The riding this day was definitely my favorite so far. There was a mix of forests and rolling farmland. The weather was nice, and the route a mix of back roads and the main highway.

We passed by a Louisiana-Pacific plant today, and it really summed up how major logging is up here. I hate seeing dead trees, but the scale of this operation was impressive. Many of the riders were stopping to take pictures.

I’ve heard many complaints about being in the main road, and the aforementioned logging trucks, but there aren’t a lot of roads to choose from up here when you’re trying to get from one town to the other. My feeling is that if you didn’t want to do this route, why are you here?

This seventy-five mile day was pretty long, but I felt great. The last push up to the school in Crystal Falls where we stayed was a large, long hill, and old me would have given up mentally. But, thanks to losing 40 pounds (so far), and greatly improving my muscle and cardiovascular strength has really been paying off, and I made it up that hill without even thinking of quitting. When I got to the top and rolled in to camp, I was on a high. All those miles and hills and I felt awesome!

We have breakfast and dinner provided every day, and lunch this day, but I wasn’t hungry and wanted a drink more than anything. So, I headed down to town and popped into the Raven’s Nest. The rest of the group was at dinner, so it was me and a few locals.

I ended up talking to a native Yooper named Buzz (nickname, his name is actually Bill), and he turned out to be a really interesting guy. He’d been in the service and then worked for a paper company, and travelled all over for that. Now he cuts grass and fixes screens and is very happy with that. I enjoyed my time with him.

Eventually many other riders showed up, and I had an entertaining conversation with a couple of fellas from Philly. As we were leaving the Raven’s Nest a while later, we passed by another bar called The Infield, and I was literally hailed by name by a group of LMB members I’d met earlier on the trip. They were hanging out on the second floor balcony and convinced me to join them, so I parted ways with the Philly fellas and had a couple of beers with Jason, Scott, Matt, Terry, Jerick, and Travis.

So, that’s why I haven’t been posting. I’ve been hanging out in the evening with these fellas.

I’ve been having a great time.