Vacation Bike Rides

Iron Belle Trail near Ironwood, MI.

 It's just been a few years where I've loaded my trusty Schwinn Traveler on the back of the car for vacation.  For our trip to the Upper Peninsula and Bayfield, I was hoping to get in a few rides.

 The first couple days I only rolled the bike from the hotel parking lot up to our room and back.  Then on Monday there were clear skies and a bike trail next to where we were staying.

 I headed east, not sure how long the trail was or where it stopped.  The paved path for bikes and pedestrians ran close to a graveled All-Terrain-Vehicle (ATV) trail.

 First trips on a trail are exciting because you don't know what's around the bend or what you might find.  For a few minutes, I thought of the local population of black bear, hoping I didn't encounter one.

 Heading west out of Ironwood the trail is flat, running parallel to U.S. Highway 2.  After crossing the road leading to the local big box store, the path turned away from the road into wetlands and woods.

 My first stop was the Siemans Railroad bridge.  It was built in 1896 by the Milwaukee Bridge and Iron company.  It's beautiful.

Ironwood was a major railroad hub in the late 19th century, moving iron and wood out of the U.P. to waiting businesses and consumers.  The former rail line, now bike path, traces it's route using some of the same bridges.  According to an historic bridges website, the design is a Baltimore Thru Truss which is fairly unusual.  

One of a kind 1896 bridge.

A couple miles east I rode into Bessemer.  I found sign with distances to points west but nothing for the direction I was heading.  Not wanting to be gone too long, I headed back to Ironwood.

The paved path ends at the old Ironwood Depot. The ATV trail extended into Hurley across the Wisconsin border. 

I stopped at the depot to take a picture when I noticed it served as a welcome center, museum and home of the Chamber of Commerce.  There were informative displays and a volunteer who welcomed me while wearing clothing you would expect for someone working on the railroad. 

A Richardson Romanesque depot built in 1892.

 He answered several questions, including how far the trail went east of Ironwood.  He also knew about Copper Peak and assured me despite no tickets being available on-line that I would be able to ascend the hill if I went out there.

 Knowledge in hand, I rode back to the hotel.  The next morning I rode past the depot and into Hurley where I turned around with a goal of reaching the end of the trail's paved portion in Ramsey.

Montreal River.

 End to end the paved path was 10 miles.  It's just a part of the larger Iron Belle trail that will span the state of Michigan, starting in Ironwood and ending on Belle Island off Detroit.

Tuesday morning I rode past the Ironwood Depot then took to the street to reach the point Michigan and Wisconsin met on opposite banks of the Montreal River.  The section of river I saw was the size of a stream but it still divided the Yoopers and Cheeseheads nicely.

 

A posey next to the trail.

 Then I headed up hill rounded three corners and got back on the trail headed for Ramsey.

 

 Over the Siemen's bridge and the First Avenue bridge in Bessemer before a downhill, followed by a steady incline past a working quarry.

 At the top of the next hill was a chain link fence sealing off a large area.  I couldn't tell if it was a man-made lake or another gravel pit.  Quicker than I expected the trail stopped in Ramsey, home of the Keystone Bridge.

The Keystone Bridge in Ramsey.

A sign pointed the way down a street with a couple boarded up stores and a few others still in business; when I reached a parking lot I turned to discover the bridge.

 

The Keystone bridge (photo at right) was built with limestone from Kaukauna, Wisconsin in 1891.

According to an historical marker, it is one of the tallest stone bridges in Michigan at 57-feet.  More impressive is how its beauty and strength have endured the test of time.  Pictures in the camera, I rode back to the hotel.

Bayfield sunrise.

 The final ride was in Bayfield.  Our lodging in Wisconsin's northernmost city was across a street from Lake Superior, which meant a ride of any distance was uphill.

 

 This ride was my coldest of the season at just 45 degrees when I headed out.  A sweatshirt and a pair of garden gloves fought off the chill while the work on the bike warmed me up.

 Before the Thursday morning ride I noticed a community path four blocks away.  Three of the blocks were straight up but when I got to the trail it was loose gravel, fine for walking but not riding.

 After climbing another two blocks I was the same height as the Wisconsin highway 13 which follows the Lake Superior shoreline into and out of Bayfield.  I stopped at an intersection where I could capture the sunrise before clouds covered it.  

 I pedaled toward Washburn which was only 10 miles away but it was a hilly stretch of road with a fair amount of commuter traffic at highway speeds so I decided hills were better than miles.

Lake Superior at road's end.

13 took me back into town then out the other side, I followed traced its arc above the great lake to the crest of a hill before it fell into Red Cliff then reversed course to get back to our room.

The three rides totaled 37 miles.  

It was nice getting to ride through different country and see places in a different way than looking through a windshield.

I took the ten speed because it's lighter than my recumbent and easier to wrangle into hotel elevators and park in motel rooms.  

The vacation wasn't about biking, so I didn't plan any long-distance ride.  This experience, building off a bike ride in Grand Rapids earlier this year, was validation that even one ride on a trip out of town is worth the effort.

All photos by David Mossner 9/19, 9/20, and 9/22/2022.