View From 10,000 Feet - Incredible

For someone who, in his very early years, was afraid of standing next to the Gateway Arch and was terrified of getting on the Boblo Boat, I never thought in my wildest dreams I would ever be skydiving. Well, this past Saturday I did just that and all I can is WOW!!! I made the reservation a couple weeks ago and hadn't told a soul about it. I thought for sure I would bow out at the last second so why tell anyone if it wasn't going to happen. There were quite a few crazy thoughts going through my mind for those two weeks. What does 10,000 feet exactly look like while falling? Will I pass out on the jump? Will I soil myself? Will I hurl?
I was originally supposed to jump on Friday but they called me on Wednesday and advised the pilot had personal business so I got pushed to Saturday. Making me wait one more day to think about the jump is all I needed. Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well on Friday night. Saturday morning came and I was ready. I had myself psyched up and was ready for my 9:00 AM jump. I got out there feeling pretty good. There was me, a boyfriend/girlfriend combo, and four 20-21 year old fellas also ready to jump.

The instructor, Pete (pictured below), gave us a 15 minute review of what would go down on the jump and the positions we would need to remember. The boyfriend/girlfriend combo had an 8:00 AM reservation so they went first. The plane took off and came down shortly thereafter because the fog and low clouds in the area hadn't lifted. With that, we had to wait out the weather a bit. I was all ready for my jump at nine but would have to wait it out. This was all I needed, more time to think about jumping (or not jumping). At about 11:00 AM, the boyfriend/girlfriend combo took off for the skies. Two tandem jumpers were all the plane could hold at one time. About 15 minutes later, you could see the plane and damn it was looking mighty small way up there. I saw the free fall and my heart started pumping quite fast. Holy shit. The boyfriend/girlfriend combo made it down in one piece and looked pretty giddy on the ground. Next up was the 20-21 year old dudes and I thought for sure one of them would bail at the last second because they were talking some pretty good trash while we were waiting for the fog/clouds to clear. All four made it down in one piece. I'm up!

With my tough looking purple jump suit (ha, ha), I told myself it was now or never and got into the plane with instructor Pete and an experienced jumper named Cinderella (seriously, that was her name) who was jumping on her own. I sat next to the door with my back to Pete and my knees tucked into my chest. I was chomping on my gum pretty good. I surprisingly, however, wasn't as nervous as I was when I was on the ground. It helped also that Pete got me talking about things totally unrelated to the jump. Then it was time to open the door. Now the heart really got going. I had to lift my left leg out onto this small step outside the plane and repeat with the right one. Pete gave a little push and out we went. Ahhhhhhhh!!!!! For the two weeks leading up to the jump, I thought for sure I would close my eyes during the free fall but didn't and I must say 120 miles an hour is quite a lot of wind in your face. The free fall was about 30 seconds but it felt much faster and was probably the funnest part of the whole process. Next up is the parachute opening. Please open! The parachute opening sounded like a gun going off. I thought you get shot up in the air when the parachute opens but you more or less just kind of put the brakes on. Once that opens, you are floating on air with some great views of the country side. I got to steer the parachute a bit during the drop which was kind of fun. Tug on the left cord and you go left. We did some 360 turns in the air but nothing too crazy. The airport was below and it was time to land. I did a nice butt shag and we made it back to earth. Woooo Hoooo!!!! The amazing part of this is Pete had his portable camera on me the whole time, even during the free fall. You pay a little extra to have it taped and moved to DVD but it was worth every penny. The attached pictures from the dive were actually from the tape they made because I couldn't bring my camera with me. The picture on the ground was right after getting back to earth. Nice shit-ass grin, eh? And of course I couldn't forget the Rob S. two thumbs up salute any chance I could.

That is all.

Trail Head

Pinckney Recreation Area - The Potawatomi

I had Friday off so I thought I would venture out to the granddaddy of all trails in the metropolitan Detroit area, the Potawatomi Trail within Pinckney State Recreation Area. The trail is 17.5 miles and you feel every one of them. The first 10 miles are pretty much the worse. The trail map even makes a reference to the grind when it notes "serious hills" in one section of the trail. To make the ride even more interesting, the horse flies decided to make an appearance after the rain that came through the area Thursday night. They were nasty!! If you stopped for a second to collect your thoughts, you had about a dozen of them all around you. Ahhhh!!!! They got my back pretty well. I was so bogue (is that a word?) after the ride I walked into the lake with all my riding gear, including my boots. Very refreshing.

I remember the first time a bunch of us came out here about 15 or so years ago. We were still early into the serious mountain bike scene but thought we could conquer anything. We weren't prepared and the trail kicked us in the rear end. Gordie M. was riding with us back then and was cramping up something fierce in his legs. He was doing squats on the trail while we were all crying for water because we didn't bring enough. I lesson learned I guess.

Talk to you later.

Trail Head

Proud Lake Recreation Area

This past Thursday Eric and I rode a new trail on the circuit, Proud Lake Recreation Area. I had read on the MMBA web site about the improvements made to the trail system there so I thought I'd give it a try. There had always been trails but they weren't ever biker friendly.

The park has four loops, however, they are kind of scattered out and you have to keep your eyes open for signs, if you can decipher the signs. Most of them are for the horse trails with a few noting where the bike trails are headed. The map I pulled from the MMBA site was pretty much hand written so we kind of winged it on the ride with a few turnarounds. We started out on loop two which wasn't too bad; some nice turns and ridge rides throughout. The area has to be filled with deer during the fall and I'll bet there are quite a few hunters that make it out here. After completing loop two, we had to hunt out loop three but eventually saw the sign for that and got going to avoid the bugs that were starting to make an appearance. Loop three is called the "Loop of Pain." Besides a few hills, I didn't think it was too bad and felt more pain at Highland or Pontiac Lake. Loop three lets out on a dirt road and we were again searching for signs to either loop four or the parking lot. After about a quarter mile on the dirt road, we came upon loop four but decided to venture back towards the parking lot; if we could find it. My map said to stay to the right on the trail to head back to the trailhead and that is what we did, however, doing so lead us into "swampville." With that, if you are ever riding the trail and come upon Russell's Bridge, you are going the wrong way. We eventually made it back to the parking lot for post ride soda pops. Overall, the trail has some nice views in the woods but needs more signs and more riders. Having the loops connect would also be a plus. Lastly, look out for the horse doo doo. I'll probably come back in the fall for a repeat ride because I'll bet the many trees in the area are quite a view during the color time. That is all my friends.

Trail Head

Detroit Tour

This past weekend I embraced the city of Detroit. I figure they take roughly $700 out of my paycheck for taxes every year; I might as well see what I’m paying for. I was planning on heading home after having a few cocktails with a co-worker Friday night, however, my watch said 8:30 and The Guess Who was playing behind the RenCen as part of the free concert series held there during the summer. With that, I walked over to give a listen. I was expecting maybe 200 people but the patio area behind the RenCen was packed. In addition, there were about 20 boats that anchored nearby. It was some outstanding people watching. If you had ever witnessed the scene at Catalina Lanes in Highland (since closed) when there was some live music going, those same people were in attendance on Friday. One motley crew. Anyway, there were only two original members of the original band and they weren’t Burton Cummings or Randy Bachman. The guy who sang, however, sounded pretty darn good. I only stayed for a few songs but “Star Baby,” “Bus Rider,” and “Laughing,” sounded great.

Doke and I bought some standing room only tickets for Saturday night’s Tiger game. While walking over to the park on one of the side streets, I heard “Tim Reeves” shouted a couple of times. Who the heck would I run into on this side street, away from the normal flow of traffic? It was my sister and niece (who live in Detroit) coming back from dinner with my folks. Crazy. The game was great with the Tigers taking the game in the 10th. While I wouldn’t call myself extremely tall, being 6’2” does have its advantages when dealing with standing room only tickets. We took in quite a few viewing areas and at one time I was eye-balling some Tiger Den VIP seats but that vision quickly soured when I saw two people sit in them that were quickly “shooed” away. Oh well.

Have a good week.

Trail Head

Biker Bill

It was off to the Milford Trail this past Thursday evening. While waiting for Eric to get his bike ready, I ran into the guy who creates and maintains the trails, Biker Bill (or Builder Bill as he is also referred to on the MMBA site). I didn’t know it was him until he asked if I had ridden the trail before and what I thought of it. I gave him my two cents that the trail is nice but lacks straight-aways to get some speed going. His buddy chuckled and agreed with me. He then told me he was the one who designed it and I came back with “you are Biker Bill! (pictured-on the left)” He advised he enjoys doing it but hates to deal with the politics involved in getting more trails created. He is currently trying to get some of the trails that run near Kensington connected into the park but the bureaucrats have been putting up a fight with him. It seems like a great way to get more exposure for the park but the suits apparently don’t get it.

Jim joined us after the ride. After we couldn’t come up with an invention for Jim to become a millionaire (make one thing that sells for a $1 profit and sell a million of them), we met up with some friends at O’Callaghan’s in downtown Milford. It’s crazy being in that bar because it conjures up some memories of the old Red Dog. Whether it being Rob’s sister bringing her baby in the bar to yell at her husband (baby in the bar!) or watching Tim V. piss strangers off because he was dominating them in pool, it was all good. While in there, I ran into Brian Hamilton, a fellow former Hickory Ridge resident. He just moved back into the area after a short stint in Virginia with his wife. He and some friends were coming from a floor hockey league nearby. Floor hockey at our age sounds like a lot of fun. Welcome back to God’s country Brian.

That is all my friends.

Trail Head

Pink Bike Rack-Follow Up

It was reported here a few weeks back of a certain pink bike rack that I thought belonged to Eric but this past Thursday I met the owner of that very same bike rack (pictured). With that, my apologies for any erroneous reporting; I just assumed it was the one Eric owns. The owner of the bike rack advised me she frequents Island Lake quite a bit and loves the pink rack because it’s one of a kind. I’ll have to put Island Lake on my circuit a little more often.

Anyway, the Thursday ride was enjoyable. I only fell once and I am embarrassed to say it happened when I was taking off from a complete stop at the second loop. Another group was also heading out and they told us to go first because I assume they thought we looked like experienced bikers. I go to pedal and whoop, down I go. A little bruise to the ego but I pedaled on. One dude in their group had a one piece spandex leotard-type riding outfit on. Not a good visual. The trail was incredibly sandy in certain areas but no major complaints here. Earlier in the ride, we were riding near some houses and got a whiff of some locals “wacky tobacky” that the northern winds blew at us. They aren’t too bashful with their smoking in Green Oak Township.

After the ride, Eric and I went over to Jim’s house and played his exercise/video driving game (pictured). The set up is pretty wild. You have to pedal with your hands to get the car to move. By the time you have run the course and completed the game, your arms are pretty tired. I only did it once (didn’t do too well) and was pretty whipped after that. It is a pretty cool invention, however, in getting folks to exercise and have some fun at the same time.

That is all for now my friends. Think good thoughts.

Trail Head

Ludington

I probably sound like a broken record but it was

yet another outstanding weekend here in Michigan. This past weekend was spent in Ludington at John/Linda Ochs' household on beautiful Hackert Lake (called Crystal Lake by some).

Al, Greg, and Jim were finishing up a Friday night fish outing when I arrived and we threw some cards. Al brought a treat for the game, an ice cold mini-keg of Heineken which we consumed pretty quickly and was quite delicious. Al was the big winner in cards with yours truly also on the positive side.

Rob came in Saturday morning from his Big Whiskey residence in Irons, about 30 miles to the north. The group set out to tackle Hamlin Lake which is right near the banks of Lake Michigan and Ludington State Park. The lake is quite large with ample room for fisherman to work their magic without too much interaction with the speed/pontoon boats. The morning started slowly for Greg, Rob, and I until Rob showed his Team Hawkeye pride and got on the board. We all ended up getting our fair share of fish. Not much on size but fun all the same. I was whipping my Wacky Worm out there pretty well (sounds nice, eh?) but whipped it one time so hard that my line broke along with the end piece of my fishing rod. I now had a half of a pole with no eyelets to string my line through and didn’t bring another pole. What to do? While I was enjoying my soda pop (I had a few by this time), the pop top piece looked liked something I could use so I tore that off the can and forced it down my fishing rod. Boom, instant mini-pole! Greg and Rob got a few chuckles as they watched me cast because it was an ugly scene trying to throw it out there. A few minutes later, who got the next fish? None other than yours truly with the mini-pole (pictured)! It wasn’t a big fish but I really didn’t mind at this point. The conquest made it worthwhile.

We headed back to John/Linda’s house after the fish for some chill time and met up with Wendy and the Schmitt boys, Jacob and Curtis. While I was watering the side of John’s garage (use your imagination), who pulls up but none other than John and Linda coming home from a visit to their daughter in Pennsylvania. What a nice sight they had as their first impression of how Greg was keeping up the house. I was still watering when they pulled up so I just smiled and waved. Welcome home! Nice facilities you have here. They are good people.

After a great meal, John took everyone out on his pontoon boat for a leisure cruise on the lake. As the evening wore on, we ventured down by John’s dock, listened to the Tiger game and talked about this and that. Right out of the blue, SPLASH!!! Was it a fish jumping around in the water? What was it? It was Laura O. who had fallen off the dock into the water. I’m sorry the camera wasn’t running for that one. I heard she had a repeat performance later on but I was out for the night by that time.

Hanging with friends is a good thing.

Trail Head

Hickory Glen Park--July 4th

In celebration of my independence (it is a good thing); I rode a new trail on the circuit, Hickory Glen Park in Commerce Township this past Wednesday. The park is off of Glengary Road just north of Wolverine Lake. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I had only read about the trail on the Internet but I must say it is a hidden jewel and will more than likely be ridden again on the circuit. The trail heads north from Glengary Road and takes you to the edge of Oakley Park Road before returning back. There are no major ball breaking hills and the switchbacks aren’t too out of control as the Milford Trail does. You have to keep your eyes open during the ride because the trail does have some crossings but is well marked. Well maintained overall.

While enjoying a cold beverage after the ride, I encountered a father-son tandem playing some baseball on one of the ball fields in the park (pictured). There is nothing wrong with playing a little catch with your father but from what I could see/hear, this was more of a practice, which is sad. The kid couldn’t have been more than nine or ten, which is pretty much the age when real little league baseball (no tee ball) begins. It is a fun time for a kid but unfortunately, this parent was taking that away. I may be wrong in my observation but I could sense this was a parent

who somehow got screwed in his youth sports career and wanted so bad for his kid not to repeat it that he has him out there shagging balls on July 4th when the kid could be playing with his friends. I was fortunate in that my father played catch with me for no other reason than he loved to throw the baseball or football. There was no coaching but it was kind of funny when my dad would do his football cadence (i.e., hut, hut, hut) when I would go long for a pass. And my dad threw a pretty mean spiral. I experienced a few father-son combos in high school that I think impacted the final product on the field/court. When a father tells “Bobby” that he is “all world” and that the coaching is the problem, that can only lead to bad things and I think it showed in the final product on some of our teams. Sad, but

true. That is my commentary for today.

Have a great weekend.

Gus' Bike Rack

On a beautiful Michigan summer evening, Mark and I rode Island Lake this past Thursday. While our third rider, Gus, was no where to be seen, somehow his SWEET pink bike rack (pictured) was in the parking lot. That is one hot rack E! His bike rack wasn’t the only odd sighting on this pre-holiday ride. Another rider parked his mini-barn in the parking lot during his ride with some farm animals making all sorts of noises inside. Thankfully it wasn’t too hot outside or I would have had to break down the door to get those poor animals out of there. With the rain that hit a few days earlier, you would think the trail would have been damp and packed down but it was like riding on the beach in quite a few spots it was so sandy. Besides a few “wo, wo’s” while riding through the sandy areas, there were no wipeouts to report. The grill made an appearance in celebration of the pre-July 4th festivities. Good brats!

Because I was out of town for Father’s Day, I treated my dad to a round of golf at Bay Pointe on Friday. There is the saying when someone hasn’t done something in awhile, they say “I’ll have to dust off….” I hadn’t played in over a year so I literally had to dust off my golf bag and the clubs after pulling them out of the depths of my garage. My golf glove looked like it had been soaked in starch it was so stiff. Needless to say, it was quite a display by yours truly. I managed to get a few pars but along with those were a handful of sevens and eights. My favorite golf memory would have been about fifteen years ago when my dad and I were golfing with some others. We were near a pond and another group hit a ball near us. The guy who hit the ball asked whomever to throw the ball back to him, over the pond. The pond was maybe twenty yards long. My dad, thinking he still had the old high school football hero arm, picked up the ball and heaved it with all intentions of getting it back to the guy. The ball fell right in the middle of the pond. Sorry! I still chuckle to this day thinking of that.

After Friday’s golfing exhibition, I met up with Greg and Jim at Pontiac Lake for some evening fishing. While Jim and I probably lost about a half a dozen fish that were on (bad hook set), Greg showed us rookies how it’s done and pulled in probably ten or so. No behemoths to report. I ended up with one pike and Jim got a couple of green fish. Nice evening.

Saturday night was firework central in the White Lake/Highland areas. Highland was having their “Sparks in the Park” off of Hickory Ridge Rd. and White Lake was having theirs on the lake itself. Jim, Christine, and I went to Sue McCauley’s house on White Lake as she was having a gathering. While pictures can’t do justice, there must have been at least a hundred boats out there for the occasion. While we were hanging and waiting for the show, you could hear what sounded like live music coming from the lake. About five minutes later, here comes a pontoon boat/barge with three guys floating around the lake with their amps plugged in doing their version of “Freebird” and not sounding too bad. God bless America!

That is all for now. Enjoy your freedom.

Trail Head