. He was about 30 yards ahead of me and I eased off pedaling so as not to get too close. As the riders were well spread out there weren’t many around so it was just the person ahead of me, a couple of riders behind me, and me that saw the bear. It ran from the woods, into the ditch alongside the road, back up out of the ditch, across the road, through the ditch on the other side and back into the woods on my right. It loped along at a good pace but did not seem particularly worried about us riders and, as it got onto the road, turned its head and looked right at me (I was the closest rider to it) and didn’t slow down or speed up. I was glad it didn’t slow or stop in the roadway because I was sure that if I had to turn around and go back up the hill I would not have been able to outrun it. As the closest I got to the bear was maybe 20 yards and it never showed any (or, at least, not much) interest in me, I never felt in danger, and it was a pretty neat experience.
One of the best things about the ride for me was when Steve and I bumped into one of The Racing Chicks we had met on The Grand Excursion back in 2004. We had kept in touch with them through the years but it had been a couple of years since we had seen either of them. She was riding with a couple of friends and it was nice to be able to catch up with her again.
The organizers did a good job again, as they do on their other rides, and it turned out to be another good week. I really do think, however, that I will stop doing week-long rides in Wisconsin as I have pretty well seen the state. I will still be doing day-rides in the state, however, as it is a beautiful, great bike-riding state.
