Outdoor living in Ann Arbor, Michigan. You will see a lot of mountain bike content, but occasionally I mix it up with some camping, kayaking/canoeing, hiking, and cross country skiing. I may also include writings about topics that are either not in Ann Arbor, or not outdoors, but still blog-worthy. So sit back and take a read. And if you would like to contribute an article, drop me a line.
Ed
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.
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!
Well, time is flying, and now that spring is springing I find myself with much less time for blogging. I suppose that is good...I am outside playing instead of sitting inside poking at the keyboard.
On March 31, Grace and I took the canoe out for its maiden voyage. My old Yakima rack has been put back into use again atop the truck cap for transporting canoes, kayaks, and whatever else is too long to fit inside.
Since both Grace and I were in the canoe, it was a little tricky to get a picture of it on the water. So you will have to settle for a bit of the bow and a nice sunset on Gallup pond.
I took it out for a little solo paddle. The center seat I made worked fine, but my J-stroke needs a little refinement. Occasionally I could get the canoe to go straight, but more often I was trying to go in circles. Practice, practice...
Next up for the canoe is to make a couple paddles, but that is down the list of projects a ways. In the mean time, I will thank Vince for loaning us a couple paddles.
Another sign that spring is here: Saturday, March 27, was the first big bike race of the year! Grace and I raced/rode the Barry-Roubaix, which is a mostly dirt road race. It takes place in and around Yankee Springs State Recreation Area, a little southeast of Grand Rapids. While we were not as excited as we could have been about getting up at 5:30am on a Saturday, we both had a great time once we got there. The event was well organized, the course was great, the weather was sunny (though a touch cool), and we saw quite a few friends there.
There were three options for length; 23, 35, and 65 miles. If it was a little later in the year I might have gone for the 65 mile route, but my legs didn't have too many miles in them, so 35 miles it was. As each mile rolled by I seemed to feel better, and I found myself seemingly floating up the hills with no pain! I suppose I could have rode for a faster time, but I had found a comfortable groove that I did not want to disrupt.
Grace rode the 23 mile route since she had only been out for one significant ride before the race. But she did it on her single speed mountain bike, and it sounds like she charged the hills in proper single speed style!
We were both too busy riding/racing to take any pictures on the course, but afterward we could take time to pose for the camera between making sandwiches and opening beers.
Heading home after the race, we took back roads for a while since we were not in a rush and it was much more pleasant than the interstate. My GPS can be seen stuck to the windshield, hard at work. It is indispensable for my job, and comes in mighty handy for some of our trips, too!
Home again. I made a rack for the bed of the truck to carry bikes. Having had a couple Rangers in the past, I knew exactly what I wanted. The fork mounts for the bikes are readily available from most bike shops, and they are attached to a contraption I made that attaches to the plywood "bedliner" with three screws. A third fork mount could be added in the middle. Being an engineer and tinkerer, my rack contraption is set up for road trips. My large cooler fits snugly in between the bikes, and my Coleman stove nestles in on the right side.
Spring is here! Time to get out and enjoy the warm temperatures and longer daylight.
It has been a bit since I last posted...last time I was still enjoying a recent snowfall with my cross country skis. Well, the snow is just a soggy memory and we are getting some sunshine and warm (for March) temperatures. Last week we saw nearly 70 degrees on Friday, and this week is still holding on to the 50's.
So what has been happening since March 5? The biggest news is that my canoe is done? D-O-N-E! What a great project it has been. Jeff and I started, or at least started planning, in September or October 2008, and bought wood shortly after.
And on March 17 it received its last coat of polyurethane. Very shiny. Not it just needs some curing time, but maybe will be ready to hit the water this weekend.
I have a paddle I made 20+ years ago in Boy Scouts, but my friend Vince was kind enough to loan a couple until I either buy another one or two, or make some.
I have also been getting out on the road bike lately. I don't have any pictures of my rides since I have been too busy riding, but this is what I have been riding. It's a Surly Cross Check from 2002, which serves double duty as a road bike and a cyclocross bike. I have yet to do any cyclocross races, but it still serves me well for dirt road rides, light trail duty, and of course, road riding. I have two wheel sets, one with skinny road tires and one with fatty 'cross tires. Much easier than changing tires, and less expensive than two complete bikes.
Today Grace and I got out on our road tandem. In the canoe pictures you can see "Pig," our cruiser tandem, but we also have a Trek T1000 road bike tandem. It was her first road ride of the year, and the tandem is a great way for us to ride together. We might even break it out for the One Helluva Ride this year.
We also bought a "new" car recently. Anyone who knows me, knows I don't buy a new car. But this is pretty close; a 2009 Ford Ranger Sport with only 9669 miles. We got an incredible deal on it and just could not pass it up. One of Grace's criteria for a new car was "something that will make me want to go camping." If this truck does not do it, I don't know what will! Short of maybe a Westfalia VW Bus... It will allow us to carry bikes and camping gear safely inside, away from sticky fingers and bad weather. And once I get some mounts on the cap for my Yakima rack, we will be able to easily carry kayaks and canoes. Obviously a truck also works well for all my various woodworking projects as well. And to top it all off, so far we have been averaging about 26 miles per gallon.
Now that spring is here, both on the calendar and weather-wise, you have no excuse to not get out and enjoy the outdoors! I hope to see you out on the road/trail/river/garden/etc.
Last week, well, almost two weeks ago now, we got the biggest snow of the season. Sunday night into Monday we got about 10" of wet, heavy snow, and we seemed to get a few more inches of snow every day throughout the week. The temperatures got above freezing every day, melting the snow a little bit, but it overall came down quicker than it melted. By Saturday morning, February 27, there was 12" of snow in our back yard, and it was time to get out to Stinchfield Woods! "Stinch" is 777 acres of U of M owned land; wooded, hilly, and full of good skiing trails. I went out there with my friends Nate and Jen for about 2 1/2 hours. I could have stayed longer, but other obligations were looming. But there is always tomorrow...
Grace and I went out there Sunday. The temperatures were near 40 degrees and the snow was melting fast, but with so much dense snow down there was plenty on the ground.
Starting from the "doctor's office," where everyone parks, there is a ski up a gated road with a slight incline. It is not exciting, but it gets you warmed up and into the rhythm of skiing. Grace already looks warmed up!
Once off the road, the trail soon comes to the first hill. It is not particularly large, but at the end of the outing you must also ski down it. If you have much skiing under your belt it is a fun, curved downhill. If you are fairly new to skiing, it's a little tricky! I still remember my first time out at Stinch, and this was one of many hills that was just short of terrifying.
I am not sure where I took this picture, but I like the "ski's eye view." You can see there is plenty of snow still on the ground. The sun started peeking out later in the day, and any sunny areas were getting pretty soft, but we still had fun.
You can see that at some point, maybe 50-70 years ago, many areas of Stinch were replanted with red pines. They are planted in neat rows, as is common throughout Michigan. There are not many places in Michigan that have not been logged sometime in the past 200 or so years. If you want to see some virgin forests and interesting logging history, take a stop by Hartwick Pines.
This is looking straight up in the location from the previous picture. Not too much to say here, other than occasionally a randomly taken picture comes out quite interesting.
A little while later, I figured I should get myself in at least one shot. We are getting near the radio antenna in the northeast corner. From here we did a little off-track skiing down a fairly steep ridge. I think I got Grace in a little over her head, but she was still smiling afterward and did not appear injured in any way.
Shortly after we got back onto the track, we made a new friend! This little shrew was out on the snow and not as excited to see us as we were to see it.
Our little shrew friend stuck around long enough to even get some video footage. Go Shrew!
The shrew was not the only critter out and about. Snow fleas were out in force, and the entire forest floor seemed to be covered with them. Apparently snow fleas are vegetarians, so no flea collars were needed.
This is the infamous Wall. As usual, pictures don't do it justice, but the ground goes pretty much straight up. You can see that people either have to do a very wide herringbone to go up, or my preference for this hill, side stepping. judging from the tracks, someone had recently skied down. While the hill itself is only mildly daunting, there is a sharp turn right behind me that makes it a little more tricky. So far I have not skied down, and for reasons of self preservation, may never do so.
From the top of the wall it was a short ski back to the car. We had to conquer the curving downhill at the beginning of the trail, but it no longer poses too much of a problem to either one of us. The trail finishes with a few hundred feet across a cornfield. By the time we finished the sun was blazing down on the snow in the cornfield, and skiing across it was closer to water skiing than snow skiing!
Over the past few days I have got in quite a bit of cross country skiing, now that we have a bit of snow here in southeast Michigan. From Tuesday morning to Wednesday morning we got somewhere between 8-10" of snow; it was hard to measure very accurately as it was pretty windy.
Wednesday evening I went over to Radrick Farms, a golf course owned by the University of Michigan. Radrick has a lot of woods and some trails that are decent for skiing. Plus, it is only about four miles from home. The snow was great but I felt a little flat. I was out for about an hour and a half and my tail was seriously dragging by the end. Not sure why, I think it was just an off day. On the way out I stopped to read a new sign along the entrance drive:
NO PUBLIC USE OF THIS PROPERTY
POLICE PATROLLED
VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED
Not so friendly sounding...what's the deal? Radrick has been open to skiers as long as I have known, and they often have signs saying please do no ski in less than four inches of snow. Which sounds like an open invitation to ski if there is at least four inches of snow. And as my friend Jen pointed out, the web site says skiing is OK. Not sure what to think. Cross country skiers are not exactly a menace to society, and I have yet to have a conflict with a golfer while skiing out there.
Friday evening Grace and I met up with John and Karen and skied Huron Hills golf course. Huron Hills, as the name implies, has some nice hills for skiing. There are a few small wooded sections as well. We took a lap around both parts of the golf course and spend about 30 minutes sessioning on a hill. Some of the hills get pretty worn from sledders, but we found one hill that was completely untracked. Afterward we stopped in at Casey's Tavern for a little food and beer. In all, a good way to start the weekend.
And today John, Karen, Don, and I went out to Stinchfield Woods (a.k.a. Peach Mountain), which in my opinion, is one of the best places to ski near Ann Arbor. I took my camera, but the partly charged battery was not happy about the cold and the camera refused to turn on. We were out there for almost 2 1/2 hours and toured quite a few of the trails. We avoided some of the bigger hills since the group had varied skiing experience, but even the most mellow trails have some nice hills and enough elevation change to keep me happy. And the good company did not hurt, either. The temperature was sneaking above freezing and the snow was getting soft and wet, but there was still enough for good coverage.
Hopefully the snow will stick around for a little longer; I have not got my fill of skiing yet!
Anyone who is a regular city rider knows about the Bluffs. The Bluffs Nature Area packs a lot into 22 acres, with non-stop hills and twisting trails. I usually finish my city rides there, partly because it is on the far side of town from my house, and partly because I am saving the best for last. I am starting to itch for a ride just writing about it!
Yesterday Grace and I took a walk through the Bluffs. We were out there for almost two hours, walking, trimming brush and branches off the trails, and taking pictures. There were a few bike tracks in the snow, and we saw one rider, who proclaimed his love of studded tires as he rolled down an icy hill. I gotta get me a pair of those.
The sun occasionally peeked through the clouds and the temperature hovered right around the freezing mark. As Grace said, it was like a super-micro-vacation. We both felt a little more relaxed afterward.
There are some very large trees in the Bluffs, most of which seemed to be northern red oak. I have spent countless hours riding and doing trail maintenance there and only sort of noticed the big'uns before. While this red oak is not a record setter, it's still pretty big.
We walked most of the trails in the Bluffs, and found that someone else had recently been through it with a chainsaw to cut out the big stuff. This tree was trimmed out last fall. There were a few small trees down that we tackled with the bow saw we had with us. Grace actually did the sawing, and I dragged the cut pieces away. A few years ago it seemed that myself, and whomever I brought along with me, were the only ones that did any trail maintenance in the Bluffs. These days I find a lot of maintenance done by others. While I did not mind taking care of it, doing so pretty well used up my allotment of trail work energy. These days I can spread it around to other places as well!
I'll check again a little later in the winter to see if the trails need more attention. The Bluffs is a nice place to go for a walk, and I can support my sport by keeping the highlight of Ann Arbor mountain biking trails clear.
I went for a little city ride today; the sun was occasionally peeking out and the thermometer said 27 degrees when I started. It sure did not feel like 27 degrees, but I stuck it out for a little over an hour anyway.
I followed a route I have come up with this winter, which takes about an hour and, aside from County Farm Park, is completely different from the usual summer trails. Usually by the end of the typical riding season I am starting to feel a little burned out on the regular city loop. So my new route gets me out in some new areas, and on cold and/or windy winter days, one hour is about enough for me.
As usual County Farm Park was first, as that is an easy way to get in a bit of trail since my house backs up to it. Most of the paths were lumpy ice with some packed snow. With all the rain and warm temperatures we have had in the past couple weeks the 6-8" of snow has been reduced to an inch or so of ice in most areas. Surprisingly, it was not very slippery and I was able to ride everywhere without a problem. A walker even asked as I rode by how slick it was. Maybe the fat tires at 18 psi hook up better than shoes?
I saw this Jeep a few weeks ago, but did not have my camera with me. I have checked back a few times and it was never there, until today. It is a Jeep FC-170, which was made from 1957 through 1965. I have never seen one, or even heard of this vehicle before. This one has been perfectly restored. I like oddball vehicles, so this will give me something new to "research" on the internet.
You have seen these railroad tracks on my blog before, on my New Year's Eve ride. This is the end of the line, behind the U of M Herbarium. Riding down the ties would be a little more comfy on my 5" travel full suspension bike, but it does not get to come out and play on salty roads. Plus, the ol' Karate Monkey is a lot of fun to ride in many other, more typical riding conditions.
The sun came out of winter hiding later in the ride. I rode up the highest hill I could find in Brown Park to get a little closer to my long, lost friend. Off in the distance is the water tower in County Farm Park, near Washtenaw and Manchester. While I was up there a kid went skate boarding by on the pathway below. At first I thought, "what kind of crazy kid would be out skating on a day like today?" Then I looked at myself. Skate on, kid!
Not too much to say here. This is a trail in Brown Park, and the combination of sun, snow, dry grass, and bare trees struck me as a very nice view. Enjoy.
I spend some quality time in Brown Park today. There are some boardwalks in the woods, and after spending yesterday at Ray's I was ready to ride on some wood. Only these had the added bonus of being snow covered. Most of the skinnies at Ray's are nice and close to the floor, and this boardwalk was no different. It provided a little challenge with no real consequence if I rode off.
From Brown Park it's just a quick ride home, which was fine as the cold was starting to creep in by then. Another nice ride in the books, and my brain again feels a little refreshed.
As promised, Grace and I took a trip to Ray's yesterday and met up with our friends Nate and Jen, and a few of their other friends as well. Nate and I went through the Orthotics and Prosthetics program at EMU together, and he is doing his orthotics residency at Cleveland Clinic. Since Ray's is also in Cleveland, Nate and Jen have been regulars there this year.
Ray's is in an old parachute factory that Ray Petro has converted into over 100,000 square feet of heated, indoor mountain bike riding.
This is the sport section, at a rare moment when there was nobody on any of the runs. I am standing on the starting deck and there are about twelve different routes, not all of which can be seen in this picture. There are some box jumps, teeter-tooters, logs, rocks, skinnies, flexible bridges, and more. On the other side of the blue fence in the background is the expert section, which contains many of the same types of features, just taller, bigger, narrower, etc.
There is also a beginner room, which is actually a lot of fun for any level of rider. And an added bonus is that it is usually not as busy as the other sections. The cross country loop runs through the beginner room, so you can stop in for a few stunts, then finish up the XC loop. The yellow blur is me getting ready to do a couple little drops.
Here, Grace is about to roll into one of the boardwalks in the beginner room. She was a little nervous about going to Ray's, but ended up riding a lot of different stunts and had a lot of fun. She is already planning our next trip! In the video below, keep your eyes out for the dog, which can be seen from 6 seconds to 9 seconds.
She kept moving and sometimes was hard to get a picture of her. I am on a route that goes up in the roof trusses, and that blurry streak on the right side is Grace about to ride the log crossing.
There is also a pump track; here Nate is coming off it after a few laps. If you're not familiar with what a pump track is, check out the video below of Nate riding. The idea is to pump the bike up and down over the waves, and no pedaling is needed. You can get up quite a bit of speed once you get the hang of pumping. And it is a tough workout; everyone that rode it agreed that two or three laps was enough at one time.
Jen and Graham are taking a break on the pump track start/finish deck. I never managed to get pictures of their other friends that were there; Fritz, Aaron, and Dennis.
After riding, we finished off the day with a bite to eat before driving 2 1/2 hours home. Surprisingly, today I am not really sore. A little tired, but otherwise feeling pretty good.
A quick update on the canoe progress, since there has not been much else to update on lately.
A couple weeks ago I got the fore and aft decks attached. With them in place, the bow and stern are enclosed to create buoyancy chambers. The copper tube through the bow makes an eyelet for tying off; there is also one in the stern.
Last weekend I glued the keel in place, and "clamped" it in place while the glue was drying with whatever I had laying around the garage. A couple gallons of paint, a couple 4" cinder blocks, the tops off my jack stands...and even one real, live clamp! All my careful clamping paid off, as the keel came out nice and straight.
And that should be the last piece of the canoe! The only thing left is to polyurethane the whole thing, which will be a project in itself.
Well, it has been over a week since I took the third part of my board exams. That was last Saturday, and involved a trip to Dallas, Texas for the Clinical Patient Management Practical Examination, or "clinical exam" as I call it since we are on more of a first-name basis after spending five and a half hours getting to know each other. Five and a half hours of testing, most of which included examiners that have been specifically instructed to show no emotion to your actions or answers. I don't feel that I seriously botched anything, but I also don't feel that it was a slam-dunk. Results can take up to ten weeks, so at this point all I can do is wait.
Moving on from testing, last Tuesday Grace and I got out skiing at Radrick Farms with John and Karen. The snow was as near to perfect as 6" or so of snow can be. We were out for a couple hours after dark, and the camera stayed at home. Radrick is a rare treat of a golf course in that it has woods and trails all the way around the perimeter. I find gold course skiing to be pretty boring, but there are enough trails there to keep me entertained. And it it only about a ten minute drive away!
Yesterday I got out on the bike for the first time in two weeks. Two weeks, that is, if you don't count my trip to the bank last Thursday. The thermometer said 38 degrees, which is pretty balmy for January in Michigan. I figured the trails might be a little slushy so I headed out for a mostly road ride on my commuter bike, complete with full fenders.
A quick trip across town got me to Barton Park, at the east end of Huron River Drive. The Huron River has enough current at this point to keep from easily freezing. This is one of the local stretches of the river I like to paddle in warmer times. About a mile upstream from here is Barton Dam.
At either end of Barton Park are iron bridges, leading to a nice nature area on the side of the river opposite the road.
Huron River Drive is the Crown Jewel of road biking in the Ann Arbor area. For ten miles is snakes along beside the river and even manages to have a little elevation change. While the shoulders are narrow, the speed limit is only 35 mph and even rush hour traffic is pretty light. The trip across town for me to get to HRD is 5-6 miles; so it makes a round trip of about 31 miles to ride across town, ride the ten miles of HRD, turn around and ride the route back home. While I usually prefer to ride off road, this is a pretty nice road ride that is easy to do after work.
At the other end of Barton Park is Barton Dam, which, creatively enough, holds Barton Pond. My friend, Kurt had commented on Facebook that there were several swans near the dam on Saturday, so I stopped in to take a look. There were these five on the ice near the dam, and another ten or so downstream.
After checking out the sights at Barton I got down to the business of riding and let the camera rest for a bit. I continued a few miles on HRD and turned around and started home. There were quite a few people out riding today, I guess a little break in the weather brings everyone out even in January!
I went down through Gallup Park on the way home, and there were swans everywhere on the river. At one point I stopped and counted twenty of them from where I stood. There were at least fifty swans in the river in the one mile stretch I was in Gallup. In this picture are mute swans, which are an invasive species. They are the swans with orange bills. I also saw a lot of trumpeter swans, which are native to Michigan and can be identified by their black bills. Another semi-useless bit of trivia: trumpeter swans are the largest waterfowl in the world.
And just to keep things in check that I am, in fact, on a city ride, a train cam rumbling by while I was in Gallup Park. I see Amtrak trains quite often as I ride through town, as my post-work ride schedule often coincides with the daily Amtrak train, but on the weekend I occasionally see a freight train.
From Gallup, I wound my way for a couple miles through the twisting neighborhoods and found my way back to my driveway. In all, a nice couple hours out on the bike.
She kept moving and sometimes was hard to get a picture of her. I am on a route that goes up in the roof trusses, and that blurry streak on the right side is Grace about to ride the log crossing.
There is also a pump track; here Nate is coming off it after a few laps. If you're not familiar with what a pump track is, check out the video below of Nate riding. The idea is to pump the bike up and down over the waves, and no pedaling is needed. You can get up quite a bit of speed once you get the hang of pumping. And it is a tough workout; everyone that rode it agreed that two or three laps was enough at one time.
Last weekend I glued the keel in place, and "clamped" it in place while the glue was drying with whatever I had laying around the garage. A couple gallons of paint, a couple 4" cinder blocks, the tops off my jack stands...and even one real, live clamp! All my careful clamping paid off, as the keel came out nice and straight.
A quick trip across town got me to Barton Park, at the east end of Huron River Drive. The Huron River has enough current at this point to keep from easily freezing. This is one of the local stretches of the river I like to paddle in warmer times. About a mile upstream from here is Barton Dam.
I went down through Gallup Park on the way home, and there were swans everywhere on the river. At one point I stopped and counted twenty of them from where I stood. There were at least fifty swans in the river in the one mile stretch I was in Gallup. In this picture are mute swans, which are an invasive species. They are the swans with orange bills. I also saw a lot of trumpeter swans, which are native to Michigan and can be identified by their black bills. Another semi-useless bit of trivia: trumpeter swans are the largest waterfowl in the world.
