Great Week

Besides a weary head (a large one at that), I honestly can’t complain about much of anything this week. The Wings won the Stanley Cup, I got to hang with some friends who I hadn’t seen in some time, the mountain biking at Maybury on Thursday was great, and I got to see the parade today at work on my lunch (a bit extended) break. And it’s only Friday! Seeing the parade is one of the nice perks of working downtown, although I cringe when I see the Detroit city tax (the Kwame fund) on my paycheck each time. Woodward was jam packed with people coming from all over the area and all I had to do was walk outside my building and…bam, hello parade. The Lidstrom picture was taken by a business contact who works at the Compuware building. Not a bad picture he took there.

Weather permitting, it's off to the Milford Trail Challenge (mountain biking) tomorrow. It's more or less a fund raiser/recreational ride for the Michigan Mountain Biking Association. It should be a fun adventure in hitting the trails in the area and getting some laughs at the spandex-clad riders.

Trail Head

Wings Win! (no overtime thankfully)

What a grueling work week it has been this week. Unfortunately (or fortunately), work has had little impact on the harshness. With the Wings up 3-1 in the Stanley Cup finals and the next game being at home on Monday, everybody and their brother had their victory cigars ready to go, the news stations were announcing their post game victory coverage, fans were practicing their octopi tosses for when Gary Bettman was on the ice, and the cup was being polished up. I was going to go the safe route and watch it in the comfortable confines of my house but Matt B. “shamed” me into watching it with a posse at his house. I’m glad he did because championships in any sport are tough to come by (read: Detroit Lions) and you have to make the most of it when they happen. Well….everybody was ready to party until 34 seconds remaining in the game when Pittsburgh rained on our parade. Three overtime periods later, the game was lost and the Tuesday work day was only about five hours away. Ugh!!!!! There wasn’t much talking in the office that next day but we all somehow go through it.
After my sleep tank was replenished Tuesday night, I was ready to suck it up on Wednesday for game six, as were about ten others. The location for this gathering was Rich P.’s place, also known as “The Mansion.” Rich has my 57 inch TV screen beat by a bit. He has roughly a six foot projection TV screen in his garage. I would post a picture of it here but it won’t do it justice. The players are pretty much life size watching that thing. Crazy. In between periods, Matt (aka Mike Babcock) was putting on a basketball shooting seminar in Rich’s driveway. He was chucking them in from about thirty feet and even made a shot kneeling from the fire pit (see picture). We split in the P-I-G shootout, even though Matt protested because I didn’t “call” my behind the back shot. Those hockey players are always trying to get an edge somewhere. The Wings did pull out the victory, although that last shot as time expired was a bit on the scary side. Matt does get the gold star for calling out that Dallas Drake would be handed the cup after Captain Nicklas Lidstom had his ceremonial skate with it. Drake has the longest league tenure on the team (16 years) without having won a cup. He looked pretty giddy with it in tow. Heck, who wouldn’t?

Trail Head

Torn Shirt - Still a Tough One

We were off to Brighton Recreation Area on a beautiful spring evening. As was noted previously, Brighton has two trails, the Murray Lake and the Torn Shirt trail. The Murray Lake is long but forgiving while the Torn Shirt is short but a b-i-t-c-h! We hadn't ridden the Torn Shirt in a couple of years and were thinking that maybe some of the heart attack hills got toned down a bit. Well, we were wrong. The trail is just as tough as it always was. You say to yourself that it's only six miles but from mile marker two to three, you feel like you have ridden five. There is just no let up. You find yourself cussing at the hills and your bike; I love it. A good portion of the hills have some serious roots and loose dirt just waiting to slow or push you down. While I didn't witness it, I did hear Mark give a nice body check into a tree and a loud groan after his front tire caught some sand.

Good luck to all the Detroit teams this weekend. The Pistons are going to need some kind of miracle with Rip ailing, even though he is giving me an ulcer whenever he leads the fast break. The question is which Sheed will be playing tomorrow? Will it be mad, focused Sheed just barely avoiding technicals or will it be the Joey "blue skies" Harrington Sheed when he is smiling while down 20 points? I hope it's the former. It should be fun to watch regardless.

Trail Head

Memorial Day Weekend

What a great Memorial Day weekend it was. They say these holidays are a time for rest and relaxation but I find myself more pooped than during the work week. Oh, well. It is a good tired all the same.

The grill was out at Island Lake for Thursday night's ride. Another group that was parked near us also had the same idea. Nothing like taking off a couple hundred calories during the ride and putting back on 500 hundred after with a couple of Johnsonville brats (good brats). Having Friday off, I ventured over to Jim's house after the ride to watch the Piston game. A good game it was but somehow I had a gut feeling they would come back and lay an egg at home on Saturday night. More on that later.

Friday morning I was out on the Doke fishing charter out in Lake Orion. I felt like we were in an episode of the Twilight Zone. We had the entire lake to ourselves, which is a good thing, and there were no signs of human life in any of the lake front homes. The morning soda pops were tasting mighty good. I caught four fish, the biggest being a 18" largemouth bass and Doke caught a few himself. I was getting a little concerned about the cold streak I had endured this spring in the fishing waters. I was guessing it was because I bought my fishing pole on sale at Dick's Sporting Goods. When you buy something on sale, it has to be cursed, eh? The curse is free!!!! Anyway, after a short cat nap at home, it was off to Jim's and the evening fish at Lake Chemung. Jim's Red Rocket boat was in mid season form (if it's running, that is mid season form). Al, Doke, and I were in Doke's boat with Eric and Jim in Jim's boat. Everybody caught a few here and there. I would say Doke took "most" honors working his rattle lure. After getting the boats in, we headed back to Jim's for some laughs and cards. I snuck off into Jim's spare bedrooom after my share of beverages had been met. Quite a long and enjoyable day it was.

It was off on the motorcycles on Saturday with Mark to check out the Civil War rememberance outing at Greenfield Village. I couldn't tell you that last time I had been there. I would probably guess fifth grade. We were a bit bummed heading out there because Hines Drive, a great winding road that ends pretty much right at Greenfield Village, was closed for "family time" about half way through. We ended up taking the urban tour through beautiful Inkster and all it has to offer (insert sarcasm). Greenfield Village was packed. Others must have had the same idea on this beautiful Saturday afternoon. We were a bit bummed because the Greenfield Village website didn't post any clear schedule of the activities and it turned out that most of the battle reenactments were later in the day. We pretty much got to see a bunch of people dressed up in Civil War clothing and acting like it was 1862. The rebel soldier on his cell phone really added to the nostagia.

Saturday evening was sports-a-palooza in Michigan. With the Pistons, Red Wings, and Tigers all playing at home that evening, I needed to find a place with multiple televisions. Gus O'Connors is walking distance from my home and with an open bar stool front and center to all of the action, I was in business. The Red Wings and the inconsistent Tigers took care of business but my Piston prediction proved true. They need somebody or something to get them mad before these games. When they are smiling and happy, they play like crap. I'm sure there is some stat out there on that. Even with the loss, however, it was a great sports scene.

In order to work off the nachos I had at Gus O'Connors, I headed back to the mountain bike trails on Sunday at Lakeshore Park in Novi and Hickory Glen Park on Monday. Lakeshore Park really has improved over the years with respect to signs/markings. I spent the rest of Sunday and Monday in my hammock and loved every minute of it. It was time to lounge!!!!

Go all Detroit sports teams!

Trail Head

Highland Rec

The many hills of Highland Recreation Area was the setting for this past Thursday’s ride on the tour. A great, crisp, cool evening it was on this day. I was not surprised that our usual third rider, Gus, was not in attendance. As he has done time and time again, he found a way to avoid riding at this location. A guy who used to ride with us on limited basis awhile back, Darren, was nicknamed “hardcore.” Gus has achieved the status of “soft-core,” which is too bad.

As I had stated previously on this site, Highland is one of the tougher trails in the metropolitan area. Last night, however, I finally found a way to cut the “B” loop in half. Riding the “A” and “B” loops is a bear, especially for our aging bodies. One guy actually died on the trail a few years back. There is a memorial on the trail for him right after mile marker six on the “B” loop. I think it was more his health than the trail but it is a bummer regardless.

Mark and I ventured over to the Red Dog in Milford after the ride for some refreshments. I hadn’t been there in awhile. I got the Tone Loc review from the bartender when he played there last month. I’m sorry I missed that show. I guess the place was full and he put on a great show for the locals.

I’ll have the grill out next Thursday for the ride at Island Lake to start the Memorial Day weekend celebration. Come on out, even if you don’t want to ride.

Trail Head

Brighton Recreation Area

It was off to Brighton Recreation Area on the bike tour last Thursday. While the drive out to the park feels like an eternity, I must say that the Murray Lake Trail within the park is one of the better ones in the metropolitan area. It is a nice terrain mix of hills and fast "S' curves within some beautiful forest area. The hills give you a little kick in the behind but not to the point where you are thinking where the nearest defibulator is. The trail was in great condition this day. The other trail within the park, the Torn Shirt Trail, hasn't been touch by our forty-something bodies in a couple of years. It isn't too long but you do some serious climbing throughout with tree roots waiting to grab your front tire.

After the ride, we all ventured over to Mark's house nearby to enjoy some burgers and quiz Mark's five (four?) year old son, Grant, on anything and everything. He does know his Star Wars trivia, that is for sure. That kid has more energy than I ever had. I think Grandma Carol slipped him some extra juice boxes while Mark was biking.

Happy Mother's Day to all the ma's out there.

Trail Head

Hanging with Dad

It was some good old fashioned father-son bonding Tuesday night at the Tiger game. While the game was not in the Tiger’s favor (they really are bad right now), it was an enjoyable night. I walked to the ticket office on Monday with intentions of getting a standing room only ticket for the game, thinking that the game would be a near sellout with the Red Sox in town, which is was close to being one. I asked the ticket guy what the best available ticket he had. He said twelfth row behind the dugout. I couldn’t pass those up. Lady luck is a good thing sometimes.

I must be a curse to the Tigers. The last game I saw earlier this year they got two hits. Last night they got three hits. My dad thinks that Gary Sheffield has pictures of Jim Leyland with a prostitute because there is no logical reason he should be playing. I did get to witness a David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez homer, however. Ramirez’s homer went directly over the 420 foot sign. It was a laser!

Trail Head