Bye Bye September

I blinked and September is done. The last mountain bike ride for the month, and the second to last “official” ride for the biking tour was out at Pontiac Lake last Thursday. It was just about a year ago to the day that I had my nasty fall on these trails. I still ride like a sissy boy at the area where I bit it. The many rocks again were in attendance, as was a rider who we hadn’t seen on the trails much this year, Gus. It’s just liking riding a bike, eh E? A nice night it was with a bit of color change out there in the woods.

Saturday was my sister’s going away party for the Robar two year hiatus to Brazil down in “The D.” There is the saying that “there’s no party like a Detroit party” and my sister made sure of that. This was the first time Jennifer got to meet my family and her first impression of my sister was one she will probably remember. My sister was pushing these Brazilian drinks that were rum, lime, and more rum. I had one myself and I could have blown fire if I wanted too. We only stayed a bit but from how often I saw my sister showing everyone how good these drinks were, I’ll bet her head is still throbbing today. There were probably about 100 or so in attendance and a great gathering it was. For all the bad press the city gets, there are some great people down there.

From the party Jennifer and I went to the Young American Comedy Tour at the City Theatre in Detroit. We had front row seats which is kind of a scary thing with the comics that were in the show and the small size of the venue. A married couple next to us was called out and the comic was asking the guy if his wife had ever caught him doing the deed…..alone. The comic claimed that every married guy had to have been caught at least once and went off on a bit on that and other relationship humor. It seemed every comic had some angle on dating or marriage and it was only a matter of time before our number was called but they picked on every couple in the front row but us (thank god). A good show it was.

Hello October.

Trail Head

Hello Cleveland!

It was back in spring training when all was well for the Detroit Tigers. They had made a couple of trades in the offseason that everybody and their brother thought would have them rolling over every team in the league. With that, we made the wise choice in March to buy tickets to the vital September series versus the Cleveland Indians, in Cleveland, because this series was when we were going to walk into the stadium with our heads high, celebrating our upcoming World Series conquest. Well, it just didn't seem to work out as planned for the Tigers, eh? Rather than first place, we are just trying to stay out of the cellar in the American League Central. We weren't the only ones who had the idea back in March because there were Detroit fans EVERYWHERE in the city.

With me on the trip were Al, Doke, Eddie, and Mike. Our journey started Saturday morning with a visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on the shores of Lake Erie. I'm still scratching my head that Cleveland maintains the hall just because a local disc jockey threw out the term "rock and roll." I saw more of a Detroit than Cleveland influence while checking out the exhibits at the place. Heck, the induction ceremonies every year aren't even held in Cleveland so the whole thing is a bit on the odd side.

From there we checked into our hotel and got our second wind for the game and the evening activities. It's funny because we had been to the city a few times before and stayed at the same hotel each time and ended up walking some serious miles to get to the entertainment areas (i.e., bars). While walking to the game, we came upon a slew of bars/restaurants only a few blocks from the hotel that we never knew were there. Live and learn I guess. The game itself was typical of how the Tigers' season has gone. Our ace, Justin Verlander, got hammered and managed to get his league leading 17th loss of the season. Progressive Field, formerly Jacobs Field, is similar to Comerica Park in that there are many areas around the park to walk around and still check out the game. It was a nice night so even though the product on the field was bad, the environment was great. We almost witnessed a cat fight at our seats (pictured below). A lady with her kids approached another lady, apparently thinking that she was sitting in her seats. It turns out the box office messed up on giving out the wrong seats from a rained out game to one of the ladies. It started out as a heated debate but both parties quickly calmed down. They didn't have to stand up, however, the whole time while they were waiting for the dispute to be settled. Down in front!!! For the seventh inning entertainment, we got to witness the ever-so-exciting ketchup, mustard, and onion race (pictured at bottom), similar to the bagel, donut, danish race at The Palace for Piston games.

After the game we ventured over to a local watering hole, the Harry Buffalo. What a cool name for a bar. It had a great environment with the garage door type glass walls/windows giving us a nice breeze with them open. One of the bartenders was a transplanted Michigander who came over and chatted for a few. I think we were sitting in the Viagra section because there were two couples sitting near us who needed to get a room. A whole bunch of "schmoopy schmoopy" activity going on.

To cap the weekend, while waiting for Ed to pull the car around for the ride home this morning, here comes "Shanequa the Prostitute," dressed in a itty bitty hot pink outfit, walking out the front door of our hotel, apparently just leaving from a busy night's work. I'm sorry the camera wasn't available for that visual.

That is about it for the weekend wrap up. Maybe next year Tigers.

Trail Head

Cycle Racing at Indy

It was down to Indianapolis this weekend to watch some motorcycle racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was nice for me because I lived there back in the late 90’s and got to see some people I used to work with in addition to seeing the “mansion” of a house I had when I lived there (pictured below). The house was a fixer upper to say the least when I lived there. I think I left it better than when I first moved in, however. The place looks like it could use a match now. The current residents don’t appear to be doing much upkeep which is too bad. Oh well.

I met up with Mark, his dad Chuck, and the others at the hotel on Friday evening. My ride coming down on Thursday was blue skies and pleasant. I stopped off on the way for a cold beverage in Fairmount, Indiana; the birthplace of James Dean. There was some good local flavor at the Palace Bar. Only two weeks until the James Dean Festival!!

The forecast for the weekend was interesting to say the least. With Hurricane Ike doing his thing down in Texas, the big question is what impact it would have on Indianapolis when it moved north. Saturday was supposed to rain but we didn’t get a drop all day. I took the group on a tour (from what I could remember) of some sites around the area. With seven bikes in our group, the stop lights made it interesting but we did okay I think. While we had reserved parking outside of the track, we had heard they were allowing motorcycles to park on the infield so we gave it the old college try. What a greeting we encountered towards the parking area. There had to have been fifty or so cars in line waiting to park and the track employees kept waving us through until......we were riding on the Indy 500 track! The motorcycle track cuts through the infield so there is a portion of main track that is open. So we parked our bikes right on the track (pictured below). They really had the whole thing quite organized to ensure the bikes were parked straight with ample room to exit. There were thousands of bikes out there. The speedway itself is just enormous. Prior to watching the qualifying races, Mark, Mike, and I hit the vendor area and took in some great people watching. Why I took a picture of a trough at the track I don’t know but I guess I consider the trough to be underrated when it comes to sporting events. The lines sure seem to move quicker, eh?

After a great day of watching some riding, we got a meal in and went to see some more riding that night at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Rather than asphalt, however, this was dirt track racing. These guys (girls too) were just hauling it around the turns dragging their leg along the way. It’s pretty much motorcycles riding on a horse track. It was definitely loud. I honestly couldn’t tell you the name of any of the riders but it was fun to watch all the same.

While the main race at the Indy track was on Sunday afternoon, I headed back home this morning. With having to work tomorrow, I wasn’t up for riding five hours or so after the race and getting home around midnight. The other fellas had tomorrow off and am pretty sure they’ll be hitting someplace close by tonight and riding the back roads tomorrow headed for home. Looking at the rain that is coming down right now, I think I made a good choice. Rain or not, I just can’t suck it up like I used to (can you hear the whine in that?).

Trail Head

Hello September - Highland Rec

I am happy to report that Hurricane Gustav did not stop the riding this Thursday evening. He spit a bit at Highland Recreation Area but nothing to stop the fun. I am sorry to report that my record crowd from last week must have been reading their newspaper clippings a bit much because they were nowhere to be seen.

The ride itself was enjoyable with a bit of reality jumping out there. Attached are pictures of a memorial on the trail for a fella who died out there five years ago. It is a bummer but it makes you appreciate each moment that much more (can I be more sappy?).

Have a great weekend!

Trail Head