We left the casino and Ottawa National Forest with sunny skys and no wind. The road was a series of sweeping ups and downs that gradually became ever more expansive. In Iron River we stopped for lunch, Rutabaga pastys. There was a sign saying pass-tees, not pay-stees. There was also a history of Pastys; they are a Cornish miner food that was common in the 1800’s made from pie dough, ground beef, and potato, or some close variation. After lunch we rode to Crystal Falls. Crystal Falls is built on a hill, the courthouse is on the top of the hill and it’s down hill, I mean steep in every direction. We met a couple of people at the top of the hill and asked them about nearby towns, distances, motels, and food etc. The guy we were talking with said he owns a bike but only pushes it up hill in Crystal Falls, then coasts down hill. We went on to Sagola, an old logging town about 15 miles away. There we found a single motel and a single bar that was the only cafe type place in town. Patrons of the bar are interested in our trip, several mention they have seen us on the road today, others offer advice on which way to go and how to cross the bridge from the Upper Peninsula to the Lower Peninsula (actually bikes aren’t allowed, they must take a ferry). The motel has only four rooms, but they are used to renting to bicyclists and have some anecdotes about previous guests, including a guest who has been riding for 5 years, world wide, 40,000 miles.
Greg