Poker Run

My first motorcycle poker run was quite enjoyable. The premise of the poker run is you ride to different locations where an individual is stationed with a deck of cards. You pick a card at each location and the best hand wins. Mark, Mike A., and I rode out to the event in Lansing together. In what started out as a warm early morning around Novi quickly evolved into a very cold morning once we hit Lansing. Once the sun came out, however, everything was all good. The event was held to raise money for a co-worker of Mark’s who is battling cancer.

The ride itself was great. Mark was in charge of the setting the destinations and the routes. While he may not always be on time (he is getting better), he sure has an eye in picking some good low traffic, winding country roads. There were probably 40 or so riders and a couple who came along in their pimp mobiles. Besides a dead battery in one of the pimp mobiles, there were no bike or person casualties I am happy to report. After the ride, everyone congregated back to the

Lansing Galloup Company warehouse for a barbecue, some cold beverages, and the awards for best hand and best bike. My two fives were not even close to challenging the flush that won. The winner graciously gave the winning money back to the collection that was taken. Some great people at the Galloup Company I must say. The event was first class all the way.

Trail Head

The Junkyard Trail - Oh, the smell!!

Last night’s ride on the Milford Trail has brought a new name to this trail, “The Junkyard.” While I saw the handful of abandoned refrigerators and old tires last year, I guess I didn’t notice it as much with the trees in full bloom. There is just a lot of crap out there. To add to the beauty, Hubbell Pond had the death smell coming from it. As Gus noted, there was more death out there than on “The Sopranos.” The dead fish smell was fierce. We went from burning trails last week at Island Lake to stinky trails this week in Milford. Crazy. The Milford Trail, still in its infant stages, is coming along fine but needs more riders to get the new paths worked in.

After a few beverages, some second hand smoking at Baker’s (there are some serious smokers in there), and some giggles watching the Keno addicts play their numbers, I called it a night. If the weather cooperates tomorrow, I’m headed to a Poker Run on the motorcycles out in Lansing. I’ve never been involved in one before but it should be fun. Have a great weekend, whatever you are doing.

Trail Head

Fishing in "The D"

The Detroit River was packed with boats this past weekend with people looking to hook into the thousands of walleye coming in from Lake Erie. A word of advice for anyone heading to the river in the upcoming weekends. If there are tournaments also taking place when you are heading out, good luck getting your boat out at a public launch.

I met up with Doke at the Belanger Park launch in River Rouge Saturday morning at 7 am. He was in line about thirty or so boats back. I drove my truck up to the front and took a look at the parking lot. There were maybe ten spots remaining, unless the guy running the launch was going to get creative. After waiting about twenty minutes or so, we came to the conclusion that it wasn’t going to happen here. We ventured down to the Wyandotte Municipal Ramp in hopes that it might be a little less congested there. It wasn’t to be, however, the line did move a bit better than Belanger. As we got closer to the front, you could see the parking spaces quickly being taken up. We got to the front and as luck would have it, there was one space left, right in the front. A great day it was to be out on the river. Mother Nature delivered a good dose of sun and the west wind really enhanced that steel mill aroma all the more. I had a goose egg on my fish production but Doke was able to bring in two walleye and a perch. My production really has fallen off since my Super Bowl ice fishing conquest. I hope that wasn’t the peak of my fishing career? I may have to go down to the minors to work on my craft. My team needs me for the Skegemog tournament in June.

Trail Head

Island Lake - Hot Trails!

We were burning up the trails last night at Island Recreation Area! Okay, it wasn’t actually us that were doing the burning. The park was having a controlled burn not too far from the riding areas. Got to get rid of those invasive species and stimulate that soil!! About 99% of the trail was open so it wasn’t that big of a nuisance. There was one detour that put us on pavement for about 50 yards near the railroad crossing. It must be opening day of the riding season because I forgot my helmet, gloves, and spare tube. Luckily I didn’t fall or get a flat. Overall, the trail was in great shape; fast and furious! Mark was a bit under the weather and coughing up some sweet hair balls but was a trooper in getting out there.

It's off to the Detroit River tomorrow morning for some fast paced jigging (insert sarcasm) for walleye. Hopefully we'll have some big fish stories to share.

Have a great weekend.

Trail Head

Windy City - Go Tigers!

It was off to Chicago this past weekend to see the mighty 2-8 Detroit Tigers attempt to take a victory from the lowly White Sox. While Mother Nature delivered a steady flow of light rain, it wouldn’t put a damper on our trip.

A couple weeks ago, I got in contact with a fellow GMAC employee from the Chicago office that I found out worked in the ticket office at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. He gave me some information on a local tavern near the stadium and said to stop by his booth before the game and he would try to give us an upgrade on the tickets we had. I was cautiously optimistic that he could do anything for us but it was worth a try.

The bar he recommended was a place called The Cobblestone. It was about a 1/4 mile south of

the stadium and had the character/history that I like to see in a bar. The current owner advised the place had been around since around the 1920’s and was where the slaughterhouse workers across the street would go for nickel beers. She said the owners before her were a husband/wife duo that didn’t handle their money too well. Apparently they had some marital issues also and the husband ended up shooting the wife in the kitchen during a spat. She joked that the husband only got five years jail time for the shooting and that was probably the most efficient divorce ever. The staff at The Cobblestone were more than friendly. They asked how we heard about the place. I told them about my GMAC contact and they came back with “oh, you know Jimmy Costello.” Jimmy apparently was a regular there to the point where he gave up the bottle because of it. They advised he still comes in with his kids but doesn’t drink. They said nothing but good things about him. To top things off, they had gated parking at the bar that was free for customers going to the game.

We got to the stadium and went to Jimmy’s ticket booth. I gave him my three tickets that were in the right field corner and he gave me back three tickets behind home plate. Not a bad trade off!! I had been to the stadium about five years ago but hadn’t seen any of the amenities. We ventured down to the Miller Lite Bullpen Sports Bar which is built right into the bullpen and the right field wall. They have a patio area where fans can, on a first come-first served basis, watch the game pretty much on the right field warning track. We watched Justin Verlander warm up and had a cold beverage. A pretty cool place it was.

The game…well the game was great if you were a White Sox fan. We almost witnessed a no hitter for the wrong side. The Tigers didn’t get a hit until the eighth inning. Verlander pitched a heck of a game but it was all for naught. Those White Sox fans are very passionate about their team I must say. They were acting like it was the seventh game of the World Series after it was over.

Afterwards, we went to our hotel in the city to defrost our bodies for a few. Our room reminded me of the Huntington/Western Island apartment bedrooms at Central Michigan University. It was a small one but we didn’t go to Chicago for the hotel bells/whistles and the price was right. We had a great meal at Harry Carey’s bar, took in the views at the Hancock observatory, and ventured over to Mike Ditka’s restaurant after that. We saw none other than Mike Ditka at his place. He was sitting front and center in the upstairs bar area eating by himself, watching the hockey game. We were being kind and didn’t want to bother him with a picture request. Others, however, didn’t seem to mind. One lady had three shirts for him to sign; others threw their kids in for a picture when the kids probably didn’t even know who this guy was. Eddie chatted with him for a bit on the Tiger woes. I’ll bet Ditka and Jim Leyland would get along pretty well.

As the day started in Michigan at 5 AM, we were pretty pooped by this time. We hoofed it back to the hotel tavern for one last beverage and called it a night. A great city Chicago is. It’s too bad Detroit can’t have at least a quarter of what that town has. With Kwame and our wonderful Detroit City Council, I don’t see it happening in my lifetime. Please leave Kwame, and take Millen with you.

Trail Head

Riding Schedule

It's riding time! Get those bikes out from the back of the garage, pump those tires up and get that gunk out of your chain.

Attached is the schedule.

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

April 17-Island Lake
April 24-Brighton
May 1-Pontiac Lake
May 8-Maybury
May 15-Highland
May 22-Island Lake
May 29-Brighton
June 5-Pontiac Lake
June 12-Hickory Glen
June 19-Highland
June 26-Island Lake
July 3-Brighton
July 10-Pontiac Lake
July 17-Lakeshore Park/Novi Tree Farm
July 24-Milford
July 31-Highland
August 7-Island Lake
August 14-Brighton
August 21-Pontiac Lake
August 28-Maybury
September 4-Highland
September 11-Island Lake
September 18-Brighton
September 25-Pontiac Lake
October 2-banquet (location TBD)

As was last year, the majority of riding will be recreational only. If interest warrants, 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