Yesterday’s 25 to 30 mph wind fell to about 15 mph today … with plenty of sunshine. In short, even though the temperature was only 33F, I bicycled up the shore of Lake Superior to McQuade Harbor. I do NOT want to know the chill factor, but suffice it to say during the first half of my ride there were nice white caps out on the big lake and I was cold.

Thankfully, every ride has a turning point. Instead of slogging at a 10 to 11 mph speed into the wind, I turned and flew home … never below 15 mph, and often as high as 20 mph. When I reached my uphill turn at Lester River I spied a duck landing on the water. I decided to dismount and check out what quacker had landed at the mouth of the river. Am I ever glad I got off my bike and checked out the duck. A lone Long Tailed Duck, normally found on the Arctic Ocean, decided to take a break from its northward migration. Although given my cycling clothes I was definitely not dressed for hanging out in the wide open getting blasted by the wind, I figured watching a Long Tailed Duck from a distance of often less than ten yards might be a once in a life time experience!

Here are my images:

A soon to be wet duck!

Immediately after … escaping to a new ice berg!

Swimming

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Long Tailed Duck Imitating a Penguin!