The final planning day.

I have arrived in Sault Ste Marie, ON ahead of Jim and now in a fine hotel room where we will do our final decision making. I was able to drive many of the roads we will be on, or thought we would be on. Some of them in the stretch from Paradise to Grand Marais, MI are in the deep woods and are soft sand in many places. That will be our second day's ride. If we were on a wide open epic in the desert they might look good but not in this case. We will need to decide which of a few alternatives we will use. I also checked out campgrounds we plan to stay at. There are some really nice spots along the lake. The number of campgrounds along the route is huge. The ship in the picture is the ore boat aground on a reef in Whitefish Bay. You may have heard about it. My weather app had

been indicating thunderstorms in this area for tomorrow. I have been a bit concerned about crossing a huge high bridge back to US in a thunderstorm. It appears however that there is only a low chance of showers and that is not a problem for us. I visited the fantastic bike shop across the road from the hotel, Velorution. Jan, the owner, has helped with arrangements to leave our vehicles. Canadians are so nice. Jan rode around the big lake once. He averaged 180 miles a day and did it in a week. He says he wishes he had taken a bit more time. Well yaaaa! Most people in a car or on a motorcycle probably don't do it that fast. Needless to say, he is young (compared) and very strong. When Jim arrives we will have dinner and then dive into organizing and final decision making. As with all big events one plans for weeks and months it is hard to realize the time is nigh. Will be in touch.

The Big Lake--Prologue

Last December I was quietly minding my own business when I got an unexpected email from my bike touring buddy Jim. Attached to it were spreadsheets and Garmin GPS waypoints for our bike ride around Lake Superior. I knew we had talked about this in the past but he had the whole thing planned already. The spreadsheet had daily destinations, daily and cumulative mileage, camping and motel options for every day and notes about if there were any big hills and stuff. I was more than a little taken aback. I guess we are going on this trip. He had the whole thing planned already. I guess it's what you do during the winter in Maine. Or Minnesota for that matter. So we got busy refining the plan and creating our routes and commiserating by email, phone and FaceTime. Jim has used a Garmin device for navigating our trips for some time. I am a recent convert and we have different devices so there has been back and forth on how to get them in synch. Garmin has a couple of ways to create routes using their website or software they provide. It has taken a bit to decide how best to use the

tools and be sure we were on the same page. We have had experience with the device apparently not leading us down the right yellow brick road. Although sometimes it is just us not using logic and trusting the device too much. Spring came and it was time to get serious about training for this little excursion. We had both kept active over the winter but we knew there would be a way to go to really be ready physically. Especially at our advanced age. We have both been riding as much as time and weather allows. For the last month we have been adding more and more weight to our bikes in the form of our panniers, camping equipment, etc. Jim has documented over 1000 miles this spring with his bike loaded with gear. I am not sure I have that much but probably close. I do not keep track. I did do a shake down cruise last week riding 60 miles to Wild River SP, camping and riding back the next day. It was a good test and the second day with a head wind was a bit much. Since then I have felt great and I think it may have been the icing on the top of my training cake. The other key element is packing light. I keep trying and failing. If you are camping at all there is certain stuff you need. Some do with much less than me but I try to minimize within reason. For clothes one needs more than a pair of riding shorts and a jersey. So again, minimize within reason. You need tools and supplies for bike repair. So it adds up. Just weighed it: 48#. Four panniers, handlebar bag and tent with poles. It will get a little lighter as I eat food and wear what is packed, but that is where I am at right now. So I am just two days from leaving. Drive to Munising MI on Sunday. Will stop and say hi to Rob and Carrie near Hayward on the way. I will be driving some of our riding route backwards. The second day Of riding out of Paradise MI will of special interest since a large part of the ride will be on gravel roads. Anxious to see the conditions. We will start in Sault Saint Marie, ON. It is easier to start and end there since Jim is coming from Maine and needs to go through Canada to get there anyway. A bike shop there, Velorution, accommodates touring cyclists with a place to camp and showers so we will have friends right at the start. More from the road..... Gary