Day 2- Lake Superior Bike Tour: Brule River to Duluth

Day 2

The second day of our Lake Superior bike tour began with us pushing our bikes uphill. The night before we had camped on the banks of the Brule River at the bottom of an unbelievably steep hill at the end of a loose gravel road. We gritted our teeth as we half rolled, half dragged our heavily laden bikes up the sharp pitch. Ian had to climb this hill not once, but twice, because he forgot his glasses at the campsite. Ian forgetting or losing things was soon to become a trend during this tour.

Once back on Highway 13 headed west, we enjoyed these cool morning miles, watching dew burn off the hayfields we were passing. Although our first day had been difficult, we felt fast as we passed people just leaving their houses to head to work.

As we approached the City of Superior, we began to experience heavier traffic. Fortunately there was still a wide shoulder to use. We made a stop just off the Highway at the Davidson Windmill, which was built by an early Finnish settler of the area. According to the caretaker, I also had the honor of being the last person to use the outhouse at the windmill, before it was decommissioned. You really never know what types of notable experiences you will gain while bike touring.

Superior, WI

Entering Superior on bicycle is not an easy endeavor. Google maps attempted to route us on to Highway 53 going into the city. Having grown up nearby, I was well aware of the fact that 53 headed north into Superior is a divided, four-lane highway, which is neither safe nor legal for cycling. Instead we crossed 53 on the Highway 13 overpass. This turns into County Z, and soon after we turned onto County E, both of which are fairly low-traffic roads. After riding a mile or so on E we had to cross 53 yet again—this time at grade, which felt much more dangerous since we were left stranded in the median for 5 minutes waiting for an adequate gap in the 70 mph traffic. After successfully crossing 53, we found the Osaugie Trailhead, which was hidden without any signage behind the animal shelter. A simple extension of the paved Osaugie Trail to Highway 13 would greatly improve connectivity here and would have made our complex route into Superior so much simpler.

Biking through Superior, Wisconsin on the Osaugie Trail- Lake Superior Bike Tour

The Osaugie Trail is a side-by-side gravel and paved trail to accommodate ATVs as well as bikes. It was great to get a reprieve from riding with traffic on this road trail. The trail took us along the industrialized shore of Superior Bay, replete with railroad trestles, oredocks, grain silos, and marinas. The water here in this protected bay is muddy and opaque, unlike the deep blue waters of the open lake.

We abruptly reached the end of the Osaugie Trail, and we crossed Highway 53 yet again and headed into the heart of downtown Superior. Around 11am, it was already hot, and we figured it was time for a drink. Fortunately, in a state that knows how to appreciate beer, we were joined by many other patrons at the popular Thirsty Pagan Brewery. The bartender had recently driven the Lake Superior Circle Tour, and he shared lots of cool waypoints with us—including way more brewery recommendations than we could possibly visit.

Taking on the Lake Superior Ale Trail, which features 17 breweries around the Lake, was one of our plans for our Lake Superior bike tour. After feeling a bit wobbly after a single pint—we knew that was totally out of the question while bike touring. Especially since we realized that 6 of the breweries were in the Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior!

From Thirsty Pagan, we continued down Winter Street, crossing under Highway 2, after which we were able to turn right onto the pedestrian path leading across Bong Bridge. (If you are biking the Lake Superior Circle Tour, only cross into Minnesota on the Bong Bridge [Hwy 2] where there is a separated pedestrian/cycling path. Don’t attempt to cross on the Blatnik Bridge (Hwy 53/I-535), where you will be forced into interstate traffic.)

Minnesota

Crossing this big blue bridge was exhilarating! We were so high above the Lake, looking out over Duluth Harbor, crossing in the opposite direction of the traffic whizzing by us. We were about to bike into another state!

How to Bike into Duluth, Minnesota on the Lake Superior Circle Tour

Duluth, MN

The exhilaration was short lived. I got our first flat tire of the tour the moment we got off the bridge. My dad was on his way up to Duluth to deliver our dynamo hub and new rim and spokes to us, which didn’t arrive before our departure date (Thanks, Dad!). He met us in the motel parking lot where we were changing our tire. (To read more about our Dynamo Hub, check out our post, “How to Charge Your Devices While Bike Touring.”)

Ian strapped his new rim to his back using straps from our STASHERS bike bags, and we pedaled off to Ursa Minor Brewing. We had some time to kill before heading to our first Warmshowers host, and we needed a reprieve from the intense heat while we waited. If we couldn’t visit all the breweries to choose from in the Twin Ports, we would at least sample two.

With our core temperatures lowered and crowlers stuffed into our panniers to bring as a small gift to our Warmshowers hosts, we headed toward North Duluth. Only about a half mile away, Ian realized he had forgotten his bike rim backpack at Ursa Minor, so we headed back to pick it up. Back on the Lakewalk, we passed through the successful lakeshore redevelopment project, Canal Park, bustling with tourists on this warm summer day.

We stopped at a helpful bike repair station along the Lakewalk to get a higher pressure on the inner tube we had just replaced. Construction on the Lake Walk required following a confusing and poorly marked detour. About two miles beyond the bike repair station, we realized that Ian had yet again forgotten his new bike rim. (See what I mean about forgetting things becoming a common theme for Ian!). It was so hot and we were so exhausted that biking an extra four miles seemed daunting.

Not to mention that by this point, we were running quite late for our agreed time for meeting our Warmshowers hosts. We pedaled as hard as we could dodging tourists with ice cream cones and rental bikes along the path until we reached our hosts’ neighborhood.

Warmshowers is like Couchsurfing, except that hosts open up their homes specifically for traveling cyclists. Our first night of staying with Warmshowers was a success! Jeanne and Ted welcomed us warmly to their home. We ordered a pizza, and we spent the evening on the porch reading and building the new wheel with the dynamo hub.