This edition of "One mile at a time" is coming to you from the back deck of the Garden House Bed & Breakfast in Port Wing. This is the first time I have stayed at a B&B and it is obviously quite different than the normal hotel experience. As I rode up to the place it looks like I am staying at someone's house and that's what is. The house doesn't look any different than the other ones around here except there's a small add-on to it. An older couple named Tom and Karleen own and run the place. From talking with Tom when I arrived they have owned the place for the last fifteen years. The back deck is great. Shaded and really nice. They have five acres behind here with a fish pond and a few small trails. It is also completely surrounded by trees. I also found out that Tom and Karleen love to ride bikes as well and have done some tours down in Georgia over the years. Naturally, he was interested in my trip and bike as well. I put my bike in their garage and he showed me the bikes he and his wife had. I counted six of them! Breakfast is at 7:30 am tomorrow and I imagine I will eat better for breakfast tomorrow than any other day on this trip.
Great ride today. Heading up to Washburn rather than staying in Ashland was a blessing in disguise. I may not have found out the extent of the construction on Hwy 2 and would have had a miserable day. Going to Washburn was on the way to here so it was almost as if I planned this all along. Washburn to Cornucopia was a 20 mile stretch with a gradual climb for the first several miles and then the biggest, longest hill I have come across to approach Mt. Valhalla. Not long after that I ran into six guys out on a ride (they were stopped at the time) and they flagged me over and talked for a bit. After riding my tank for a week and a half I envied their lightweight carbon fiber bikes! We talked for a bit and they mentioned they were stopping at the coffee shop in Cornucopia (12 miles up) and invited me to join. It was a quick ride there since it was downhill on all new pavement. Ended up sitting there chatting with them for about 45 minutes and then had a good ride into Port Wing. Only 38 miles on the odometer today.
Last day tomorrow. It has been a great trip but I am looking forward to getting home. Should be an easy 50 or so tomorrow but the last 20 I have to go on county roads, city streets and bike paths to get back to my car because the main road into Duluth from Superior (you have to cross over Lake Superior to get there) doesn't allow bike traffic. Not a big deal as there are other ways in. Today's pictures:
I took a county road to get to Cornucopia from Washburn. Their county roads are basically highways though. All paved with shoulders and striping.
Always nice to see. Means there are a lot of bikes in the area. I found out that 20 mile stretch is used a lot by competitive cyclists in the area due to the hills and light traffic. Looks like a Surly Steamroller, Preuss!
Golf course outside of Washburn with Lake Superior as the backdrop.
Good stretch of road all day. Below is the coffee shop I stopped at in Cornucopia. The town can't have more than 150 people that live there.
The last three are from the B&B here.
Well, that's it for today. Hopefully tomorrow goes well and my car is waiting for me back in Duluth. I am staying in Mason City, IA tomorrow night to break up the trip (nine hour drive after riding the last week and a half would not be good for the legs!) and looking forward to driving again!
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