Sometimes we fall.....again

On a beautiful evening at Pontiac Lake Recreation Area, I fell down; and hard! This fall ranks up there with the spill I had on a hill at the Porcupine Mountain Ski Area in the Upper Peninsula about 14 or so years ago (had to get a few stitches on that one). Pontiac Lake has quite a few rocks and tree roots throughout and with the recent dry spell in the area, the terrain was pretty rough. I was about halfway through the loop when one of the many rocks on the trail grabbed my front tire and threw me over the handlebars. It felt like I was sliding on pavement. It was a lung grabber to say the least. My front rim, which was recently replaced, was bent pretty well. Besides the body scrapes and the initial lack of air in my lungs, however, no hospital visits were needed. I was able to get my rim to somewhat of a condition where I could pedal my sorry behind back to the parking lot. The cuts will eventually heal and I’ll be back riding next week for some more fun!

Have a great weekend.

Trail Head

Lake Chemung

Can this weather be any better? Jim and I just couldn’t let a day like this go away without an outing on Lake Chemung in Brighton. Jim’s boat, The Red Rocket, was running like a gem. Okay, maybe that is a slight exaggeration, but Captain Jim has had some extensive experience with that motor and had it going pretty well. The fish were nibbling but only a few were brought aboard. There weren’t any keepers but it really didn’t matter; it was a great utopia feeling on this Wednesday evening.

Trail Head

Island Lake - Extra Strength Off! Needed

It was quite a turnout this past Thursday at Island Lake Recreation Area. Eric, Jim, Mark, Trig, myself, and about two million mosquitoes made it out on a beautiful, crisp, Michigan evening. The ride was enjoyable but once you stopped, the ‘skeeters were looking for blood and they got me pretty good. I read that over the Labor Day weekend, southern Michigan experienced a large hatch of small, aggressive mosquitoes (a little Mr. Science today). This type of mosquito apparently has a rapid development rate. You would think the mild weather would scare them off but these were mosquitoes on steroids. It didn’t matter if you were in the sun, the shade, in the woods, or standing in the middle of a parking lot; they found you.

Anyway, it was good catching up with everybody and hearing stories about bathroom visits gone bad (very bad), instant babies, and women not giving clear signals (why do they do that?).

That is all for now. Go MSU! My Michigan-Notre Dame prediction is a tie, 0-0. It's going to be ugly!

Trail Head

Angus - Big Fire Hydrant in the Sky

I'm sorry to report that I lost one of my friends this past weekend. My old dog Angus, who I owned and raised in his early years on earth, had a twisted bowel that took him down. Apparently it is a common and serious problem with deep-chested dogs that weigh over 70 pounds (he was closer to 100) and are between 5 and 8 years old.

I got Angus as a puppy from a breeder in Saline back in February of 2001. I was there during his growing years and boy did he grow. I gave him away a couple years ago to a great family up in Almont, Shelly and Rob Karjala. I just couldn't give the rambunctious fellow the time and running room he needed and it worked out for the best. The Karjala's had ten acres in addition to another dog, Jodi (they eventually got a third dog, Lucy). I couldn't ask for a better situation for my bro. I went and visited him last year around Christmas and he still had that grin on his face like he always did. The two pictures below are from that visit.

What a great dog he was. I remember taking him out on a canoe in Canada when he was a puppy and finding out quickly that he could in fact swim (he jumped in). He was tackling Lake Erie like it was nothing. While he tried and tried again to catch a squirrel, he never did capture the furry ones. He was a trooper in going on runs with me, posing for Christmas cards, hanging in the car, and besides throwing his 100 pounds on a high five to a three year old, the kids loved him. Heck, who couldn't love him?

Goodbye friend.

Trail Head

Chippewa River

On a beautiful weekend, Al, Greg, Mike, and I ventured up to Mt. Pleasant to tackle the mighty rapids of the Chippewa River. Al, Greg, and I rode up together on Friday night and met up with Mike at the Bird Bar & Grill later that evening. Greg tried to go with his professional fisherman alias but got called out when someone asked for his card. I would think that was the last thing he'd get asked but oh well. We ventured into some old hangouts but found out most are now much different or just under new names. We went into Tom's Foolery which is now called Rubbles. The place hadn't changed much. It still is a great place to see some live music in that the band is right on the crowd. We also ventured over to Sir Richard's Pub that I didn't even recognize when we walked up to it. It used to be small and cozy; it is now part pub and part night club with a giant area opened up on the north side of the building for dancing. Friday must not be a big night for them because the night club side was a ghost town. The evening wouldn't have been complete without a trip to the Wayside, however, they wanted $4 cover at 1:30 in the morning. As the Miller High Life commercial says, "$4 cover at 1:30 in the morning, y'all must be crazy!" That isn't living the high life. Another bar is now right behind the Wayside, O'Kelly's, which is a nice sports bar with many large televisions. We had our fill there, had a late night/early morning snack at the Little Chef and called it a night.

Saturday morning came quickly but it was all good. Around noon, we hit the Chippewa River Outfitters, just west of campus, for our float down the Chippewa. You couldn't ask for a better day to be out and silly. While there were a few "wo, wo, wo's!!!" to report when the rocks made an appearance on the river, there were no spills to report I am happy to say. Al was ready to take Greg down with him but Greg would have none of that and they got through a minor hiccup without a problem. Mike and I went through a few tree branches but we persevered through it all. Al was king daddy on the fishing circuit. He hit well over double digits with a mix of small mouth and rock bass. Nothing of much size but fun altogether. Our three hour tour turned closer to four plus hours but we didn't care. Everything was great.

With a lack of food in our bellies, we headed to Mountain Town Station Brewing Co. & Steakhouse for dinner. A great meal it was in addition to watching U-M lose (again). We ventured back to O'Kellys to watch the Tiger game. I had all intentions of whooping it up some more but with the big meal, I was fighting nap time in the bar, which is sad. I fought through until the end of the Tiger game but unfortunately had to call it a night at that time and walk back to the hotel. With the three tenors snoring beside me, there wasn't too much sleep to be found that night. Not a problem though.

The weekend was complete with opening game festivites at the Ochs' residence. The inflatable Lion was soaring proudly. Yes, the Raiders blow but as we chanted a couple years ago at the Lions-Browns game in Cleveland, "we suck less!"

All in all, it was a great weekend. It's too bad others couldn't have joined us but I guess we'll try to gather a posse again in the near future.

Trail Head

Lakeshore Park

It was a muggy one on the trails at Lakeshore Park in Novi last night. The trail was in great shape but unfortunately my bike wasn’t. Trying to shift was not a pretty sight or sound with my cable in sorry shape. Needless to say I’m heading to the bike shop tonight. I was on a mission to not get passed and did just that with a group of jersey-wearing twenty-somethings bearing down on me that eventually swerved off on a short cut. A victory for the thirty-somethings (I get to use that phrase for two more months)!!

It’s off to Mt. Pleasant this weekend for some canoeing down the mighty Chippewa River with some friends. Taos, New Mexico resident and former Chippewa Mark Richert, who has fished quite a few places throughout the world, claims that the Chip River is at the top of his list of locations for fishing. Crazy but true. We’ll supply a report on the results next week. Have a great weekend.

Trail Head