The Saga of Route 2

Eve’s post: I haven’t written since St Ignace due to computer issues and inertia. Today is our rest day, so no excuses! Our route through the UP has been mainly on Route 2. Coming out of St Ignace, the road had a decent bike lane, but tons of traffic, including timber trucks, oil trucks, RVs and more, so there was a constant noise, which is not very relaxing when biking. Our first stop was Naubinway, which consisted of a gas station and convenience store and one restaurant . and the local motelThere were no alternates to Route 2, so we continued to Manistique, where we had lunch by an estuary and relaxed. More route 2 to Escanaba, where the bike lane disappeared as we got into town and the cars pretended we weren’t there. Luckily, it was only a few miles in to town and our hotel. We had an excellent meal at a restaurant within walking distance. Then on the Norway, which was more of the same. After carefully purusing the map, we decided on a bike trail to get off the dreaded Route 2. That day, we entered Wisconsin from Michigan briefly, and discovered that they had an asphalt shortage so the bike lane was about a foot wide with trucks going 55 miles an hour. We also found out that the trail was an ATV and snowmobile trail, meaning lots of gravel, and cut up road, making biking difficult. Mark, Paul and I left the trail and returned to the road, finally arriving at our motel in Iron River. The Lakeshore Motel was on the shore of a small lake (duh!), which was warm enough to swim. Patricia and I took advantage of that. We had access to a kitchenette and enjoyed a lovely vegetarian meal outdoors. Then on to Watersmeet, where we stayed at a casino on the Lac Vieux Desert reservation. Although we continued on Route 2 to Bessemer and Ashland, the road was far better, with much less traffic and lovely, forested areas with lupines and other wildflowers by the roadside. Interesting that Route 2 is a bike route at the busy sections and doesn’t have that designation where it is much more bike friendly.

I know that we have passed through areas with beautiful lakes, but one of the unfortunate parts of biking is that you only see the small area by the roadside. The thought of going extra miles to sightsee just doesn’t work on the bike!

The town of Ashland was quite charming, with murals and mosaics on many buildings. Our motel overlooked Lake Superior, and I love seeing water from my room. We were sad to leave but then had a beautiful day of biking on small (VERY hilly) roads to the town of Port Wing, again on the lake. This tiny town had many surprises and was a great place to spend our rest day, mainly relaxing on the beach and enjoying great breakfasts at our B&B and talking with our hosts.

Paul listed the statistics in the previous post and I will talk more about motels vs B&B pros and cons in my next post. I will also try to post photos!