NORTH SHORE & LESTER RIVER ROAD

Both the North Shore Scenic Drive (old Highway 61) and Lester River Road are satisfying, interesting out-and-back rides on their own. They also intersect with enough other roads that options for creating loops and other routes that head inland, north of Duluth, are nearly infinite.

Heading away from Lake Superior always means an immediate, gradual, long, climb. Staying on the shore means a relatively flat route, but you'll notice more up-and-down on a bike than you did last time you drove it.

The rider insight section a few paragraphs below describes some popular and common rides that start and can finish on the shore and Lester River Road; they're a few of many.

In fact, one of the coolest-possible Duluth road-riding experiences is taking four or five hours in the fall—when you're fit from riding all summer, the leaves are turning, and the air is mild—to poke around. Where do unfamiliar roads lead? How they connect? How deep into the sticks can you travel? Take some snacks and plenty of water. Stop and stretch every now and then. Feel like you're getting lost? Head toward the lake. It's powerful and magnetic.

Directions to parking
You really could park anywhere. But there's a nice lot right at the base of Lester River Road, a block or so past 60th Avenue East. Take Superior Street East, cross 60th, then turn left on the River Road, and immediately you'll see a big parking lot at Lester Park. Findng a spot shouldn't be a problem unless you're trying on the weekend of the Lester River Rendezvous (on a Saturday in mid-to-late September). In that case, park along Superior Street or a side avenue.

North Shore
Lake Superior's North Shore—which runs northeast out of Duluth or southwest into it—is the classic Duluth road ride. North Shore Scenic Drive hugs the shore tightly for a few hundred miles. Its shoulder is wide; drivers are relatively considerate. Wind is often a blessing in one direction and a curse in the other; it's also, occasionally, a swirling, shifting demon you'll eventually want to punch (or at least beg to just shut up for a bit). And remember that temperartures along the shore are almost always cooler—sometimes by as much as 25 degrees—than in the rest of Duluth.

To reach the North Shore from the Lester Park lot, head east on Superior Street till you reach the Highway 61 expressway. Be very careful crossing it; the sight lines are long and clear in both directions, but triple-check before making a move, because traffic is moving fast and it's an easy spot for drivers to be distracted by multiple other vehicles' entries and exits.

After crossing the expressway, you'll still be on East Superior Street/Highway 23, which would eventually become Old North Shore Road if you stayed on it for a few miles. That's a fun ride on a cyclocross or mountain bike, but unless you enjoy riding your road bike on chewed-up asphalt and gravel, take the first opportunity—a right-hand railroad crossing marked with a bike-route sign—to dip down onto North Shore Scenic Drive.

Because Lake Superior, even on a flat-light day, is such a powerful presnece, North Shore out-and-back rides are seldom boring. Depending on where in Duluth you start from, Two Harbors and back is usually about 55 miles.

If you don't mind crossing the expressway—if you're careful, it's not a problem—following the shore a bit then heading inland to create a modest or ambitious loop is where the fun of exploration is found.

For instance, Google "Lakewood Road Duluth," click on the map that should be the first result, and zoom in a click or two. Check out all those possibilities:

•You could go up Lakewood to Center Line then back down the the shore on McDonnell.

•Or you could climb Lakewood up to Roberg, head over to N. Tischer, over to Lester River Road on Strand, then down one of Duluth's funnest (yes, it is a word—if it weren't it coudln't be typed, could it?) descents, right to the Lester Park parking lot on Superior Street.

•Or maybe you're feeling tough, and you're going to take Lakewood to East Pioneer, over to N. Tischer, up to Normanna, down Jean Duluth to Medin, to Maxwell, to W. Tischer, up N. Tischer to Roberg, then down Lester River.

That's just one small set of possibilities based on the first major road that heads away from the lake. There's still McQuade, Ryan, Bergquist (if you don't mind riding the expressway shoulder for a short while), Homestead and, up past Larsmont, Stanley and a buch of others. And every one of those roads carries its own possibilities.

For an idea of scale, check out this 12.7-mile loop that's partially on the Lester River Road:

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/mn/duluth/788088344570

Please do remember that, especially the further away from town or the shore you get, the more likely you are to encounter gravel roads; there aren't a lot of them, but they exist. Guys like Mick Dodds and Chris White at the Ski Hut know a lot about those roads, and if they don't have the beta, odds are they know someone who does.

Lester River Road
Heading up the River Road is exactly like taking any of the roads that head away from North Shore Scenic Drive: a relatively long and gentle climb, then all sorts of options for gentle and aggressive rides.

Miles of road
As many or as few as you want.

Terrain range and difficulty
Combination of wide and non-existent shoulders, false flats, gently sloping and serious hills. Motor traffic is most prevalent and moving the fastest on the shore (where the shoulder is widest), and usually  most sparse, and not much slower, the further inland you go (where shoulders can be wide, but often aren't).

Rider insight
"The lake is what it comes down to for road riding," says Ryan Marshik. "To be able to cruise along the lake for 10 or 20 miles, that's the flavor of Duluth right there. A few summers ago, I did a lot of night rides. I'd shove off at 9 or 10 p.m. One night, I was looking out over the lake with the moon coming up to my right and northern lights to my left. I'll never forget that ride. I'll also never forget being out there when some tall ships were coming in to port."

Marshik's buddy Mike Reuter says, " Every fall my wife and I take the tandem out to the New Scenic Cafe. We have some good food and a bottle of wine. The ride is just beautiful."

Sweethearts Chris Julin and Catherine Winter have spent a lot of time on Lester River Road, the North Shore, and the roads that lead to and from each main route. They usually hop on Specialized TriCrosses for these rides; sometimes—though they're not always proud of it—they ride recumbents.

Chris says, "My favorite road ride is the Lester River Road to Roberg to Tischer, down to Maxwell, past Hawk Ridge and on out to Glenwood and Snively/Jean Duluth for the return home.

"One great thing about it is the variations—you can take four or five different roads out to Jean Duluth, the Strand hill being the biggest butt buster. There's also the small extension you can add by running up to Zimmerman and returning all the way on Jean Duluth. Smo-o-o-th riding all that way, but a somewhat annoying level of traffic on Jean Duluth at some times of day.

"What I like about the first way I spelled it out is that there's never any traffic to speak of on that whole route, until you get to Glenwood. What a treat to ramble down those county roads with just about zero traffic. You have to deal with rough pavement—or no pavement on Maxwell; thank goodness for the TriCross."

Catherine says that in addition to those Lester River Road loops, she and Chris "Ride up the North Shore and sometimes loop back on Lakewood; we ride 7 Bridges Road [more on that in the Cross-type Routes section of the site] if we don't have time for a longer ride. As to why they're our favorite rides: well, they're bikable from home and they're varied terrain and they're lovely. The North Shore is surely a classic Duluth ride, what with the lake and the boats and the large metal dinosaurs.

By "large metal dinosaurs," she means the fun sculptures that can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rynoceras/.

Adam Sundberg rides the Duluth Duathlon course: Lester River Road, Strand, N. Tischer, W. Tischer, Jean Duluth, Zimmerman, N. Tischer, Lester River Road).

Competitive mountain-biker Dan Glisczinski likes to take the North Shore Scenic Drive to Emily's Eatery in Knife River, or to the Silver Creek Cliff tunnel just northeast of Two Harpers [his family's version of Two Harbors, in goofy deference to his daughter Harper].

"Pack extra tubes and a sharp object removal tools for any North Shore ride," Dan says. "Follow the ride with a swim at a wayside parking lots."

For a different type of ride, Dan enjoys "alternating high-cadence and recovery climbs with speedy descents on Strand, then the long winding descent along Lester River Road."

Veteran road-racer Mike Weispfening says, "Someone from the Twin Cities called me for advice last summer. They wanted to do a long ride in Duluth. I tried to keep the route simple—steered them toward Lester Park. There are a lot of great rides in that [far-east] part of town—up the Lester and up the North Shore there are so many roads to explore. Lakewood and McQuade are probably underrated. Bergquist is, also; it's a bit of a chore to get to, because you have to ride on the expressway [Highway 61, between Duluth and Two Harbors]. The shore is just so easy and convenient, whether it's from or to Duluth. It's a no-brainer.

Ski Hut guru Mick Dodds adds one more: "The scenic drive to Homestead to Korkki to Lismore is a good ride."

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