Category: Tom’s Cross-Country Bicycle Adventure

8/13/22

A lot has happened since my last blog entry back in Marquette.

From Marquette I continued riding east toward Sault Ste Marie with the intention of crossing into Ontario. The ride was along bike paths, back roads, and highways. There have been obstacles along the way.

Four days ago, in Newberry, MI, I had another bout of flat tires. Six in one day. I wasn’t able to determine the cause for why these tires kept going flat. It was always the rear tire. The first of these flats occurred in Picture Rocks National Seashore. I had ridden five miles along a gravel road to arrive at a trailhead where I hiked five miles through pristine forest, arriving at Lake Superior – a lovely sand beach reminiscent of Popham Beach and Morse Mountain Beach (for those of you who have been there). After a quick swim, lunch and the hike back, I was ready to ride again. Flat tire. In this case, the flat was due to a staple that had punctured the tire.

That evening, another flat along the highway. I began to suspect that the patched tubes I was using may have been leaking around the patch. Arriving at Kingston Lake State Park for the night, I was determined to ensure that the inner tubes I was carrying (6 in all) were all holding air. They were. So, feeling confident, I set out eastbound again. This ride between Kingston Lake State Park and Newberry is where I had the six flats.

The Newberry bike shop is part bicycle shop, part motorcycle shop, part off-road vehicle shop. I bought three new tubes there, made sure that there were no sharpies in the rim or the tire, and, using one of these new tubes, I set off once again. After less than a mile, the tire was flat. Throwing up my hands in frustration, I was at a loss.

A woman (whom I never saw) witnessed this act of frustration and called her husband, telling him that there was someone on the side of the road who needed help. A truck arrived. (It was her husband, Marvin, a motorcyclist who has his motorcycle worked on by the same establishment where I had purchased the new tubes.) We loaded the bike in his truck and he brought me back to the shop where Marvin and one of the shop employees agreed that the rim seemed fine, the tire itself seemed fine, and perhaps the cause was low air pressure and too much weight on the rear end of the bike.

After another new tube with 80 psi pressure, i set off once again. This time I got a mile and a half until the next flat. I didn’t seem to be able to get out of Newberry. At this point, I considered buying a new rim. I begged a ride back to the “bike” shop. This time the owner and the person most experienced with “bicycles” looked things over, couldn’t find anything wrong with the rim, pulled out a heavy duty inner tube and a tougher tire, put it all back together, and told me that if this failed, he wouldn’t have any other way to help me. 

It has been five days now with no flats. I am so grateful and more confident that the problem is solved. In addition, I mailed a 7+ pound package home. The woman postal clerk (a cyclist herself) quipped, “It’s like having a baby!” 

Now onward to Sault Ste Marie and the Ontario border.

Four days before arriving at the border, I had stopped in at the Munising Michigan hospital for a PCR test, hoping that a negative test would get me into Canada, as I am unvaccinated. Now, I crossed the International Bridge across the Soo Locks and stepped into Canada, only to be sent back because the rule is “no vaccination, no entry.” Despite having a three-day-old negative PCR and despite the fact that most of my life these last 8-9 weeks has been spent outside – socially distant – I was a risk to the Canadian citizenry. Disappointed and unsure what to do next, I rode back into the US. Now what?!

From Sault Ste Marie south there is the old highway that was replaced by Interstate 75. This old highway has been designated as a bike path. It has wide shoulders, very little traffic, and no semis or RVs (they prefer the interstate). This bike path runs from Sault Ste Marie to the Mackinaw Bridge – a two day ride. Bikes are not allowed on the bridge, but for $15 (cars pay $4) I was driven across the bridge to Mackinaw City.

This brings me to yesterday. I have determined that I need to get to Southern Michigan and the Ohio border while avoiding Detroit. Fortunately, there are bike paths for at least part of the way, which is what I rode all day yesterday to Aloha, a campground on Mullett Lake. It is a “campground” in name only. It’s actually an “RV community” (very few tents). Because the site I was given had electric hookups for an RV, I was charged the rate ($46) for the right to pitch my tent there. 

When I consider what happened at the border and what happened here at the campground, I am left to conclude that “rules are rules” and these rules leave no room for common sense. Take the border situation. It is well known that vaccinated does not mean COVID-free (witness Joe Biden’s recent infections in spite of being vaccinated and boostered). So is Canada unknowingly letting infected people across the border? In my case, I was shown to be COVID-free, but was declined entry because the “rule” is “no vaccine, no entry.” Here at Aloha Campground, despite the fact that I had no use for the electric hookup intended for an RV, I was charged as if I would use it. That’s the rule!

This is a long blog – sorry if it is too long, but I felt I had a lot to catch up on. ONWARD.

8/4/22

I arrived here yesterday afternoon after a seven hour ferry ride – on rough seas – from Grand Portage, MN. I’m waiting now to board another ferry that will take me to Copper Harbor, MI, where I will once again be pedaling my two-wheeler.

A little intro to the Isle Royale:

An island in Lake Superior designated a National park, over 99% designated wilderness, popular with backpackers, only accessible April to October. Resident creatures include wolves, moose, beaver, rabbits, loons, miscellaneous amphibians, not to mention mosquitoes and black flies. The landscape, vegetation, and rocky shores all are reminiscent of Maine – to the point where I have not been inspired to take many photos as it all seems so familiar. Nevertheless, like Maine, it is beautiful beyond description. My time here has been limited, yet I have managed to take a couple of hikes which helped me get a feel for the place. On yesterday’s afternoon hike, a six or seven mile walk, I encountered a moose (or should I say we encountered one another.) It was close (within 10 feet), but brief. She was gone (out of sight) before I realized she was there. Seeing a moose is not something everyone who visits here is fortunate enough to experience. It is yet another gift I’ve been given on this trip.

8/5/22

Arrived on the Upper Peninsula last evening around 6pm. Rode 10 miles south of Copper Harbor until I began to run out of daylight. Camped in an open space off a side road. The night was damp, so I’m waiting for things to dry out. I’m anxious to get on the road, but putitng the tent away wet is not ideal, so maybe time for a few notes.

I’ve wanted to get back to some of those thoughts that I have while sitting on the bike saddle pedaling away the miles. I had previously written about hills (see blog from 7/24 and 7/25). Today I’d like to talk about headwind and tailwind.

For a cyclist, a headwind is like a never ending hill. When climbing a hill there is the thought always in the back of your mind that once you crest the hill there will be a complementary downhill, usually of equal length and grade. But with a headwind, there is no complementary relief – even the downhill parts of the ride require work. There is no relief unless the wind changes direction (this doesn’t happen often) or the wind lets up (this usually doesn’t happen untill the evening of the day). 

During this trip, thus far, I have only encountered one day when I had to ride into a headwind for an entire day. As I did in those earlier blogs where I thought metaphorically about the uphill and downhill sides of life, I also created a metaphor in my mind for headwinds.

Things have dried out. Time to pack up and hit the road. More on this subject later.

8/8/22

Yes! Headwinds – interestingly enough, I had to deal with a headwind after this entry. It was a strong one but thankfully only intermittent gusts.

The metaphor that occurred to me when riding into a constant headwind was this: For some people, their entire life might feel like they are riding into a headwind. For some – people of color, indigenous people, even women – it may seem like this headwind has lasted for generations. An obstacle that never seems to subside. For these people, this headwind is systemic – without remedy. Totally out of their control. While considering this metaphor, I thought of my own mother – a widow at 35 with three children under 7 who also took on the responsibility of caring for her father who had had a stroke. Trying to get assistance was, for her, humiliating. And so the wind was in her face and seemingly endless. Granted, my mother, being white, did not have the systemic obstacles to deal with unless overcoming poverty is considered an obstacle. 

Okay, perhaps riding a bicycle for 5 to 6 hours a day gives me too much time to think. Song accompanying headwinds:

I’m older now, but still [biking] against the wind.

~Bob Seger, “Against the Wind”

I’m currently doing laundry on a rainy morning in Marquette, Michigan (Upper Peninsula on the shore of Lake Superior). This is a big bike town – bike routes all over, particularly along the lake. Sandy beaches, wind generated waves – reminiscent of Popham Beach. The ride here was perhaps my hardest yet. In trying to avoid highway traffic, I took back roads, some gravel, but the last 20+ miles was rocky, sandy, and rolling. In addition, my bike was not operating well in its lowest gears. My progress was slow (<5mph), but once I hit pavement the last 25 miles went better. My attempt at securing a “Warm Showers” host did not produce results. (Ironically in asking a man on the street for a breakfast establishment recommendation, I discovered that he was a “Warm Showers” host – one that I did not contact.) My night was spent under the shelter of a roof beside a public restroom. (Sometimes I feel like a homeless person, which I suppose at this time I am.) 

Laundry done, I’m now going to stop in at a bike shop to see if I might diagnose and remedy the problem. I’m also looking for a place that does PCR testing that may help me cross the Canadian border. Until next blog entry.