Northwoods Day 7 Crystal Falls, MI to Iron Mountain, MI

Northwoods Day 7 Crystal Falls, MI to Iron Mountain, MI

Sept 30, 2020

Miles about 30

Total time 3:30

Ride time??

I wake up in the funky Bigfoot Motel room, well before old Sol feebly tries to illuminate our world. Alas, no luck falling back to sleep. Was planning on doing two nights here to avoid the last and predicted worst, chance of rain.

Finally get out of bed and check to see if a morning sprint to next place would work, and lo, the rain chance have lessened over night.

Dang, this could work, and I really don't look forward to staying all day in this cramped funky hotel room either.

Note I will leave my planned route today, as my brother and I agree camping below freezing with highs in low 40s is less than an ideal experience (hey, I COULD do it man). So my new plan is to head south, and he will fetch me on Friday. There is an branch of my route that goes not to far from his place in Sheyboygan, I will pick that up for my return trip.

So south I go with an early start out of Crystal Falls MI.

I start pedaling and surprise! My odometer is working!

The country road I'm on is filled with logging trucks to Sagola, where I pick up the busier hwy toward Iron Mountain. 

a statue of a local denizen

After 5 miles I leave the lumbering logging trucks behind as well as the official ACA route, and I pick up the slower backroads that are the local Iron Belle Bike route. Nice country, there are still colors, some quite good, but the peak is past today, at least where I have been riding.

Ohh, and my bike computer stopped counting again.

The bike route pops me out right near my budget motel on the north outskirts of the greater Iron Mountain metropolitan area, by far the largest town yet in my ride (7000+).

It is not far past noon and owner generously lets me check in early on this chilly day. I change into dry clothes & get a bite, and take a nap to catch up from my early morning. My gambit to avoid the rain has been successful, as it has rained during my nap, but has since stopped.

Groggy, I think about chores to do, food for dinner. I could just hunker down, it is in the Lower 50s with some scattered showers and I have camping food and a microwave.

But I see there is a brewpub a couple miles away and a pasty shop that gets great reviews, if I can get there before they close at 5:30. So I saddle up, explore some backroads in the rain to the brewpub, I have a quick IPA in the sparsely occupied bar, and get to the pasty shop in the nick o' time.

respite from rain at 51st State Brewing Company

I get an carmel apple mini pasty for dessert and another veggie pasty, which appears to have rutabegas in it. Both were satisfyingly yummy.

yum, white cooking tonight!

I research if a riding plan south would work for the morrow, and it might if the weather was predicted to be nicer, but in the end I will take a rest day and explore the Iron Mountain area. MTBProject shows some trails a few miles away in Fumee Lake Park, and there is some history here, older than Colorado, to explore.

Political sign of the day 

a play on the official Michigan State slogan "Pure Michigan"