Mile 2647.7 – The Munger Trail

Right next to the hotel I stayed in in Hinckley is the Golden Pine restaurant. It offers a brunch buffet on the weekends, and being Saturday morning, I stopped in to check it out. If I couldn’t tell by the accents, the presence of hot dish on the buffet was a sure sign that I was in northern Minnesota. Jah’ders and You Betchas aside, I was headed even further north today.

Hinckley is a town of 1400 people in nowhere in particular, MN. However, it has the trailhead to the Willard Munger trail, leading to Duluth some 70 miles away. The trail was fantastic, again an old railbed that has been recovered and paved for recreational usage. Even with the cool, wet weather, there were plenty of people along it. I was passed by one cyclist who rode along with me for a while before we got to his turn around point. I saw a pack of cyclists approaching, 8 members of a family out for a ride. There is one spot where the trail deviates from the old rail line as it curves around some woods and fields. That is the only spot on the trail where the grade gets above 3%, but for nice long stretches, it is as flat as one could wish for.

By the time I got to Moose Lake, I was ready for some lunch. My plan was to go the half mile off the trail to the Lake, eat on the shore then get back to the trail. I got off the trail and found a giant map of the area painted onto the side of a café. That was cool. As I got up to the lake I could hear the revving of engines ahead. Finally, I saw a park filled with people and some sort of watercraft race getting started on the water. I had gone in for a look, but was caught up to by a woman who informed me that it was $12 to get into the park today to watch the race. Since I have exactly zero interest in things with obnoxiously loud engines racing each other, I turned around and headed back towards the trail. I grabbed a couple slices of pizza at a place downtown then got back on the trail.

There was a spot further along where I was passed by a couple, I’d say in their late 40’s. They passed me, and for a good mile or so hung out a bit in front of me. But clearly they had put on speed to pass me, as their pedaling became more labored to keep up the pace. Soon enough with my steady speed, I passed them again and it was not long until they were out of sight behind me for good. I’m not racing you, I’m just able to keep up a 17mph pace even with my loaded bike for at least an hour without a break. At least on a surface like what I was riding over.

There were several periods of light rain throughout the day. The first was more like a cool mist that coalesced into drops big enough to be drawn down to the ground by gravity. The last was an actual light rain which came down hardest as I was crossing an old railroad bridge over the St. Louis River north of Carlton. But by the time I got into Duluth, the sun had broken through the clouds for the first time all day. I stopped at a roadside cart for some fried cheese curds. I have little doubt that in paradise they serve fried cheese curds to cyclists.

Leaving the Munger trail and a bit of the city’s Western Waterfront Trail behind, I took Highway 2 east to the William Bong Bridge. Crossing over a much wider part of the St. Louis River as it feeds into the harbor that makes up the world’s most inland port, I finally made it into the state of my birth, Wisconsin. Even though I lived in the state for more than 7 years over three different stints (though to be fair, I didn’t have much control over the first one from birth til not quite 2), I had never before seen Lake Superior. They call it a lake, but I think inland freshwater sea is a more fitting description. Only slightly smaller than the Caspian Sea, the lake contains enough water to cover the landmass of North and South America with a foot of water. Called Gichigami in Ojibwe, the earliest evidence of a human population around the lake dates back to the end of the last ice age. By the time French fur trappers arrived at the lake, it was known as Anishnaabe Gichgamiing or the Ojibwe’s Ocean. Anyway it is big.

Once I passed through the more industrial port part of town, I skirted along the northen end of the UW-Superior campus. There was a football game going on, which seemed slightly out of place. It’s June people, play baseball or basketball. I found a room for the night as the rain started again, and by the time I had forayed out to hunt for dinner it was coming down more heavily.

Here, google maps failed me. I had searched for restaurants and saw what appeared to be a local pizza joint. I walked the mile or so to where the map said it would be and found a railyard there instead. There was not only no pizza joint, but there was no possibility of a pizza place having been there. Disgruntled, I walked back up to the main street and into a bar. I ordered a draught Leinenkugel’s and was pleasantly surprised when the bartender asked for $1.95 in exchange. $2 pints quickly regruntled me. The pint and a shot of Maker’s Mark together were $5.70. After a couple rounds of these and a long conversation with a semi-believable local drunk (in which he was trying to hook me up with a rather embarrassed girl whom he had just met) I went back out into the rain. There was a Little Cesar’s in the same strip mall, and, still not having eaten anything, decided it was probably a good idea to get some food. I walked back to the motel room and evidently talked to Emily for at least half an hour (most of which I don’t remember). I then passed out with the pizza completely untouched and the TV still on. That’s what I get for mixing $2 beers with a completely empty stomach.

Day 37, Hinckley, MN – Superior, WI
79.6 miles today for 2647.7 total. 5:36:10 ridden today, 222:37:48 for the trip and top speed of 25.8.