Scott standing in front of the salt piles at the Milwaukee Port
Scott cycling around the surreal Milwaukee Salt Port on Lake Michigan. I'm amazed this pile of salt is replaced every year after it is spread across our roads.

For a guy who biked the world, you _______ !

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I spent 2 hours down in the Port of Milwaukee on top of the salt piles for a photo shoot for Milwaukee Magazine with Dan Zaitz, who seemed like a great photographer. (Update: turns out Dan Zaitz is a great photographer. Being a professional graphic designer/art director, I don’t say that lightly.) See the awesome pictures below. This is a quick snapshot with my phone and it looks pretty good.

Milwaukee salt port mountains of salt
Mountains of salt at the Milwaukee salt port. Special permission was needed to cycle the salt. It reminded me of the salt flats in Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia.

The salt piles reminded me of the dry lakes or salt pans in Australia, where the sun fries you top and bottom. His assistant said, “I can’t believe you rode a bicycle around the world and are complaining about the sun in Milwaukee.” For the record, I’m sunburnt! But it is funny how everyone eventually says, “For a guy who biked the world, you [insert insult]!” Don’t get me wrong, I’m not mad; it’s just very interesting, and I do still have a lot left to learn.

Recently, my best friend said, after I tripped up the hose that opens the garage door, “I can’t believe you made it around the world on a bicycle. You’d better go home, get down on your knees, and pray to God, because you owe him one.”

And one of my all-time favorites from the ex-girlfriend who had a PhD in relationship counseling, “For a guy who bicycled around the world, you’re not very worldly.”

Well, ironically I feel like I’m getting to see a lot more of how the world works on my book tour, zipping from Minneapolis, over the Mississippi, through the Dells, and Madison, the capital of Wisconsin, to the newsrooms of Chicago, a hotdog at Wrigley Field and ride down the Lake Front, and back to the uniquely industrial urbanized Milwaukee.

Scott and bicycle before mountain of salt with dramatic color range
Favorite Photo courtesy of © Dan Zaitz. That’s a mountain of salt and a big puddle after a rainy day. This is my serious pose.

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