Island Lake - new riding shoes and roller derby stories

Tonight I unveiled the newest trend in mountain bike attire, the sandal shoe. No, I actually forgot my socks and with the 100+ temperatures, I didn't want to slime through some running shoes barefoot. I give the sandals a thumbs up though. And no socks to clean!

But the ride didn't end there! That is what I like about riding; there always seems to be something that has no reason to be part of mountain biking but yet it's there. Tonight, we met Detroit Derby Girl "Mexi-Go" who was hitting the trails tonight with a friend of hers, a former Derby Girl. My apologies as I can't remember "Mexi-Go's" real name but the whole roller derby scene sounds like something I'd like to check out in the near future. She gave me the program that is pictured below. I would have to say the toughest roller derby name in the program was "Wham!tramck." I'm not making this stuff up. I'll show you the program. I dig that team name though.

Keep on keeping Mexi-Go!!

Trail Head

The Dancing Machine, and people who should leave their shirt on

The scene was Lake St. Clair Metropark yesterday for the Blues, Brew, and BBQ. No admission charge, cheap beer, and good music. All the ingredients were there. All shapes and sizes were in attendance as well. The guy pictured to the right was a dancing fool, or just a fool, I'm not sure. We were there for a couple of hours and the guy was dancing the entire time! I think he was on a different level than us if you know what I mean. He appeared to be enjoying himself though so dance on spaghetti dude! While all of this was going down, the hedgehog made an appearance (see picture below). That is a lot of hair that does not need to be seen. I wouldn't want to play against him in a shirts against skins basketball game, that's for sure. Put that shirt back on my brother!

Trail Head

the hedgehog



the D in the distance

Badwater Bass Club - Pontiac Lake - Did Kevin VanDam ever have to deal with this?

I wonder if Kevin VanDam ever experienced on the tour what we did Wednesday night in the third session of the Badwater Bass Club at Pontiac Lake? I am thinking he’s seen a few party barges in his day but the ESPN cameras just didn’t capture it. We had it all out there. Ninety-plus degrees? Check. Everybody and their brother out on the lake on a Wednesday evening? Check. People with their shirt off who should be leaving their shirt on? Check. 

It sure didn't feel like a Wednesday as the surrounding boats were partying like it was 1999 while we were "jonezen" for yet another 13 ¾ inch inch bass. When it was all said and done, 2011 Pontiac Lake

champion Al C. again took home the big fish and most poundage. That new boat is paying big dividends for A.C. 

Jim M. repeats at Pettibone, A.C. repeats at Pontiac Lake; it should be an interesting session a week from Saturday at Lake St. Clair.

Trail Head

winner, winner

Jim saluting the fish

Highland Recreation Area - sometimes we fall again

No, Mark C. did not recreate his Pontiac Lake ankle break tonight at Highland Recreation Area but about three quarters of the way through the ride I heard some compost rustling behind me with a "ugggghhhh" sound mixed in. Down he went but unless the grass and sticks that he kissed while falling was poison ivy, I think he's going to make it. A great ride it was though. 

That Mother Cup victory still tastes good one week later.

Trail Head  

that is I

Mother Cup 2012 - flag pole warfare

The Hatfields vs. McCoys, Michigan State vs. Michigan, Milford vs. Lakeland, Jan vs. Marcia (Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!), the Seadogs vs. the Sons of Liberty; some intense rivalries there. As they say, you can throw the records out the window when these two meet up (the Seadogs have taken five of the last six in the series though but who’s counting?). This past weekend at Skegemog Lake for the annual Mother Cup showdown, there was a sense of change in the air, or maybe that was the odor coming from the bathroom. Whatever it was, it was time to fish!

The SOL team were tight lipped all spring on their Mother Cup strategy. There were rumors of new jerseys but nothing could match the pre-game ceremony that they presented. It’s hard to put into words but picture seven dudes marching in unison carrying an aluminum pole donning their newly created logo on a black and white flag while wearing their fancy new uniforms. I can’t recall their chant but I must say they had a presence at that moment. Do you think the five-time Mother Cup champion Seadogs were going to sit back and watch this spectacle go down without some action? Heck no. When time allowed and the SOL’s were away, down came the pole and up went the Seadog flag (fluke we even brought our flag), taking its rightful place on top of the pole. No pomp and circumstance, no chants, no marching; we just took care of business and returned to our cold beverages.

As fishing tournaments aren’t won in the backyard, it was time to take to the water and see what group marching and fancy jerseys do in attempting to take the cup from the back-to-back champions. Well, not much. The Seadog flag pole takeover was just a sign of things to come as the pound totals after round one came to 44-18 in favor of the ‘Dogs.

The second session was pretty much a carbon copy of the first that had the lead up to 84-44 in favor of the good guys. The SOL’s put up some numbers in the last session but the fat lady had already sang, ate, and was home sleeping by that time. The final, Seadogs-113 lbs; Sons of Liberty-67, and another presidential visit to the White House for the class of ‘85. Al’s new boat proved to be a nice addition as he took big fish (4.10 lbs) and most overall poundage (40+ lbs). It was a Seadog sweep for the hardware as I carried Mitchell to take the golf scramble on Friday morning. My back hurts from carrying him so much that day (ha).

All joking aside on the “rivalry,” a great time with a great group of people it was. Post fishing consisted of cold beverages, good eats and some way back machine stories. We weren’t talking about how to fix the economy but we had some great laughs on getting into fist fights as adolescents and proper school bus behavior after a football game.

Thanks, as always, to Dave and Judy C. for putting us up for the weekend. The Mother Cup celebration never gets old.

Trail Head

mother load for Al

winning never gets old

the crew

Sons of Liberty (Munson picture diving in all of these)

nice new modification for the angler trophy

big fish hardware for Al

more hardware for the 'Dogs (scramble win)

Badwater Bass Club - Pettibone Lake - last Sunday was a mirage

As the east coasters say, we were working haaad today on Pettibone Lake. Last Sunday's fish-a-palooza became a 10 inch bass festival to say the least today; slim pickings. The scorecard tells the story. That is a lot of zeros! The production was so sad, the only fish picture worthy of showing is Jimbo's winning fish. The rest are pictures of us sad fisherman just trying. To add fuel to the fire, Jim's total poundage was the same as the big fish from last week. He is, however, the back-to-back Pettibone Lake champion so congratulations to JVic!

Trail Head