Lake Superior Bicycle Tour
by Jan Steiert-Sevey
On July 8th, Shirl Kenney and I drove to Two Harbors, MN where we left our cars at Shirl’s friends, Meg & Lance Campbell. On July 9 Shirl, Glenn Babinat and I started a self-contained bicycle ride around Lake Superior.
Shirl & I completed the ride on August 2nd. Glenn rode with us as far as Sault Saint Marie where he rented a car and returned to Cedar Rapids and his job at Rockwell Collins.
Shirl Kenney rode her Trek 520 touring bike. Glenn rode a Specialized rode bike. And I rode my Trek 8000 mountain bike with 26 x 1.3 size tires. My mountain bike worked perfect for me especially on all the 6 and 7 percent climbs in Canada. I must not forget the long arduous climb out of Hancock, Michigan, but what a great down hill on our way back from Copper Harbor, Michigan.
We stayed at campgrounds and ate the majority of our meals in restaurants. We did carry some non-cooking food with us, which proved to be very useful. At the White Lake Provincial Campground in Canada we awoke to high winds, hail, & rain, which took limbs from trees and knocked out electricity for miles around. Anticipating a great breakfast in White River, we ate from our packs (cold food), as all businesses were closed – no electricity. As we pedaled out of town, there before our eyes, was a stand operated by a generator, selling hamburgers & French fries. Hot food never tasted so great!
We followed the lakeshore as much as possible. Some of the towns and cities we rode through are as follows: Thunder Bay, Nipigon, Rossport, White Lake, Wawa, Sault Saint Marie (all in Canada), Brimley, Paradise, Newberry, Marquette, Baraga, Houghton, Copper Harbor, Bruce Crossing, Wakefield (all in Michigan), Ashland, Bayfield, Herbster, Superior (all in Wisconsin), Duluth, Two Harbors (in Minnesota) and back to our starting point at the Campbell’s home about 6 miles west of Highway 61 just north of Two Harbors.
We had two layover days, one in Canada at Rossport Campground, which has now become my favorite campground. The second layover day was at a campground three miles north of Bayfield, Wisconsin. Bayfield was hit by straight-line winds while we were camped north of there – downing trees and of course taking out the electricity.
A few of the wonderful people we met:
- The lady ranger, at one of our first Canadian campgrounds, that drove Glenn & me to a roadside store to get supplies, as there was no restaurant in the area.
- The family at a Michigan campground that invited Shirl & me to join them for supper.
- The lady ranger, that showed us how to cross U.S. Highway 53 and onto a side road, that would take us to the Osaugie Trail in Superior, WI. She drove her vehicle ahead of us, as she said it could be quite confusing to people not familiar with the area.
On the last day of our trip, a Duluth TV station came out to film and interview us. It was aired on their 6:00 p.m. news, and I’m told it was also on KCRG TV 9 here in Cedar Rapids.
Total miles for the trip 1,272 and no flat tires.
