Indian Springs, Another New Trail

I was itching for another new trail and opted for Indian Springs near Clarkston, Michigan.  The Metropark is situated in the thick of another of Michigan's lakes area with lakes surrounding the park.  The park itself is somewhat of a giant swamp, though my ride saw only little bits of areas with standing water.  There are gentle rolling hills and densely wooded sections of the trail.  The paved trail is just over 8 miles but the last section of it is a 2 mile loop and I circled the loop twice.  I considered a third loop but there was a large dark thunderhead that showered on me for a few brief seconds as I was completing the second loop and I hightailed it back towards the trailhead because I'd left my car windows half way down.

It quit raining shortly and I barely got wet, most of the showers were while I was in a dense wood section.  It was a good warm up ride after my mini getaway up north and this was my first opportunity to ride in many days.  That combined with today's temps being high in comparison to what we've been having and I just returned from a Upper Peninsula trip where the temps were unseasonably cool even for up there.  To give an idea of what the difference in latitude represents, we had lilacs blooming in early May around Mother's Day.  Lilacs were just now in bloom up there for Father's Day so they are about a month behind us, weatherwise.

My short excursion north was for a conference for the school board of the Charter Academy that I serve on.  Our authorizing agent is Lake Superior State University and they are located at the tip top of Michigan's Upper Peninsula at Sault St. Marie on the US side.  There is a sister city across the waterway that separates us from Canada in that region.  This region is where Lake Superior goes into the St. Mary's River and that empties into Lake Huron.  The Soo locks, as they are known,  are located there and our group had a dinner boat cruise tour of the locks and passage through them.  Last year when I went up for the conference I visited the visitors center for the Soo Locks and learned all about their construction.  It is a modern engineering feat and has opened up an important inland waterway on the Great Lakes for commerce worldwide.  While we toured the locks by boat this time we passed a Chinese freighter.  Iron ore is mined out of Iron Mountain and copper from Copper Harbor, the iron ore is brought to a huge steel mill at Sault St. Marie for processing and production.  The 40,000 pound bales of coiled steel are loaded onto freighters bound all over the globe.  A freighter needs 6 days for going from Lake Superior through the St. Mary's River into Lake Huron, then through the Detroit River into Lake Erie, up the Erie Canal and through the St. Lawrence Seaway out into the open ocean of the Atlantic.

I went up a day early and used the trip as a recognizance for another trip I am planning with a friend.  We are going to ride from Charlevoix to Mackinaw City, hop the ferry and ride Mackinaw Island.  That ride will get us around the "tip of the mitt." and in the process we will pass through the tunnel of trees along Lake Michigan's eastern shore.  There was spectacular scenery and vistas overlooking the lake.  It should be a fun ride.

Indian Springs Metropark has a lot of amenities including a golf course, spray zone, plenty of play areas and picnic areas and an educational/interactive building and grounds that have walking trails through various areas of swamp (on elevated boardwalks and walkways) and other educational opportunities and kids camps.  The paved bike trail is mostly flattish to slight rolling hills with one significant climb.  The ride starts out with a 3/4 mile descent and you need to climb that to return to the trailhead parking lot.  Right near the beginning of the trail I found this sign.  I listened well and stayed on the trail, only venturing off pavement in closely mowed areas.

Indian Springs is in the northernmost area of the Huron River Watershed and just above the headwaters of the Huron River which meanders along eventually emptying into Lake Erie. .  A watershed is a high area or ridge that usually separates major river systems.   I have lived in the watershed for much of my life and my bicycling takes me to many trails throughout it's mid section.  I have just recently began exploring trails in the upper reaches and hope to explore the trails of the lower reaches of the watershed yet this summer.  Even with having moved some long distances during my life, I have remained within it's borders as it spans over 900 square miles. No wonder it seems like I am always pedaling along next to it's shores, whether I am riding in Milford or 50 miles south in Ann Arbor!  A link to the Huron River Watershed Council can be found here along with a wealth of information about this important waterway.  A link to a map of the geographical area that the watershed covers can be found here and here.  I liked the trail and park so much that I expect that I will be a return visitor. The more time I spend bicycling along the shores of this major river system, the more I am learning about the ecology of the whole region.   As a kid growing up I lived in the Rouge River watershed, another large system that empties into Lake Erie.  A map of the rivers of southeastern Michigan that empty into Lake Erie can be found here. 

Making A Tedious Chore Into A Fun Morning

If you have ever had the opportunity to spend time in the waiting area of a auto repair facility you will completely understand what I am about to describe.  The best and cleanest of facilities is inherently boring and tedious.  I was last there to have a tire fixed which turned into a bit more of a repair than I had expected and spent a good two and a half hours with a smart phone as my only amusement.  Let's just say I wasn't amused.  There was a TV blaring banal idiotic daytime television shows and in the big open room there was no escaping the drivel, canned laughter and inane subject material.  It was distracting and annoying.

Fast forward to today, knowing that getting new shocks and struts was going to be a two hour wait and we had delightful weather I loaded up my bike with panniers including a laptop, in case it really got long, and set off to explore downtown Brighton.

What a treat!  It was early morning cool with much of the town still quiet and sleeping.  Working folks had already been off to their commute and the rest of town had yet to become a buzz.  I meandered my way into downtown via a back-behind-busy-Grand-River route that I had discovered some years earlier to avoid the traffic congestion along the main thoroughfare and wound my way through tree lined streets with quaint homes and plenty of flowering shrubs and of course ended up by the mill-pond, smack in the center of downtown.  Poking around the mill-pond and tridge I found a route that ran just behind all of the businesses all the way back to Belle Tire where my car was.  Cool.  I knew there were walkways and paths all around the mill-pond but did not know that it ran all the way down Grand River for the entire length of the pond and connecting downtown proper with all the new businesses sprouted up down the Grand River corridor.  

 Mill-pond and tridge in the distance 

Downtown.Brighton

Boardwalk and walkway behind Grand River 

 So I wound my way back to downtown, explored the east side of Main Street and neighborhoods over there and eventually made my way back downtown to Lynn's Cafe for a leisurely breakfast.  Before heading out for more exploring I pulled out my laptop and did some scouting for a trip I will be taking this weekend.  I hope to do a bike ride in the Tip of the Mitt later this summer from Charlevoix to Mackinaw Island and I'll be using part of this trip to scout out potential routes and places for food and lodging along the way.  My trip this weekend will be all the way past the tip o' the mitt to the tip top of the UP (upper peninsula of Michigan) for a conference for the Charter School Academy Board that I serve on, that retreat is in Sault St. Marie on the US side.  There is a sister city across the St. Mary's River in Canada.  The St. Mary's River connects Lake Superior to Lake Huron.  If you look at a map of Michigan the lower peninsula is mitten shaped. So us Michiganders refer to our state as the Mitten State.  Youpers (those living in the UP) refer to us as trolls because we live below the bridge.  That would be the Mighty Mac otherwise known as the Mackinaw Bridge, linking the upper and lower peninsulas together.

Brighton has done a fabulous job making a walk-able community
and connecting businesses with downtown  

So before I had done much more exploring the phone rang to let me know my car was ready.  Wow, where did that time go?  I made my way back to Belle Tire, loaded up and was off to Hudson Mills for a few laps.  

Lynn's Cafe

First Real Mountain Bike Trail & First Wipeout Of The Year

I did it.  I rode a mountain bike trail.  I did half of the Blue Trail at Island Lake State Park.  I am spent.  I have noodles where my arms used to be.

A few things I learned with my new venture;

1. I have a new found respect, a deep respect for mountain bikers.
2. To attempt a mountain bike trail you must be adventurous.
3. To actually ride a mountain bike trail you must be courageous. 
4. Or young enough to be fearless and believe you are invincible.
5. To mountain bike on any consistent basis (more than one ride), you must be fit, very fit.
6. To make it through a trail you must be able to horse and man-handle your bicycle.
7. You will see some of the most beautiful scenery that you really can't see any other way.
8. That ridge on the side of a mountain (ok, big hill in Michigan) that always looked so cool and fun and I was dreaming about riding as I pedaled by safely on a wide paved flat road and just couldn't wait to do, it will scare your socks right off your feet. 

I've been planning and dreaming about this ride for weeks now and finally felt up to it.  Wrong.  But I plunged ahead, literally and did it.  I had poured over paper maps, searched the route on map my ride, read everything I could about it and watched a 35 minute video on You Tube that someone who rode this with a helmet cam and posted it,  but nothing really prepares you for the real thing except for, well, the real thing.   

 

I've rode the park dozens of times and was familiar with most of the landmarks/points of interest and tournouts throughout the park to have an idea of the lay of the land, however I was about to get very up close familiar with it in a way I'd never imagined.  Still, I knew places I could bail out and take the road that runs through the park and focused so much on those before hand that when I got there I thought, "hey, that's a bad mindset, you're talking about bailing before you even give it a try."  That clicked someplace in my brain and the first few times I actually thought I might need to bail out, I stayed with it and just kept saying "one more segment." Until I reached the half way point.  The trail travels the southern side of the park heading west out of the trailhead and ends on pavement near the west end of the park, you have to traverse to the end of the park about a quarter of mile on pavement to pick up the trail again for the northern loop heading back east to the trail-head.   

So a 4.5 mile ride took me just over 1.5 hours.  The pamphlets say that you should allow for 2 hours for the 9 mile trail.  With limited time I knew the next half of the trail would take me at least as long as the first half and I didn't have that kind of time today.  That was a good thing, because my body didn't have that kind of energy in it either.  It was beautiful, gorgeous even, when I had enough time to actually look at the scenery, most of the time I was trying not to wipeout or otherwise kill myself.  

Much of the trail is through dense woods that wind.  If another biker comes up behind you, you usually don't know about it much ahead of time and after they pass they are gone like a deer or bear in the woods.  They just disappear round a bend or get gobbled up by the woods never to be seen again.  

There are passages along side of gurgling water, places that go up and up and places that go straight up and also straight down, or nearly so.  I'm not too proud to say there were ample opportunities for me to walk both up and down hills that were either too steep to pedal up or I was too afraid to barrel down the previous hill to gain the momentum needed or just too steep and rugged to go down.  There were logs and plenty of roots, some erosion that caused sudden drops and rocks.  Not boulders like you might get out west but in places there were tops of rocks sticking out.  There were some switchbacks both while ascending and while descending.   There was also a vast wide open area through a meadow and also through a somewhat desolate looking landscape. Wouldn't you know it, that is where I had my wipeout, it was 1.84 miles in and I know that because my speedometer quit working when that happened only I didn't know about it till at the turnaround point.  The trail is well marked in 1/4 mile increments and at the turn I noticed the marker said 4.5 miles and my speedo was stuck on 1.84.  I figured out that the fall disoriented my wireless pickup and fiddled with it and got it working.  Anyway, here I am in the most wide open part of the trail, the singletrack in various places is hard packed dirt, softer dirt or fairly good packed pea gravel and some portions have the dreaded sand.  The trail had opened up and turned gravelly and I hit a soft deep pocket of sand, not more than a couple of yards long but it was enough to take me down.  As the ground came rushing up I noticed my bare hands and thought, crap, I forgot to put my gloves on.  So my landing spot was much more gravelly than what caused the fall.  I lay there stunned for a moment and when I combublated my self again, I picked the gravel out of my hands, knees and legs, picked myself up, brushed off the dust, put my gloves on and away I went.  Much more cautious of the condition of the trail and very wary of loose ground.  Maybe it was the crash but I was more tentative as I progressed.  Most of my ride was very doable for me but the section after Spring Mill Pond wound up a large ridge and down it and that area gave me fits and made me want to quit.  I crossed the paved road again after descending the ridge and knew from my whereabouts and the map that there was only about another half mile to reach the half way point and I pressed on even though part of me wanted to quit and was very glad I continued as the trail passed through more pretty scenery and it was flat enough for me to enjoy my surroundings but rugged enough to appreciate I was traveling a singletrack.  

Time-wise I needed to hoof it back on the paved road.  My body was grateful for that and my spirit was uplifted over my accomplishment, meager that it was.  In reality it was half a trail and a beginner tail at that but for me it was conquering my quest.  It was only 2.5 miles back by road and took me about 25 minutes to return.  A wee bit battered, bloodied and bruised, yet you couldn't wipe the grin from my face and I can't wait to return!

More Bicycling For A Cause

In this case it was to help support a State Representative, Gretchen Driskell.  Politics being what they are the campaign for re-election is sure to require funds and our current representative is building a base along with a base of support.  I've known Gretchen through my affiliation while being Supervisor of Northfield Township and at that time Gretchen was Mayor of Saline. We served together on a transportation policy board at WATS (Washtenaw Area Transportation Study) and had other occasions to meet over government affairs.  While I am a strong Republican, I have found that Gretchen, a Democrat, to be fiscally conservative, has sound judgment and has practical common sense, a rare commodity in political circles today.  While generally favoring party candidates, it's about the person not the party.

Gretchen held a "Ride with the Rep" event last Saturday at one of my favorite bike trails at Hudson Mills Metropark and I was happy to be a part of the event.  Gretchen is an avid rider, competitor and outdoor enthusiast.  A nice crowd turned out for the event.

Wheels in Motion an Ann Arbor bicycle shop helped out at the event by bringing extra bicycles for those who had no bike and wanted to attend and ride and was also available for quick repairs, air for tires and other such last minute cycling needs and safety checks.  PEAC Programs to Educate All Cyclists was also well represented at the ride and helped to educated the riders on trail riding safety and etiquette, right before we took off for the ride.    I was really hoping to be able to take a spin on the tandem that WIM brought to the event, but I was only able to do a single lap with the riders due to other plans in the afternoon.  I guess I'll just have to wait for another opportunity for that tandem ride!

Gretchen is standing in the front row behind her bike in a black tee

 As you can see from the photos, it's a beautiful park and trail, just north of Dexter and south of Pinckney

Birthday Ride & Milestones

Last Sunday I had a birthday ride with some of my favorite people.  My niece Mary and her daughter Alex and my Godson Andrew.  It was the beginning of a week of recovery rides after my intense riding of the preceding two weeks.  For starters we had perfect weather, neither too hot nor too cold and nothing but sunshine and blue skies.  We rode one of my favorite trails, the border to border tail in Ann Arbor from Brandemere Park to Gallup Park.  Along the way there is a fun passage over Argo dam, it's a very narrow bridge with high railings and about an inch of clearance for your handlebars on each side.

Then we spent a fair amount of time exploring at the Argo Cascades watching  kayakers shoot the series of nine drops, the kids were enthralled as I knew they would be and I promised a return trip with tubes on a nice hot summer day.  This is a short 20 second video clip from YouTube of a canoeist at the Cascades.  Crossing the bridge you can see the cascades in the background.

And some photos of our time spent there.

 This poor guy on the right was trying to get some peaceful reading in so we shooed the kids away to play on a different drop.

Just prior to the Cascades there is a bike jump course right off the path and of course we had to stop and check it out.  Alex, brave young gal that she is, got right into the swing of things and tried out the mini moguls first then it was on to the bigger ones when we stopped there again on our way back. I knew it was on her mind to try the bigger ones because she kept asking if we were going to pass this place on the way back. Even Andrew got in on the action on the second stop.  

  

Our short 10 mile trip lasted nearly 3 hours because of course when you are out exploring with kids everything must be examined and there is not a piece of playground equipment that we passed by that didn't require a stop for a swing, climb, jump or play.  We laughed our heads off when the 11 year olds even wanted to stop at the little kiddie playground but we also indulged them because we knew it won't be long before they will scorn such juvenile stuff like playing on swings and being out with adults and moments and memories like these are to be savored and stored away for cold winter days

Of course the "older" kids, Mary and I, enjoyed it as much as they did and we had an obligatory stop for Popsicles and a prance through a butterfly and hummingbird garden.

When we got home the kids continued to play and the adults shared an ice cold brew!

All in all it was the best way to spend a birthday day and it was capped off with a dinner with the rest of the family.   Thank you Mary, Alex and Andrew for sharing this day with me!

Drum roll please...and now for the milestone...my little blog has reached over 10,000 views as of yesterday!  Imagine that!

Training, Stats & Post Training

I've hit it hard in May and especially in the last two weeks, stepping up mileage indicated in the chart below;

Date         Day                       Mileage   Time Minutes Daily / Hours Weekly

4/29/13

Mon

8

59

5/1/13	Wed	6.1	47
5/2/13	Thu	17.74	150
5/3/13	Fri	0	0
5/4/13	Sat	7.76	66
5/5/13	Sun	0	0

Total                                  39.6           5.37 hours

5/6/13	Mon	13.03	98
5/7/13	Tue	0.0	0
5/8/13	Wed	9.86	74
5/9/13	Thu	17.32	120
5/10/13	Fri	0	0
5/11/13	Sat	0	0
5/12/13	Sun	0	0

Total                                 40.2           4.87 hours

5/13/13	Mon	12.74	87
5/14/13	Tue	15.1	107
5/15/13	Wed	0	0
5/16/13	Thu	0	0
5/17/13	Fri	12.22
5/18/13	Sat	19.07	135
5/19/13	Sun	0	0

Total                                59.13          5.48 hours

5/20/13	Mon	22.72	171
5/21/13	Tue	0	0
5/22/13	Wed	0	0
5/23/13	Thu	0	0
5/24/13	Fri	13.15	98
5/25/13	Sat	19.11	147
5/26/13	Sun	10.18	83

Total                                65.16          8.32 hours

A training program is supposed to increase mileage, time and intensity by smaller increments, generally 10-15% is a rule of thumb and as you can see the chart indicates much higher jumps in all areas.  Had I not had a base to work from this would be a recipe for disaster.  Having ridden consistently for the last two and a half years has provided that base. But I also listened to my body, pushed myself for sure but coupled it with rest, days off and fairly decent nutrition.  While I seldom if ever diet in the traditional sense I do try to make more healthy choices when training and my habit is to prepare fresh whole foods and processed foods are scant (but not non-existent) in my daily menu.   Home cooked meals generally consist of a lean protein, starch and two side vegetables.  I do indulge in pizza, ice cream and such, but sporadically and if I'm training this hard I don't feel the least bit guilty for occasional treats.  The current week I am in is being titled "Recovery Week" by me and my mileage and time out on the bike is shaping up like this so far;

Date         Day                       Mileage   Time Minutes Daily / Hours Weekly

5/27/13	Mon	0	0
5/28/13	Tue	4.78	36
5/29/13	Wed	6.9	53
5/30/13	Thu	6.73	49
5/31/13	Fri
6/1/13	Sat
6/2/13	Sun

Total                                 18.31         2.30   

These shorter rides lack much of the intensity and I'm doing them on quite flat grades with no real hill work except for the natural inclines around town, most are pretty small.  I'm taking easy pedals at moderate speeds.  We are heading into a very hot week so far with temps in the 85-90 F range and stormy weather so my rides are in the later evening or early morning like today.  I come home without any feeling of fatigue and generally feeling like I could have gone twice as far or more, but this is how I am pacing myself.  I do expect to have one ride at least of 15-20 miles this week and if I'm guessing correctly I will be feeling pretty strong during and after that ride.  The pattern I've notices is that if I push really hard, back off for a bit I really build up my strength and endurance.  I've varied the rides with gravel roads with hills which are tough and high intensity and with flat paved rail trails so in some sense I am doing interval training, or at least my version of it!  Whatever you call this, it is working magic on my health, endurance and fitness level.  Following this somewhat haphazard program has resulted in a high level of feeling fit and my body composition is changing.

I've tracked my mileage since I started riding again in July of 2010 when I bought a bike, my excel sheets contain many notes, places I ride and how my body feels.  Sooooo, I'm kind of a nut for data, tracking and stats, what can I say?

Miles of smiles to all!

Polly Ann Trail - Lake Orion to Oxford Lake

On Saturday I explored yet another new trail the Polly Ann Trail in north eastern Oakland County.  This felt like a real adventure and getting lost is a requisite part of any exploring venture.  Getting there was a hike and took about an hour and a half drive.  My first stop was at a County Park Dog Park which was near the south western end of the trail.  When I found out there was a $5 parking fee I moved across the street to an Elementary school with a large vacant lot and parked free.  I couldn't help but notice two different signs posted in the County Park referencing the Massasauga Rattlers and being aware of them in the vicinity.  That got my attention!  I spent the day on the trail avoiding sticks and twigs lest they be snakes in disguise and I'm not normally afraid of snakes, but these sounded particularly nasty.

Finding the trail proved to be a bigger problem than I had anticipated, I thought that a trail that connected so many communities would be well marked.  Once on the trail the signage was great, particularly as I headed north east.  There were signs indicating mileage and at cross roads there were directional signage for restrooms, phones, food and snacks which is all helpful information to know if you are from out of town and unfamiliar with the community.  I found the trail and in a half mile was greeted with a welcome sign

and the trail turned from paved to a crushed aggregate material.  It was packed down pretty good, a bit softer and squishier than pavement, of course, but perfectly navigable for me and my bike.  The biggest thing I noticed right off was that it was not quiet as my tires made crunching noises compared to the silence of pavement.  That was not a problem but what was a problem was the second two way choice.  At the first dead end there was a little small sign that indicated turning to the right for the Polly Ann Trail and that was cool.  About another half mile up the path produced a choice to the left or right.  I choose right and it was wrong.  If there had been a sign, I missed it. I found myself on suburban sidewalks in a lakeside community, I kept it up for a bit over a mile and couldn't find a sign of the trail anywhere.  I saw another bicyclists coming toward me and asked about the trail.  Lucky me,  he was going that way and said "follow me."  It was a good thing or I'd never have found it.   I'd turned the map my ride app on my phone and while it's busy recording my route I can't access the GPS mapping functions on the phone without cancelling the ride.  The rider was a faster rider than I am but he stopped along the way for me to catch up a turning points.  We traveled along the lake and two different golf courses across the street from one another and then, voila!  The trail appeared again!  We chatted for a moment, he indicated that my hybrid mountain/cruiser bike would be fine for the trail conditions at least up till Boardman Road and he also said that from his home the ride was 30 miles round trip.  I  stopped to snap some photos and he took off on his ride.    From reading up about the trail, north of Boardman Road the trail becomes rougher and suitable for hiking, horses and rough mountain biking.

The trail passed through open fields, wetlands, lowlands, marshes, lakes, neighborhoods and wooded sections.  I passed many lakes and streams and at times water flowed alongside, in fact the trail was seldom without water in some form or another alongside it, hence the caution about rattlers.  The trail passed through many small communities, villages and burgs.  There didn't seem to be a stretch over 5 miles that you couldn't get something to eat or drink.  About 8 miles in I stopped at a curious thing I'd never seen on a trail before, a stepped platform next to some benches.  At first I thought it was a podium left over from some grand opening or dedication ceremony.

It was a moment before I realized what this was, I was on a trail that is open to equestrian users also and this was a mounting platform and the other strange wood structures were hitching posts.  Duh.  I only came across other bicyclists or walkers and in one place a county worker mowing.  The grass was cut in a 3-4 foot swath on each side of the trail which made it nice and easier to spot a snake if there was one!  I can say for certain that I did not venture off the trail like I normally would have.

One of the last features I came upon before turning and heading back was a gravel pit and lake across the street from it.  Even without the signage of the sand and gravel business I would have recognized it by the typical blue-green color of the water.  When the topsoil, marl layer is stripped away and the gravel is mined out what get's left behind is the layer of clay which many companies use for making cement, with a clay bottom and no marl the lake reflects back the blue-green color and the waters are typically very clear because there is no sediment to cloud it or get stirred up from rains.  The gravel pit was over a mile and a half long with the plant operations at the north eastern end.  The colors don't come through as good in these photos but the water was beautiful.

I'm not sure what these concrete blocks were or why they were left
except that they were probably too heavy to move without a good
reason. They were in one area only and there were about a dozen
of them.

 Right across the street from here was Oxford Lake and another small community where you could get food and drink.  Just north of here I made my turnabout and headed back.  I might have gone further but I had a late start to my day and getting lost killed time for me.  So, I'll have to return to explore the whole trail another day!

On my next trip I'd leave off the first 3-4 miles and start further up the trail and not deal with the broken up pieces in the south western section, just get on the trail proper and head out to the end of the navigable portions.  I noticed that signage leading to the trail was better further up too.  For information about the trail visit this link  and for a link to my route at map my ride click here.  One thing of importance to note for cyclists is that Oakland County is serious about walk and bike ability for their roadways.  Every major roadway I was on in the area had adjacent paved paths or sidewalks, which is is not typical in semi-rural or large sub-urban areas.  There were vast distances between neighborhoods with miles of paved trails.  Kudos to Oakland County!   

Happy Trails!

Edward Hines Drive Trail - Part III

So Friday I finished up the last 1/3 of the trail which, for me, was the easternmost end of the trail.  I began my ride very near to the beginning of the trail at Warrendale and traveled in a northwest direction to Nankin Mills/Nankin Lake where I had left off on my last ride.  I did not take photos of this section, though it was scenic I just never took the time to stop.  Sorry readers.  Perhaps next time.  This section passes through portions of Detroit, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Redford, Westland and Livonia.  A portion of the trail in Redford traverses alongside a golf course, Hawthorn Valley, where I'd done a lot of golfing when I was younger and lived in the area.  I'd forgotten how beautiful that course is.

During early settlement times the River Rouge served as a navigation route for Indian tribes and the French and English trappers.  Later it was part of the Underground Railway for escaped slaves.  Today it serves as a recreational gem for Wayne County.  During my ride I came across a grouping of Segways.  I didn't know what they were called but they are the two wheeled upright electronic riding devices, a group of senior citizens were out on a practice run.  I passed them slowly and gave them wide berth, I was amazed at their handling abilities and the person in the lead handed me a brochure as I passed.  He was their leader/instructor and apparently there is a Segway and Bicycle rental at Nankin Mills.  I'd seen a little red wooden building behind the interpretative center and assumed it was an ice cream or novelty shop.   From their brochure, I found out differently.  What a great way for seniors and others with some physical limitations to be able to get around and enjoy the park and trail.  A link to their site can be found here.

A link to Friday's route can be found here and information about this section of the trail and park can be found here.

When I do this ride again I intend to ride it from start to finish and back again in one fell swoop.  Round trip my ride totaled just over 13 miles which is beginning to seem like a warm up or shortish ride.

I passed historical and familiar landmarks like, Nankin Mills which currently houses an interpretative center, the big old toboggan hill and scenic stretches of the River Rouge.   I saw a sprinkling of wildlife, got hissed at by a mamma Canada goose and gobbled up miles of rolling terrain.  For the most part, this section was flatter with a sprinkling of rises and inclines.

This was my first ride since my longest on Monday, however, I haven't been snoozing or taking it  easy.  The last couple of days I have not been riding but I've busied myself with spring time chores.  Preparing the outdoor furniture, planting flowers and herbs and some general spring cleaning indoors.  Spring is a busy time for all of creation as we awaken from our deep winter's sleep.

Being An Advocate & Making Progress

Yesterday I attended an event sponsored in part by the League of Michigan Bicyclists.  It was an advocacy day in the State capitol with pre-arranged meetings with State legislators and informational exchanges.  The day begun with a bike ride from a pre-arranged meeting place and ride to the capitol, registration, meeting with other members of your delegation and information about meeting with the legislators and it was off to meetings with them, followed by announcements, awards a lunch and bike tour of the capitol.   I made it to everything except the bike rides, instead meeting up with the group under a tent on the lawn of the Capitol Building.  The day promised rain and true to it's prediction we had sprinkles on and off all morning and early afternoon. I would have really enjoyed the ride and the camaraderie that would have ensued from that, but there will be other times and places for that.   It wouldn't be the first time I've admitted that I'm a fair weather rider.

The real meat of the event was in the meetings with our State Representatives.  From my past history of having served as Township Supervisor I already knew both our current State Representative Gretchen Driskell and the State Senator representing my area Rebecca Warren.  Gretchen and I had served together on several  boards in Washtenaw County when I was Supervisor and she was Mayor of Saline.  As well, I had known Rebecca since she was a State Representative from Ann Arbor and her husband serves on the County Board of Commissioners and we have had opportunities to work together on common goals.  The agenda put forward by the LMB was to make legislators aware of issues high on the list or priorities for LMB and the other participating cycling advocacy groups.  Highlights of the priorities are;

• Protecting vulnerable roadway users by establishing enhanced penalties for injuring or killing cyclists.
• Establishing a standard for safe passing of bicyclists on Michigan roads.
• Revising the right turn hand signal to make an extended right arm legal in Michigan.
• Allowing bicyclists to bypass malfunctioning traffic lights.
• Supporting a new Michigan trails and greenways license plate to fund local trail projects.
• Preventing the Raid on Natural Resources Trust Fund Dollars Available for Trails Projects.
• Adequately funding safe transportation infrastructure that supports multi-modal use.

It was great to be in a position of advocacy and particularly so since I felt a real connection to both legislators.  Senator Warren was instrumental in helping us to secure permitting for phase I of the non motorized path project which was my pet project while Supervisor.  She had been in attendance at our ribbon cutting for the path when it opened, so she was very aware of my passion for the subject matter and Representative Driskell had been in attendance of several transportation meetings where I reported on the progress of our path from it's inception to it's current state.  I thoroughly enjoyed the day and the opportunity for our collective voices to be heard.  A link to the LMB information about the Lucinda Means Bicycle Advocacy Day is here.

Driving home I reflected on my goals for riding in 2013 that I posted here, and realized that I am slowly making progress on this year's goals, almost without thinking.  When creating the list I wanted to take on an advocacy project and this day certainly qualified for that.  I also mulled over wanting to go further and faster and my rides and training are making progress toward those goals.  My mileage per ride is increasing as well as my speed.  My goal is to work toward a 40 mile ride and it's going to happen with a series of 20-25 and 30 mile rides.  Pushing harder gears allows me to gobble up those miles faster.  Pushing myself on hills is like interval training and that will make me stronger and when I am stronger I will be faster.  My last ride averaged 9 MPH over my longest distance yet this year of 23+ miles.  It's a great feeling to challenge yourself physically and mentally like this and the results are rewarding in many ways.  Success feeds on success and right about now I'm feeling pretty successful. 

Considering my frame of mind just a few short weeks ago I find myself very grateful indeed to our loving God who has helped to bring me to the place I currently am. 

Here are some photos of the day in Lansing!

Dinosaur Bones Under Them Thar Waves!

I've been itching for a new adventure and get bored with doing the same routes.  The consequence is that I get further and further from home to find them.  I'd been reading about two rail trails west of home and looking for a good day with an open agenda for the afternoon as I knew the ride out in my vehicle would be over an hour each way and the bike ride would likely be 2-3 hours.  I chose the Falling Water Trail from Jackson, Michigan to Concord, Michigan.  Often rail-trails can be boring, this one was not.  For starters, it was the widest rail trail or any bike trail I've ever seen.  The signage is high quality, points of historical interest are noted with signs and the passing scenery is varied.  There are places where it's wide open with fields, pastures and farms and densely wooded sections with a nice canopy above.  There's a creek that runs alongside the path in certain sections and closer to Concord there is a mill pond that the creek flows through.  And the path traverses a narrow strip of land separating two lakes.

The paved rail bed divides two lakes called Lime Lake.  According to signage at a little picnic stop alongside Lime Lake, they were created when there was dredging done to extract marl used in making cement.  That marl was shipped as far as Detroit, Cement City, Petoskey and Union City. Rail road cars were loaded onto a scow and taken to a parked barge and a large contraption scooped the marl from the lake bottom, loaded it onto the boxcars and those were then hand winched onto the rail for shipping. Among some of the goop that was culled from the lake bottom, dinosaur bones were found!  I'd stopped lakeside for a couple of photos and to read the signs, looked out over the wind blown lake and mulled over giant dinosaurs roaming the area.  I'm glad that was a long time ago and the most wildlife I saw were about a dozen chipmunks, the quick glimpse of a red fox and the white tail of a whitetail deer as it disappeared into the woods.  I must have been gaping around at the sky and missed it crossing the trail.  As hot as it was today I expected to see nothing but birds, ducks and geese.  Wildlife can surprise you at times.  And boy was it a hot one!  Temps climbed up to 90 F.  It may have gotten hotter in Jackson because it's pretty central in the state and far away from the cooling winds off the Great Lakes.

While I might have had a fair amount of free time today, I sure picked the hottest day we've had yet.  We've slingshot-ted straight past spring and into the heat of summer!  But, storms are on the way and we will probably return to seasonal temps in the next couple of days.

I had plenty of hydration and in the little town of Concord I was able to get fresh bottled water and a Gatorade which was just exactly what I needed for the return trip back to the vehicle.  A rest stop to freshen up with a bit of a wash up and running lots of cool water on my arms and wrists made me a new woman.  It came just in the nick of time because I felt myself beginning to get overheated.  In addition to that I had a bit of water that was too warm to drink in my water bottle and since I had plenty of cool drinks to add to it I dumped the remainder over my head and it was enough to soak my hair and shirt collar.  That felt good!  A wet head and shirt top kept me cooled off for a good portion of the return trip.

Although the trail appeared flat as a pancake, when looking over the stats from the ride I found that there was over 280 feet of climbing.  Using the Map My Ride app for my phone, I turn it on when I set out and off when I return and my ride gets mapped online through the app complete with all kinds of stats.   Looking over the route I noticed that there was a significant rise in the latter 2/3's of the ride going outbound and of course that same rise showed up inbound.  I was wondering why I felt so suddenly challenged and attributed it to the heat, but now I know better.  It's funny how the eyes can be deceived like that, it must have been the contour over a large area so it didn't look noticeable. My legs knew it.

A link to the route can be found here  and there are a few photos from the trail below and you can read about the dinosaur comments on one of the signs.  On my next big venture I'll have to go out further to the Kal-Haven trail which takes you from Kalamazoo clear to Lake Michigan.

There's dinosaur bones under them thar waves!

Lime Lake

Trail Head at Concord, Michigan