No, this is not the Molson Fish Tour - I do ride a bike from time to time

1st mile - Hanson Hills

The forecast called for rain this week so with that, I put aside plans for my motorcycle joy ride and threw the mountain bike in the truck and headed north. A little rain while pedaling is manageable; a little rain on the motorcycle sucks the big wanker. For all the rain that was in the area, I am happy to report that it stayed away from my vicinity for the four trails I hit; three of which were new to the tour. All things considered, the trails were in pretty good shape.

The first ride on the docket was Tuesday at Hanson Hills in Grayling. I read some positive reports on the trail and it did not disappoint. The hills were there but they weren't ridiculous like the ones I experienced the next day. A gold star to whomever created and maintains the trail. The evening ride was at the VASA Single Track in Traverse City. I have no idea what VASA stands for but the doctor couldn't have ordered up a better wind down ride than this one. It was roughly ten miles with little or no hills in a vast forest area. I sweated out the late lunch beers beverages in the first couple of miles and it was all utopia after that with my iPod helping me along. Love those flat trails. I'll let the hardcore riders tackle the hills. I'm not ready for the defibrillator just yet.

Wednesday's ride was back to Boyne Mountain; a trail that I wasn't too impressed with a few years back but was willing to give it a second chance. Well, fool me once.... The hills are just ridiculous. Just plain ridiculous. What were the idiots thinking when they designed this? "Hey, let's send the trail up these ridiculously large hills that no human can ever make it up on a bike, let alone on foot." The only positive I can take from the experience is once you get up there after the 15th or so climb, you get a nice view from atop the ski hills and a downhill cool down. The trail has so much potential but it needs some work. I doubt I'll be back to these parts anytime soon though.

The last day's ride was near the Thompsonville area at the Betsie River Pathway. As with the VASA trail, it wasn't too hilly and was quite scenic. While there weren't any wipe outs to report for the week, I did manage to chip my tooth on my handlebars while ducking under some fallen branches there. The chip is only minor and didn't impair my post ride beverage intake so no blood, no foul. While my fear on these northern rides is that a black bear will jump out at me, the only wildlife seen was one deer and a bunch of birds. A great soul cleansing week it was.

Trail Head

  

VASA Single Track