Day 49 Iron River, WI

July 4, 2018

We entered a new state today when we crossed the bridge from Duluth, MN to Superior, WI. The Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge spans the St. Louis Bay in a beautiful sweeping arc. There is a dedicated bicycle/pedestrian lane protected from vehicular traffic. This is an aerial view of the bridge. I didn't take any pictures as we were riding across. I was sitting very still on the back so Kerry could ride the narrow lane.

We were on US 2 all day today. Except for the few miles through Superior, we had nice wide shoulders to ride on. As we were riding through Superior, it started to rain and we were able to quickly get under shelter at a convenience store. We waited out the rain there and then had some wet roads and puddles to deal with, but no more rain.

At our first rest stop, we met another touring cyclist. Joe is from a village near Toulouse, France and flew to North America to bike across Canada from Victoria to Newfoundland. He said he decided to drop south and spend some time riding through the States. He plans to complete his journey in September. He is riding fully loaded and mixing camping with Warm Showers. We had a good time talking with him.

After this rest stop, we had the option to take an eleven mile alternate route to see another giant ball of string. Looking at the dark sky ahead, we decided we'd skip the string and head straight to the motel. Team A decided to take the longer (and hillier) route not to miss the chance to see one more giant ball of string.

We stayed on US 2 and had a nice ride into Iron River. We saw a few interesting things. We passed a house with an old caboose parked next door.

There is a big market for firewood up here.

These oversize objects were lined up on someone's property. Perhaps they represent the owner's hobbies?

We had just a few sprinkles right before we got to our motel but minutes after we checked in, it rained hard. So Team S was very lucky today and escaped two rain events.

We walked into the little "downtown" area of Iron River for an early dinner at the 300 Grille.

When we left, we saw this large moth on the window screen. Anyone know what it is? From a little distance, it looked just like a folded leaf on the screen.

Today's ride: 46 miles (74 km)
Total: 2,254 miles (3,627 km)

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