Greggarceau. Zarathustra. What's the Difference?

June 12, 2024

Ironwood, Michigan

The day began with me driving my car north to Duluth, then east across northern Wisconsin, and finally to my destination--Ironwood, Michigan--the Upper Peninsula's westernmost city. Sad to say, my speedy form of transportation reduced what could have been a scenic week-long leg of a bike trip down to a 4 1/2- hour NASCAR racing event. Oh well, it had to be done in order to get to see what I want to see in the allotted time available. (I have to be in Iowa by June 28th for my dad's next oncology appointment.)

I found a nice-looking motel, but I was too embarrassed to go inside and ask for a room at that early hour. It wasn't even noon yet. I wasn't too embarrassed to park in the motel's parking lot though, and I wasn't too embarrassed to pull my bike out of the back hatch of my minivan. My plan was to kill a couple hours with a bike ride. Believe it or not, I had further developed a plan to backtrack a couple miles and cross the border from Ironwood, Michigan back to Hurley, Wisconsin.

"Sometimes a bike tripper must go backward before he can go forward, and sometimes a bike tripper has to pedal into the past before he can pedal into the future." Thus Spoke Greggarceau.

In this case, backtracking was not an act of insanity. Here's why:

Many decades ago, rowdy Michigan miners found Wisconsin's laws to be much more liberal in regard to alcohol and dancing girls. Legend has it that Hurley's three blocks of Silver Street had more saloons than any other similar stretch in the Midwest. Today, I can report Hurley is keeping up the tradition. The tiny little town still has an astounding number of bars and strip joints on Silver Street. I thought about stopping for a beer at one of the bars in honor of the U.P. Miners, but it was a little too early. I didn't go into any of the stripper bars either. I have a straight-laced reputation to uphold.

There was no subtlety in Hurley's approach to attracting Michigan's miners, and there still isn't much subtlety. When you cross the border from Ironwood, MI to Hurley, WI, there are six bars with "exotic dancers" . . . IN THE VERY FIRST BLOCK! I felt sorry for the Bada Bing Club, which had to settle for a space in the second block.

Michiganders aren't the only ones who come to this block. It seems to be a tourist attraction for history buffs, curiosity seekers, folks with prurient interests, and one bicycle rider.

There are also plenty of regular bars, without strippers, on Silver Street.

I know "Pure Michigan" is a slogan used by the state's tourism department in all of its promotional materials. It supposedly refers to the pure and natural beauty found here, but to me it seems like an obvious slam on the decadence of Wisconsin versus the purity of Michigan.

Enough about sinners and saints. Let's move on to one of this journal's major themes. That would be the U.P.'s signature cuisine--PASTIES. Only a few blocks from the "gentleman's clubs" of Hurley, I found two pasty shops in downtown Ironwood. There was Joe's Pasty Shop and there was Rigoni's Bakery. Which one should I choose?

It really wasn't much of a dilemma for ME. I knew I would get a pasty from each of them. One would be eaten immediately for lunch, the other would be saved either for tonight's dinner in the motel or for tomorrow's lunch while on the road.

Joe's was my pasty choice for lunch. Lots of bakeries offer pasties, but there is something especially quaint about a little shop that sells nothing but pasties, and I think that business model is pretty rare outside the U.P. I love places like that.

No way could I resist the pasty that made pasties famous.

Joe's seems to do pretty good business. It's mostly takeout, but you can take a stool at the counter, or you can use one of the two tables in the dining area, or . . .

. . . you can take it out to the picnic table on the side of the building.

As I said, I couldn't ignore Rigoni's. Sure, they make a lot of other crappy stuff like breads, doughnuts, & pastries, but that doesn't mean their pasties can't be tasty.

With my Rigoni's pasty tucked into my handlebar bag, I explored more of the town of Ironwood. I'm always surprised at the interesting things I find while on such exploratory expeditions. I found a historic railroad depot that now serves as a railtrail depot. Then I rode on that railtrail for a while. It took me to a busy bike shop where I was able to buy a master link for a bike chain. (I had to use my last one to repair The Reckless Mr. Bing Bong's chain a few weeks ago.)

Best of all, I discovered some "world's largest" things that I never knew existed.

The railtrail depot. I think I'll be riding the Iron Belle Trail out of town for a while tomorrow.

World's largest Stormy Kromer cap. The Stormy Kromer is the quintessential wintertime headwear for Yoopers. As the sign in the background says, "Coolest thing made in Michigan."

According to the plaque in front of this gigantic dude, his name is Hiawatha, and, at 52-feet, he is the world's tallest Indian.

This one is not officially recognized, but I think it might be the world's largest mural of Michigan miners.

I liked that mural quite a lot. I spent some time looking into the eyes of almost every one of them. Somehow, I could tell which ones were thinking of pasties and which ones were thinking about heading over to Hurley for a night of debauchery.

After all that exploration, it was 2:15 p.m. I felt that wasn't too ridiculous of a time to ask for a room and an early check-in. Well, no matter how I handle these situations, I end up being embarrassed. "It's not early," said the clerk, "our check-in time is 2:00."

From my room, I could see this place has everything a biketripper could need--a convenience store, a fast food restaurant, and a cannabis shop--all within walking distance.

"Wednesday is a holy day in the Church of the Great Outdoors. So are Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but Wednesday is the most high of holy days to begin a bike trip." Thus spoke Greggarceau.

That's why I'm counting today as the first day of biketripping.

My plan for the next 12-14 days is to fully experience as much of Lake Superior and its U.P. surroundings as possible. That will include not only cycling, but also camping, hiking, beach bumming and pasty eating. So don't be surprised at my low mileage cycling days, my veering off onto interesting gravel roads leading to who knows where, and my obsession with searching for bears and mooses. Tomorrow, I'm heading to the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. It should be the scenic highlight of my trip. (Yes, I have a strange habit of saving the best for FIRST.) If I spend more than a couple days in that region, which is likely, that should be a good indicator of whether I'll get even half-way across the U.P.

Please keep in mind that the Porcupine Mountains is a wilderness area, so I may not be able to update this journal for a few days. Thanks in advance for your patience.

Today's ride: 14 miles (23 km)
Total: 52 miles (84 km)

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Adam ZamoraYay! My life is so boring that I've been continually reloading this journal waiting for the trip to start! Well... Maybe.
I'll be driving to Copper Harbor on Monday to start my Isle Royale Backpacking trip the next morning. I'll shout down the the rest of the UP at you when I get there.
Have a great ride!
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6 months ago

Gregory GarceauTo Adam ZamoraOooooh, you're going to love Isle Royale. When I took my son and one of his friends on a backpacking trip there twenty years ago, we saw quite a few mooses. We didn't see any wolves though. I've heard they're pretty much gone now.

I haven't decided if I'm going to go up to Copper Harbor on this trip, but even if I do, I wouldn't be there by Monday--especially with a couple days of rain coming up. Bummer.
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6 months ago

Bruce LellmanTo Adam ZamoraIsle Royale is a magical place. I saw the best display of the northern lights while I was camping on Isle Royale on a July 4th a long time ago. Fantastic. The moose were great too.
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6 months ago

Adam ZamoraThanks Greg. Thanks Bruce. I'm really looking forward to it.

Greg, The Keweenaw Peninsula is certainly off the beaten path. You could probably see more of the UP by skipping it. This will actually be the first time I've been up that way with no snow.
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6 months ago

Emily SharpSo glad the tour got off to a great start with pasties from TWO different shops!
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6 months ago