Riding in April

Last weekend turned out pretty nice.  The weather forecasting folks didn't give it much hope, but I saw a fair amount of sun and the temperatures were not too shabby, either.  So as you might guess, that means the bikes come out to play.

Saturday I went for a city loop ride and found a couple random daffodils blooming on top of the old Girl Scout area.

Just below that is Huron River Drive.  Getting out in the woods before the trees leaf out is nice, as you can see the contour of the land over much greater distances.  A lot of scenic hills and valleys are nearly hidden once the leaves are out.

There is some great terrain in the Girl Scout area/Kuebler-Langford park.  A little stream runs through it, and judging from the size of the valley it runs in, that little creek has been there a very long time.

This is the same creek valley, just looking the other way.  After taking this shot, I hopped on the bike only to find the front tire flat.  A big ol' thorn, that looked like it came from a rose bush, was the culprit.  That was my third flat in just a few weeks...hopefully the third time is the charm and I am set for a while.

A little while later I ran across this spectacle in Leslie Woods.  These two stuffed monkeys were tied up about 15 feet in a tree.  Not sure how someone got them up there, but it's pretty random and pretty funny.

Sunday I went out for a road/dirt road ride.  I took paved roads out to Dexter, then dirt roads most of the way back home.  Dirt road riding on the trusty Surly Cross Check is one of my favorite ways to get out on a bike.  I have been sitting here for a few minutes trying to verbalize what I like about these dirt road rides, but so far I have not come up with anything very poetic sounding.  I guess it is some combination of the speed and rhythm of a road ride, the crunch of the gravel of an off-road ride, and the feeling of "getting away from it all" by being out in the country/woods/farm land.  Plus the Cross Check just feels right.

Self portrait, compliments of the sunny day.


Dirt road ride, April 11, 2010 from Ed Brewer on Vimeo.
And finally, a video to wrap things up.

Hopefully there will be a couple more weekends in April like this one. The weather was great for riding and what ever else you might want to do on a spring day. Michigan is greening up for another summer and I want to be there to see the action!