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.
