June 6, 2019
Police Chief Pays a Visit
Marenisco to Eagle River
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Jackie’s avg speed: 9.9 mph
Scott’s avg speed: 11.7 mph
Weather: 59-83 degrees, sunny, light and variable breezes
Summer had been teasing us for the past two weeks, with temps inching up and sometimes over 60, but always tempered by a nippy breeze. Today dawned clear, and as the sun rose in the sky, it dispatched the night chill. Condensation had collected on the inside of the tent, so we moved it to the concrete slab of the pavilion and opened up the flaps to dry out a bit. With the warmer temps came mosquitos, but we were ready with the repellent. Summer was back so we would adjust our routine accordingly.
We had finished breakfast and were repacking our gear when a giant of a man, about 6’5”, 250 pounds, came toward us with a disarming smile. He was the chief of police, he had received a text message from someone that morning, his day off. He was apologetic about having to ask, but had we camped in the park? Oh yes, and we enjoyed it. But camping’s not allowed, the park is for day use only. We apologized, we didn’t know, there was no sign, some towns allow it. To show there were no hard feelings, he asked us where we were from, (i.e., what place has others like us who would camp in a city park). We told him about the ride from St. Mary to Maine. He had lived for a time in Great Falls and also up in the far northeast corner of Maine and liked both. We had established that we were all good people here, no malign intent. “You folks have a good day. Be careful on the road.” Our visitor set back the departure a bit, we were riding at 08:49.
The Gogebic Range of hills in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula present an ever changing vista of long timbered slopes down and up, a pleasure to ride through. For the first 10 miles or so, we rode on Old Highway 2, enjoying the tranquil morning and flowering trees in the neighborhoods on the edge of town. About 15 miles west of Watersmeet, Old Highway 2 curved farther away from the more direct Highway 2, so we decided to stay on Highway 2. It was a good decision. Traffic was light, the road was smooth and wide, so we could gain speed on the downslope to make it halfway up the next rise. We were utilizing the gears that had been engineered to make this easy for us and it felt great. The sunshine didn’t hurt, either.
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We stopped in Watersmeet for lunch and chatted up a guy at the next table. He had come to Michigan from Illinois after retiring as a welder, with particular expertise in welding aluminum. Soon he had more work than he could handle fixing pontoon boats and canoes. After some years, he had to re-retire. He loved the area and talked up the significance of its timber industry, which supplied ultra-thin plywood for building World War II gliders and more recently maple for pool cues. He claimed Howard Hughes had bought up thousands of board feet of birch from the area to build his “Spruce Goose” plane back in the 1940s. We did not independently verify that.
After lunch, we turned south on US Highway 45 which, alas, gave us a narrower shoulder and more traffic. In about eight miles we reached the Wisconsin border and wondered if the road would be wider. Nope. We pushed on to Conover, the point where we would pick up The Northern Tier route developed by the Adventure Cycling Association (ACA). This was a major milestone, because up to this point, Scott had charted our course on Highway 2. From Conover onward, we would be on roads and trails recommended by ACA.
The commercial campground we had found on Google Maps was less than desirable close up. It was by now about 85 degrees in the sun. When we saw tent sites with no shade on the far edge of the property, 75 yards from the showers and toilets, we decided to keep looking. We sat down at a weathered picnic table and called the Traveler’s Inn in Eagle River nine miles farther. They had a room, so we booked it. We opted for the double with kitchenette, $85 plus tax. Spendy, but we always get a room where we can store our bikes.
Traffic on Highway 45 was fairly heavy, but about a mile from the Eagle River city limits, the road widened into four lanes, giving us breathing room again. The Inn has an ideal downtown location, next to cafes, boutiques, and a bike store, but we were too exhausted to go exploring. The heat and miles had worn us out. We checked in, showered, and made dinner out of Triscuits with Wisconsin pepper jack cheese and avocado slices. I oiled my bike chain, the last task of the day. Scott was asleep by 21:00, I read for a while, then turned out the light.
Today's ride: 55 miles (89 km)
Total: 1,389 miles (2,235 km)
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