On July 8, 2013 I will begin my 26 Day epic trip around Lake Superior. On Day 1 we begin our tour with an orientation followed by a bike prep and then dinner together.
Day 2 we'll ride out of Duluth, cross into Wisconsin and through the town of Superior. Our first overnight is in Bayfield Wisconsin, known for being the state's Berry Capital (91 miles).
Day 3 we leave Bayfield and pedal to Ironwood, Michigan (62 miles). Ironwood is nestled within the pristine Porcupine Mountains.
Day 4 brings us to Silver City, Michigan (55 miles). Silver City is at the foothills of the Porcupine Mountains, beautiful sandy beaches, Lake Superior sunsets, waterfalls, rivers and streams, hiking, biking the list goes on.
Day 5 we pedal into Hancock, Michigan (64 miles). Hancock is on the North shore of Portage Lake, and is the northernmost City in Michigan.
Day 6 This will be our first "rest" day, I'll need to get out and explore the city of Hancock.
Day 7 Copper Harbor, Michigan (60 miles) Copper Harbor is the gateway to Isle Royale National Park.
Day 8 brings us to Baraga, MI. The village of Baraga is located in the northwestern part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula on L'Anse Bay, the lower part of Keweenaw Bay (80 miles).
Day 9, July 16 - Marquette, MI 74 miles. I'm really looking forward to visiting Marquette, my first mountain bike race - Ore 2 Shore ended in Marquette and I've always wanted to come back.
Day 10, July 17 will bring us to Munising Michigan - 43 miles. I'm guessing this will be a hill day as were only pedaling 43 miles :-/ Munising is the gateway to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.
Day 11 after 58 miles we pedal into Newberry Michigan. Pictured Rocks, Tahquamenon Falls, and the Two Hearted River made famous by Ernest Hemingway are a few of the attractions we may get a chance to see.
Day 12, Paradise, Michigan 61 miles. Paradise is a small town with history of shipping, logging, fishing, blueberry and cranberry harvesting. The great fire of 1922 destroyed the natural growth of the land and prepared it for one of Michigan's most productive wild blueberry reagions.
Day 13 Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan - 60 miles home of the world famous Soo Locks. We will have a day to spend here.
Day 14 Sault Ste. Marie - 0 miles I'm going to guess that we cross to Canada today.
Day 15 brings us Batchawana Bay, ON - 48 miles. I like the name of this place, Batchawana! Pictures of this place look beautiful I'm looking forward to seeing it.
Day 16 Wawa, ON another fun name :-) this is the longest ride of the tour - 99 miles! Hell I might as well toss in another mile and make it a century ride. They have a 28 foot steel statue of a Wawa Goose, I hope I get a chance to see that!
Day 17 we"ll pedal 57 mile to White River, ON. the birth place of "Winnie the Pooh" White River holds an annual festival commemorating the bear cub who became the inspiration of author A. A. Milne.
Day 18, July 25 will find us in Marathon, ON. Another 57 mile day. There's gold in them there hills! In 1980 gold was discovered in Helmo, an uninhabited areas adjacent to Trans Canadian highway, some 40 kilometers east of Marathon. By the late 1980's there were 3 mines running, two of which located their employees in Marathon, which effectively doubled it's population making it the largest town along the North Shore between Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay.
Day 19 Terrace Bay, ON - 47 miles, does this mean a hill day? Slate Islands are located south of Terrace Bay, the islands were created by a meteorite impact which created a crater about 20 miles wide.
Day 20 Nipigon, ON - 66 miles. Nipigon is located along the west side of the Nipigon river. The Nipigon crater on Mars is named after the town; isn't that a great claim to fame!
Day 21 Thunder Bay, ON - 69 miles Canada's gateway to wilderness!
Day 22 Thunder Bay, ON zero miles, we'll have the day to spend exploring.
Day 23, July 30 after pedaling 82 miles we'll be back in the good ol' US of A!!! Grand Marais, Mn. Grand Marais was named a Top 100 Adventure Town by National Geographic Adventure Magazine, and the Grand Marais Art Colony was chosen as one of the top 10 artist colonies in America by Coastal Living Magazine.
Day 24 Silver Bay, MN - 55 miles. It's all down hill from here, right? Ha! Silver Bar was originally known as Beaver Bay housing project. The company town was built to process taconite mined and shipped by train from Babbit, Minnesota.
Day 25, August 1st - fifty nine miles of pedaling will bring us back to Duluth via 15 miles on the Gitchi-Gammi (another fun name) State Trail. We'll celebrate with a banquet.
Day 26 - home again :)
This is the itinerary as I know it. I'll try to keep y'all posted.
pedal, pedal, pedal...
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