The Epic Bike Adventure

This past weekend marks my first Epic Bike Adventure and it will certainly not be the last.

The Journey started in Hugo, MN...okay, let's take it a bit further back. The journey started somewhere while I was in college when my dad bought a B.O.B trailer. And I thought, "hmmm...where could I take that?" Naturally, being in Minnesota, my first thought was Canada. It's a nearby neighbor, but still an international destination and who can say no to the North Shore of Lake Superior?

A few years later and trailerless I set off for the border. 3 days to travel approximately 350 miles sounded pretty good to me. The route was set. Stage 1 would take me from Hugo to Jay Cooke State Park in Duluth. Stage 2 was a shorter day but a little hairier as I had to navigate my way through Duluth; and Stage 3 took me across the border into Canada and all the way to Thunder Bay.

Saturday, I started riding along highway 61 from Hugo, MN. The weather was overcast, but not unfriendly and I had a good looking bicycle trail to use for a sizeable chunk on my first of three stages. I cruised along happily around 16-17 MPH, setting a slow but worthwhile pace, knowing that I had three days of this to tackle back to back to back.

The sky spit on me a few times, but I stayed mostly dry. Sharing a few miles of trail with a new friend going the same direction until I reached North Branch was a pleasant way to finish my first portion. From North Branch the trail ends for 35 miles and I took to the road. Highway 61 is mostly quiet and traffic on Saturday was less than busy. As I rode I couldn't help but notice that I had never ridden this far in a straight line on such a flat parcours. It made me long for mountains and thankfully my next couple days were not nearly as monotonous.

Just before arriving in Hinckley to grab a caramel roll at Tobie's, the ride took it's first turn towards adventure. The bridge over the interstate that was supposed to keep me on pavement was under construction and uncrossable. I then had a decision to make. Either 1) turn around and ride 5 miles back to where I could cross the interstate and effectively add a minimum of 10 miles to my day or 2) soldier on and tackle the dirt roads that would be shorter, straighter and much more difficult. I chose #2. A mile and a half of loose gravel and washboard roads later I got myself back on asphalt and crawled into the Tobie's parking lot.

I've never been so thankful to get to Tobie's in my life. My beautiful wife was waiting for me and we quickly devoured our tasty goodness.

Next came the second true mark of adventure and the only real hiccup in my pilgrimage to Thunder Bay. Knee Pain... Drat! I rarely, I dare say never, have knee pain while I ride, but after getting back on the road after sitting in the car for 45 minutes my knee was not happy. For whatever reason my left knee was killing me! I was crestfallen. I thought for sure that my attempt at cycling awesomeness was at an end; and on the first day too. I tried to stretch and move my knee position but 13 miles later saw me sadly stopping in Finlayson where my first day ended in sorrow.

I grabbed a bag of ice and started rehab as quickly as I could. My final self diagnosis was IT band syndrome. Too much tightness from a quick, impulsive run that I took 4 days before starting my adventure and the result was too much pain in my knee to ride my bike. I used a big Mag Light to roll out the muscles in my quads and tried to have hope that it would be better for the next day. Staying at Jay Cooke that night was good consolation for my rough first day and by the end of the night I was in better spirits.

On the next day I decided that my best bet was to try and work a little harder so that my muscles warmed up and stayed warm. My first 10 miles were downhill from Jay Cooke, which worked in my favor and served as a good warm up. Then came the first real climb. For anyone who has been in Duluth, MN I don't really need to say anything about what kind of climbs are on offer there. For those of you who haven't seen the city and wondered how they drive those roads during winter, refer back to the Stage 2 link at the top. My climb was tough, but lots of fun and totally worth the view of the harbor when I got to the top. Best of all, no knee pain! I am convinced that it is God's grace that got me through the day without any knee problems and I even had a tailwind for awhile.

as you can see. I was pretty stoked.

Sunday night I made it to Tettegouche State Park which is one of the lesser traveled vistas along Lake Superior. It's a beautiful park with waterfalls nearby and still only a stone's throw from the Lake Superior shoreline.

The next morning I set out with high hopes of another knee painless day in the saddle. It was a Monday, too, so I was hoping for quieter traffic. The traffic was quieter, but I started to encounter some of my first road construction. Thankfully, nothing too serious and I made it through the two areas of traffic changes without any difficulty. Surprisingly, I still hadn't seen any other cyclists going my direction. There were a couple who I saw that day going SW back towards where I had come, but almost none going towards Canada.

I arrived in Grand Marais feeling fresh and really happy about the day so far. I stopped for lunch and quickly devoured a foot long Subway sandwich while sitting in the bay watching the boats playing on the fairly calm water. After a 45 minute break I hopped back on my bike and headed north. The weather was pristine, although, the breeze off the lake was a little cool; but as soon as I got moving again I was warm enough and sheltered by the trees. I was keeping a good pace and then came Mt. Josephine.

Before planning this trip, I had no idea that there was a mountain separating Minnesota and Ontario. Keep in mind that this is still a Minnesotan mountain and that it doesn't compare with the Alps or Pyrenees or Rockies; nevertheless, at 90 miles into the day it still felt pretty substantial. After 2 miles of uphill I started one of the most beautiful descents I've ever ridden. I had no idea that they were hiding all of the best parts of the North Shore just north of Grand Portage. It was like a different planet! Imagine the bluffs of Wisconsin Dells, mixed with the lakes and streams of Minnesota, and the greens of Ireland all bordered by Lake Superior. Just plain awesome, and all the more thrilling as I plummeted downhill at an effortless 30+ MPH.

Soon after my wonderful discovery, I arrived at the border feeling quite triumphant and ready for the home stretch.

Despite the fact that I was on a bicycle and carrying only a small Camelbak backpack the border patrol still felt the need to ask if I was carrying any alcohol, mace or firearms. I said no and told him about my ride to Thunder Bay. He didn't seem too impressed, but I think he gets paid to be unimpressed. So I'm glad I didn't cost him any pay for the day.

The next 30 miles were fairly hilly with inclines that were shorter and steeper than their adjacent descents. It made for hard work climbing with long drawn out pseudo-recovery sections after each one. Slogging along through the rolling hills was starting to wear me out but with 10 miles to go I reached the city limits of Thunder Bay and felt renewed energy as I made my break for the bay.

It turns out that the destination I had chosen was also the location for a Native American pow-wow that day. As I neared I could hear music and drums and I soon found myself listening to someone on a loudspeaker explaining the meanings of the dances. The funniest part, actually, was all of the staring...at me. I stuck out like a sore thumb. Besides the fact that I was all decked out in my cycling garb, I was also the only blonde person in the entire crowd (besides my wife).

We tried to discretely make our way through the gathering and down to the water's edge where we celebrated the completion of our trip.

oof... after 130+ miles that one hurt.

We loaded up my gear into the van and headed back south to stay in Grand Marais, MN. It was a welcome transfer. After 3 days of excellent weather, the skies suddenly opened up. Not more than 10 minutes after I got into the car, the floodgates were opened and we found ourselves in torrential downpour. Amazingly, I stayed dry for my entire trip and was happy to have missed out on this cold shower.

The legs were tired and sore, but had enough left to do a little hiking over the next couple days and enjoy Grand Marais. If you have the chance to go up there sometime, take your bike. The riding is fantastic. Big shoulders and great scenery on highway 61 and a fair number of paved backroads with good climbs and fun riding. The town of Grand Marais is a place to explore for at least a day by itself. Sven and Ole's Pizza is worth a dinner and don't miss Sydney's frozen custard. Stone Harbor is also a new outdoor store that just opened and looks like a great place to gear up. Most of all Grand Marais was a great place to just kick back and relax. There's plenty to do with the Gunflint trail and action on the waterfront, but it's also easy to just do nothing. Skip rocks, walk the beach, sit in town and people watch. It was great.

All in all, a great adventure and a great success. I'd ride the section from Grand Marais to the Canadian border almost every day if I could. But for now it's back home to the Twin Cities for a little taste of reality before the next big adventure can begin.