Hitting some gravel with the LHT

Today I couldn't decide what kind of ride I wanted to do. So I do what I do best...putzed around the house until noon trying to get motivated for a ride. I guess the century was out. I finally talked myself into a 30 miler at a very relaxed pace. It turned into a 57 miler and I had a blast.

We have lived here in Duluth for 6 summers now. Five of those summers I spent my weekends working on trail projects or driving a hiker shuttle for the SHT. I have put on a lot of miles bicycling during those years. But it came more from consistency, riding everyday, rather than from doing a lot of long rides. When I did do a long ride, I tended to stick to a few routes I already knew, never taking the time to explore new options. With no commitments on our weekends this summer, I decided it's time to explore a little more. Plus, now that I'm no longer doing my long rides on a road bike with 700 x 23 c tires I can venture off the pavement on many of the gravel roads in this part of the state. Another of the many reasons I replaced my road bike with the LHT. Today I rode through town to reach my destination, that being the northern and eastern portions of town. I had to ride 17 miles of familiar roads to reach some new territory. I ran into Charlie Farrow on Thursday. We chatted for awhile. He mentioned a 25 mile stretch of gravel that was very remote out beyond the end of Jean Duluth Road. I couldn't remember what he told me the name of the road was. But I headed in that direction by way of Lester River Road and back to Tischer and eventually to the area past the end of Jean Duluth.The area is all bogs and wet lands and forests. It doesn't take long to leave the city behind.
This is not a gravel road. I was looking at a map thinking this would be the gravel Charlie mentioned. It turned out to be the smoothest surface I'd ride all day. Smooth pavement in these parts is rare.
I had reached 24 miles on my ride and was thinking of turning around soon and coming back again another day when I spotted this side road.
I turned down it to see what I could find and to experience a little gravel for the first time with the LHT.
The sign said, "Forest Management Road". That's another way to say logging road.
And apparently a place to do some skeet shooting. There were hundreds of shotgun shells and broken clay pigeons. This was right next to a sign that said no illegal dumping. I guess leaving behind hundreds of shells isn't considered dumping. They just beautify the area, you know, add some color to the drab browns and greens.
Just when I was really starting to enjoy the twisting gravel road it abruptly ended. It lasted 4.5 miles.
I turned around and headed back out. This was an old hunting cabin near the turnaround.
Along the way I spotted several signs of winter activities that had me wishing for some snow and my Pugsley. The North Shore Snowmobile Trail crossed the logging road.
And signs that there are some dog sled teams that train in the area.
After the weeks cold weather we made a huge turnaround and reached 80 degrees today. I acclimate very slowly to hot weather and I'm used to temps in the 40's and 50's. So 80 degrees was blistering hot for me. Thank goodness the LHT has three waterbottle cages. I drank all three and then drank lots more when I got home. I was pretty well sapped by the time I arrived at home.
Heading back towards Duluth. This is soon after I headed south on Jean Duluth Road. A straight shot, 10 miles long into Duluth.
When I reached Duluth I took Skyline back to West Duluth where I live. I spotted these three 1,000 foot Great Lakes freighters all within shouting distance of each other.

It was a good ride. I can't wait to explore more.

June: 170 miles
2008: 3,330 miles