Thursday, May 13, 2010

Time for an update...

Mothers Day off road ride.


Mileage to date:
Distance - 2,155 miles
YTD rides - 54
Ride time - 132:15:49

Man, I guess I have been busy and realized it has been about a month since I last updated the Blog. Spring has decided to act like Spring and we are now in a pattern of heavy rain and quirky weather. Since I am a lightweight when it comes to riding in crappy weather I have been planning my rides around the weather. For me, essential rest days are welcome when it's raining cats and dogs.


A few weeks back I was on a training ride on the road bike when I found myself hammering at the bottom of a long decent as I approached a railroad crossing. Rather than use good judgment and slow down prior to crossing I decided to try and bunny-hop the crossing. I cleared about 95% of the tracks. Long story short I jacked up my wheel and limped home. Until the wheel was fixed it forced me to take out the mountain bike for some back road training. I realized that mixing up the bikes had a benefit that put some fun back into the daily rides. During the Spring thaw I was forced to train on the road but my route options were limited to a few SAFE 40-50 mile loops that served their purpose. When I was forced to hit the dirt roads I realized there were endless route options and I found myself venturing further North and West. I mapped out a great 25 mile route to the Hudson Mills Metro park and Pinckney Recreation Area, home of the Potowatamie trail. Here are a few images from the rides:

I rode the Poto single track:

I chased an Eastern Massasauga rattlesnake:

I stumbled upon the U of M Peach Mountain observatory:



Mohican 100 is coming fast...