Vermontville

While this entry has nothing to do with mountain biking, I thought it would be a travesty if I didn't mention the annual Vermontville Maple Syrup

festival. Mother Nature delivered a beautiful day in this sleepy little town about 20 miles southwest of Lansing. Friends tell me the name "Vermontville" was brought about by settlers originally from Vermont that moved to Michigan and wanted to create a town with the feel of Vermont. Hence the name Vermontville.

The town was buzzing with folks from the area and many (many) motorcyclists from outside the area. The attached picture gives a hint to how many motorcycles were in attendance. People lined the streets for the parade with views of the Maple Syrup court, bands, Shriners in go-carts, and many, many tractors. The local viewing was also quite entertaining with a nice visual of a "tramp stamp" owner (see attached picture) pushing the baby stroller. How nice.

The annual tradition of the veteran cycle rider (very veteran) riding his military motorcycle through Roadrunners bar was quite a scene. The "festival-ers" were all in great spirits watching this spectacle go down before their eyes. While I did get a large dose of the exhaust pipe fumes, I unfortunately was not able to catch this experience on film. Maybe next year.

If you are looking for a great little festival with a mix of small town America and some outstanding people watching, look no further than Vermontville. Put it on your calendars for next year.

Trail Head

Sometimes It Rains

On a dreary Thursday, Mark, Gus, and I got to Brighton Recreation Area with hopes that the rain that soaked the Great Lakes area would subside for an hour or so to allow us to hit the trails. Around 4:00, it looked liked it might happen as the rain stopped and the conditions were improving. Maybe Zod "the party god" was looking down on us? As 6:00 approached, however, it was not to be as the rain started up again. What to do? Grab the rain gear and let's ride!

We took off on the Murray Lake Trail with no intentions of hitting Torn Shirt or the "Lost Trail" that runs off of Murray. The rain was coming down pretty good and whatever we could get in would be a bonus. Mark had a nice little spill and almost cleared the handlebars but was able to compose himself just enough and avoid the major fall. The first half of the trail was good but the bikes started to "mud up" pretty well on the latter portion. Eric had yet another flat tire (those heavy duty tires were a nice purchase) but luckily it was in the last quarter mile or so of the trail. The bikes weren't the only thing getting muddy. In the attached picture, my socks at the beginning of the ride were white.

The one bonus of riding in the rain is nobody else is out there. As you can see in the attached picture, parking was not a problem. Besides one motorcycle sighting (why he was riding his motorcycle down a dirt road in the rain, I'll never know) and a guy taking his dog out for a walk, there wasn't a soul to be seen.

The rain subsided after we got off the trail. It actually turned out to be a nice evening. Jim "Mr. Roho" Munson made an appearance. After humorous stories of sandwich bad usage and sweating out the bad stuff in our bodies (had to be there), it was time to go help Jim move his old couch because he had recently bought new furniture. Did I mention the couch was a hide-a-bed and did I mention it had to be moved down the basement? After getting the couch to the entry way of the basement that is kind of an "L" turn from the stairs and tilting it every which way, it was determined that this couch was not going to make it in the basement. Back up the stairs we go! Jim now has a couch in his garage. If anybody needs a nice couch, Jim has one for sale. Don't call me to move it, however. Christine Munson was gracious enough to buy us movers a pizza and we watched the Red Wings lose game one to San Jose (where were the fans?).

We'll be at Pontiac Lake next week. Come and ride or come and fish. Go Pistons, Wings, and Tigers. Matt Millen, I hope your dart board draft picks work out well this year.

Sincerely,

Trail Head

Opening Day

It was a beautiful evening at Island Lake for the opening ride of 2007. No falls to report.

The trail was in great shape, however, it appears the rangers have a little too much time on their hands or they found some extra money in the trail budget. A few of the somewhat "ball breaking" hills have been re-routed and aren't as challenging as in the past. As my body aches have increased in recent years, I shouldn't complain too much. Another trail tweak is the abundance of mile markers. What is the need for having mile markers that quote quarter mile increments? That is a bit much. A great trail overall though in getting the blood moving and seeing some great views of the river with the trees still waiting to bloom. Saw what I believe to be the remnants of a controlled fire on the long loop. I saw something similar in that area a couple years back. I'm not an agricultural guru so anybody who knows about these things, educate me. No wildlife sightings besides the birds.

The post ride is always good people watching and there were no exceptions this Thursday. A couple next to us pretty much had a cheese and wine picnic in the back of the fella's car. I don't think the perspiration beneath the mountain bike shorts is anything to get close to romantically but if that is your thing, have at it.

We'll be at Brighton next week. Mike Giroux, if we have a "hold 'em" game after riding, will that get you out there? Sad.

Have a good weekend. Enjoy the sports smorgasbord tomorrow. Tigers at 1. Wings at 3, and the Pistons at 7. I'm hyperventilating just thinking about it.

Trail Head

Riding Schedule

Riding starts at 6 p.m. Time and locations subject to change.

April 19-Island Lake
April 26-Brighton
May 3-Pontiac Lake
May 10-Milford
May 17-Highland
May 24-Island Lake
May 31-Brighton
June 7-Pontiac Lake
June 14-Lakeshore Park/Novi Tree Farm
June 21-Highland
June 28-Island Lake
July 5-Brighton
July 12-Pontiac Lake
July 19-rider's choice
July 26-Maybury
August 2-Highland
August 9-Island Lake
August 16-Brighton
August 23-Pontiac Lake
August 30-Holdridge/Holly Rec
September 6-Highland
September 13-Island Lake
September 20-Brighton
September 27-Pontiac Lake
October 4-banquet (location TBD)


The majority of riding this year will be recreational only. There will be select dates throughout the year noted as competitive rides. Those dates will be selected by the masses a week in advance. A trail can only have one competitive ride unless waived by the commissioner (me).

For competitive rides only (some rules created due to excessive crying):
--the first back to their vehicle with the consumption (one sip) of their beverage wins
--use of the ground for beverage placement prior to riding will not be allowed
--the beverage must be placed in some form of a cooler and be in the vehicle or the truck bed
--meeting points within the ride (i.e., meet at the beginning of 'B' loop) must be agreed upon prior to the beginning of the ride
--side wagers are allowed during non-sanctioned rides

Thanks,

Trail Head

Welcome!

Welcome to the 2007 riding season. I hope you all had an enjoyable winter and have your bicycles ready for action.

I will use this space to update the riding activity, document some crashes, post some pictures, call out donkey-ness, and whatever else I feel like writing about.

I have attached a link to the MMBA, which has some nice trail condition summaries, and a link to weather.com, as I know some of you have a passion for watching the doppler.

Hope to see you all out on the trails. If you can't make it out, make sure you enjoy the great outdoors in some fashion this year.

Sincerely,

Trail Head