July 6, 2021
Presque Isle
We’re having a bit of a rest day today. The plan is to bike over to nearby Presque Isle State Park, but a complete loop of the park starting from the hotel is only about a flat 25 miles. With unloaded bikes and a plan to stop and look around frequently, we anticipate a pretty lazy day.
We’ve been unsure about when we’d make this outing, waiting to base the decision on the weather. It stormed a bit overnight but was just clearing up when we get up this morning, and it looks now like we’ll have the whole day open. We could wait and go out later but we leave the hotel early before the day heats up much more - it’s already 77 when we go down to breakfast at 6:30.
We’re on the road before 8, backtracking for five miles along the lakefront to the turnoff to Presque Isle.
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I’m excited about this excursion - it’s the reason I planned for a layover day here in Erie. Presque Isle has been lingering in the back of my mind for so long that I don’t recall now when I even first heard of it. I think though that it was on a landscape poster back in the college years - my first wife and I may even have had one on the wall of our apartment.
Reading up on it now though, I’m startled to discover that there are two noteworthy Presque Isles: Presque Isle Park in northern Michigan, a wild and rugged peninsula that juts into Lake Superior; and this Presque Isle, a scythe-shaped, flat peninsula that arcs out into Lake Erie.
Presque is the French adjective for nearly, so maybe they both have this name because they are thinly attached peninsulas, nearly islands. In any case, I don’t believe this is the same Presque Isle I’ve imagined visiting all these decades. Which is fine - there’s always something new out there waiting to be explored down the road.
In the meantime though, we’re happy to explore this version. It’s a very interesting place, and well suited to exploration by bicycle. It’s essentially a long, vegetated sand bar, with a quite different character on its bayside and ‘seaside’ fronts. On the bay side it’s very flat, soggy and boggy. Looking out, you get views across the bay to the mainland and the Erie cityscape. A great place for turtles, ducks, and I’m sure much more.
The opposite front is open to Lake Erie, and has the feel of an oceanic coastline. The beach is sandy, and a popular bathing spot - a series of lifeguard towers lines it at one point. There’s a bit more contour to the land on this side, and the vegetation is different - larger, more established trees rooted in firmer soil.
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3 years ago
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3 years ago
My website address is wrong. Should be:
https://www.spoon-river.k12.il.us/teams_files/Pickerel%20weed.htm
3 years ago
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It’s warm and windy, but we’ve been enjoying otherwise fine conditions up until now. we warm up quickly when we stop in the sun, but cool off again almost immediately once we start moving again.
Several miles into the circuit I look back to the picnic area by the east pier and steer us over to it. Something about it attracted my attention, but when we look out in this direction we’re startled to see how gloomy the sky has gotten behind us. There’s shelter here, and we decide to sit and watch the weather for a few minutes just in case. We lean the bikes against a picnic bench inside the shelter, and then Rachael excitedly points out a colorful bird nearby. It’s a red-headed woodpecker, repeatedly flitting from the trunk of a maple down to the ground and then back again. He’s finding something down there.
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I stare at him for a few minutes and then realize it’s starting to sprinkle. I return to the shelter, and within literally seconds it’s pouring out and the wind is blowing fiercely enough that we’re getting wet under the shelter, even standing all the way at the back away from the wind. Then comes a flash of lightning, thenanother, then a startling clap. One second, two seconds, three seconds, crash!
We aren’t alone. For a few minutes there are eight of us here under the shelter, then four of them dash off to their car. The other two are on bicycles like ourselves, and we visit with them for about fifteen minutes until sanity returns to the skies again and it feels safe to venture out.
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Once the squall passes conditions are back as they were before - improved, actually. The air feels fresher and cleaner. We continue our ride, complete the loop, and then work our way back to the room. Along the way we stop at a farmer’s market and pick up a small basket of black raspberries. We’re trying to decide the best way to pack them to get them back to the room safely, but end up scarfing them all down on the spot instead. Problem solved!
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We loaf around in the room for the rest of the afternoon and then head up to our hotel’s rooftop restaurant for dinner. Afterwards we take a short walk to get a closer look at the Russian Orthodox Church we’ve seen from the window of our room. An interesting walk, and just right for an after dinner stroll on a rest day.
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3 years ago
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Ride stats today: 28 miles, 500’; for the tour: 1,437 miles, 37,300’
Today's ride: 28 miles (45 km)
Total: 1,437 miles (2,313 km)
Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 7 |
Comment on this entry | Comment | 8 |
We are liking your style of riding, we are thinking eventually we'll start doing more short tours, and then exploring with unloaded bikes like you guys do.
And Happy Anniversary tomorrow!
Racpat
3 years ago
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“Presqu’île “ is the French word for peninsula (which itself is Latin for a “almost an island”). The accent circonflexe indicates the missing “s” in isle that was dropped in the years between french colonization and modern times. I suspect you’ve only scratched the surface of the Presque Isles in North America .
Cheers,
Keith
3 years ago
3 years ago