Day 9 Quincy Il - St. Louis

So, the Great River Road has been completed.  3 years ago we did the St. Louis to New Orleans section.  Today we completed the Lake Itacsa to St. Louis stretch.  We are now headed east towards Pittsburgh.  Should finish at 3500 miles 10 states and one Canadian province.  Great ride, great road, great river, great lakes.  Turns out that though the blog was followthecometcanada, it was more following the great lakes and the mighty Mississippi....and of course always the Comet.

Lot of miles, but none worse for the wear, at Quincy, Il

The same view that Mark Twain first entering Hannibal MO

Some really big floods on the Mississippi in the last few weeks.  This is just below where the Missouri River feeds into he Mississippi River.

He was not happy about having to wear a helmet in Missouri.

Ok, I spoke to Dr. Kate this week and promised her that I was properly applying sunblock.  It turns out that I don't really know how to properly apply sunblock, resulting in this mess.  But I did get covered.

One last overlook on the Mississippi at Hannibal, and one last salute to Following the Comet.

Day 8 Prairie Du Chien, IA - Quincy IL

Right on the river all day and she is now a major water force.  Just a few degrees lower latitude and the sun is bearing down wonderfully.  Sunblock and water are the order of the day, but hard to keep up.  Another really great riding day.  It seems that Schulz had the camera more than me today.  Ok by me.

Days are getting hotter, requiring more black and more water and more time on benches at gas stations, but that is all part of the fun.  Schultz seemed more interested in framing this guy who pulled in on his lawnmower.

Back and forth between Iowa and Illinois all day as the Mississippi Great River Road snakes across the snake borders.  There is Schultz plowing across one of the bridges.

A intriguing feature of the Great River Road is that there is really no great conclusive map.  We are using a good old school atlas, a Garmin GPS on Schultz's bike, a map I coddled together from the internet and cell phones.  Even so, sometimes the planned route results in cool dead ends and u-turns. This one was in New Boston, IL.

Mighty Miss growing in size.

Another bike rest stop, this one at Oquowka, IL.

Does not matter where, does not matter when, does not matter how much sun...I will still follow the Comet across the skies for all eternities.  

Day 7 Deerwood to Prairie Du Chien

Nice evening in Deerwood Minnesota then beautiful ride along the Mississippi River to Prairie Du Chien Wisconsin.  Lots and lots of miles - today at 2400.

Great River Road, Prescott Wisconsin

Val and Johanna (who say they are lifetime best friends) at Coach's Bar in Deerwood, Minnesota.  Val was the bartender and Johanna was visiting and they made us laugh and made the blog.

Red Wing, Wisconsin which is, quite naturally, the home of Red Wing shoes.

Red Wing, Wisconsin

The Mississippi is growing quickly as we move south.

Bike rest along the river.

River is now huge at Onalaska, Wisconsin.

And back on the home front, tomato caretakers Mia and Michael harvest the first fruit of the season.

Day 6 Mississippi River Source

Very early start this morning from Duluth Minnesota which treated us very well.  Long ride to Itacsa State Park and the Headwaters of the Mississippi.  Very cool park.  Then a quite confusing start onto the Great River Road.  The map book I have is for shit and we decided to figure out the route with a good old paper atlas.  The route runs the full length of the river, but it is not well marked and roads end, and signs disappear.  That said, once we got it settled it was just strikingly beautiful.  We plowed downstream for about 200 miles and watched the river start to grow.

This is Mary Lake.  There you go Mary, something is officially named for you.

Schultz standing at the tiny stream that drains from Lake Itacsa and begins the Mississippi River.  So the water above the rocks is the lake...and his left foot is in the Mississippi.

Roadside produce stand tomato break.

Mississippi Headwaters...Yep, Following the Comet!

Route along the Great River Road

This deer and I played chicken for 30 seconds.  I would start to move forward and he would nudge towards the road.  I finally threw a tic tac at him/her to avoid a potential nasty harley/deer burger.

Plato's Cave Allegory.  Is the shadow real or is the person real?

Hamboning in Duluth

This is the Mississippi 200 miles downstream from the headwaters at Itacsa.

She is starting to grow.  

Day 5 - 300 miles of Lake Superior shoreline

Day 5

Early morning, chilly, foggy departure from Marathon, Ontario and landed in Duluth, Minnesota.  Entire trip following the beautiful Lake Superior Shoreline. Crossed back into the US at Pigeon River.  Tomorrow morning we leave the Great Lakes and head west to the source of the Mississippi River at Lake Itacsa, Minnesota.  All systems go.  Bikes are running great.  Only one little rain burst, but we stopped immediately at the Pay Flats Native American village and ate ice cream and waited out the rain.  No more moving video photos.

Schultz re-rigging his bike after the brief rain delay.

I am not sure what these billion yellow flowers are, but until anybody proves differently I think they are opium poppies, just like in the Wizard of Oz.

Canada to the left and Minnesota from the right, a view taken from just over the US border at Pigeon River, Minnesota.

Follow the Comet

Split Rock Light House at Beaver Bay on Lake Superior.

Bikes resting, Schultz reading about the 30,000 feet think lava flow (yes, 6 miles thick according to the sign, that formed Lake Superior a few ( a lot of) years ago.

Day 4

Into Ontario and onto the Trans-Canada Highway along the north shore of Lake Superior.  From Sault Ste Marie to Wawa (where the temperature dropped rapidly) to White Fish (where there was a power outage and hence no gas pumps), to  Marathon which is a tiny town 100 miles from any other town east, west, north or south.

Schultz crossing into Canada.  By the time this photo was snapped his bike was in both countries.

Through customs, with some relief, since we kind of speculated that neither of us would be admitted and could have been incarcerated by the RCM for who knows what reason.

Lake Superior near Wawa Ontario.

Biker Beach Dude

He claims he was evaluating the water quality.

Simply the coolest helmet in all of Canada courtesy of the wonderfully creative Deantonis children, and their mom.

No rest stop anywhere I have been in the world lacks the trinkets.

Cruising the Trans-Canada Highway on the north shore of Lake Superior.

Environmentally approved bathroom break.

Bikes get a rest along the Trans-Canada.

Another short, and very safe, video blasting along Lake Superior on the Trans-Canada highway.  I think it might be a cliche, but the scenery was breathtaking (pun intended)

Whitefish Bay, Ontario

This is essentially the main part of the town of Marathon, Ontario which is one of the most isolated little towns I have seen.  Of course it did have a Chinese restaurant, which was excellent, though it may have been cat or seagull.

I'll say it in English, and I'll say it in French.  I will Follow the Comet Across the Skies for all Eternities.