Reports from Jamie's latest tour

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day 65

adversity makes you stronger

Actual Date: 2007-07-08
Uploaded: wed, 11 jul 2007 05:36:12 -070
Distance: 163.00 km

Grand Marais, Michigan to Marquette, Michigan.

From sandy to paved roads, blistering heat to strong rain, headwinds to tailwinds and the complete gauntlet of bugs yesterday was a day that had a lot of everything. I also completed my first imperial century of this tour.

Yesterday I woke to see a strong threat of rain in the air. Clouds were heavily laden with moisture and a medium wind was coming from my direction of travel.

Setting off through the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore I was initially treated to wonderful pavement rolling between trees, lakes and sand dunes with low traffic volumes.

Eventually the pavement ended and the hardest part of my day began. The road became much worse then the day before being both sandier and even more filled with ruts. Some sections were faster to walk pushing the bike then attempting to ride.

The bugs were incredible! Possibly related to the rainfall through the night the bugs were out with an eye to a meal. I was under constant attack until I did the bug dance and got myself into full bug netting while under constant strafing runs from squadrons of bugs. I must have looked pretty funny riding dressed that way but it definately beat the alternative of being eaten alive. At least the bugs had to work hard too. I am sure that my bike gained ten pounds in weight from the hundreds (thousands?) of hitchhikers I picked up. On this day the weight, space and financial costs of the bug netting paid for itself for life. Never again will I consider leaving it at home.

For 20 miles I continued down this road. Luckily for those who follow, this road will be turned into a paved patch of heaven next summer so future tourers should be able to enjoy the scenery at beyond bug speeds. Once the road is complete I believe that this part of Michigan will become a major place to tour. Nancy's suggested route is a good one but it will be much better once the infrastructure is in place to support it.

With my return to pavement I was provided with my next opportunity. This time I had the option to bake under a burning hot sun in conditions of high humidity. I must have been lucky from a timing perspective because as I sat down under an outdoor covered table to eat a pastie the first downpour of the day began. About an hour later the rain let up so I set out again under cooler but still humid conditions.

Just past my Santa Claus sighting in the town of Christmas the second rain burst caught me and gave me a good 30 minute shower. This is the first rain storm that has caught me on the bike so it was kind of nice to have a cooling ride in the rain. The mud flaps worked extremely well!

After the rain storm is when my ready supply of quick snacks ran out. I still had two bottles of water and some food that could be prepared with a stove but nothing like a granola bar etc.

With expectations of discovering a store along the way I continued onwards. Along this stretch of highway I encountered my first fully loaded/self-supported tourer of this adventure. He is riding from Salt Lake City, Utah to the east coast. Initial long riding days led to some knee problems so his days are much more laid back now.

When I finally pulled into Marquette, on the cusp of darkness, the engine was crying out for replenishment. Gobbling down a donut and a litre of GatorAde I headed to Nancy's house. Of course the path I chose led me right up and down another large hill.

Nancy is a fellow bicycle tourist that I interviewed for Bicycle Touring 101 several years ago. I enjoyed spending several hours with Nancy, her son Sam and her mother Betty talking about touring and photography. Nancy has some particularily fine pictures of textures and patterns that are quite interesting to see. These were all taken during tours and include rocks, water and sometimes flowers discovered in natural patterns that end up in very artistically pleasing photos. I hope that Nancy posts some of them in a touring journal so that you can see them too (hint, hint - grin).

Despite or perhaps because of the obstacles, today ended up being a great day. I will probably wake up a bit tired tomorrow but as each day passes I continue to grow stronger.

I am looking forward to sharing some of the bug infestation pictures with you.

Thank-you Nancy and family for the hospitality of your home. I really enjoyed meeting all of you. Hopefully there will be a future time when I can return the favour.

~Jamie N

Interested in bicycle touring? www.bicycletouring101.com

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Tour Statistics

(Based on riding days only)

Number of Riding Days: 34
Overall total so far: 3840.10 km
Daily Average: 112.94 km
Shortest: 53.00 km
Longest: 163.00 km

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