These are desperate times, and I am a desperate man.
This week, my longing to walk and hike on snow-free trails drove me (literally) to a couple of my old Dirt Road Launching Pads1 to use as a “trailhead.”
I thought the idea of lumbering on the dirt roads that I have ridden thousands of miles would be the dumbest thing in the world (it sort of is), and kind of fucked up, given that the only people I have seen walking on dirt roads are Amish or little kids playing with rabid dogs whilst they ignore their sagging diapers of shit. But as noted above, I am desperate.
Within the first mile of Tuesday’s 4-mile Gravel Tramp®, everything felt completely normal, and I immediately felt welcomed back. In fact, as I plodded along, I immediately felt the urge to air up Mr. Burgundy’s tires and return to riding these roads again.
However, as I continued, I fell into a peace that erased that feeling and said, “I don’t know what this is you’re doing with this whole hiking, lumbering, and “walking” thing, but it just feels right.” It feels like a new adventure of sorts, and while I love(d) riding my bike on dirt roads, there was/is something even more peaceful about walking along, hearing nothing but the sound of the birds, the early spring breeze, and the crunch of the dirt beneath my feet. AND I didn’t have to worry about flat tires, broken chains, or blown-out cranks for a change. But I did get the tingling, which I haven’t gotten for a while regarding riding.
While I can’t say I have any solid plans to make Gravel Tramping® part of my routine, realizing that it’s a good way to get some miles in my feet and burn some beer calories in a relatively traffic-free environment when the trails are icy was good to know.
I love how they hate Pence now, ha.
It was also nice to shoot some pics along the dirt roads again, even though most of the mid-Michigan’s hicks still live like it’s the 2020 election. I also continue to see too many Trump flags flying, and even worse, the “Don’t Tread on Me” flags! If you fly either of those flags, you might as well get a tattoo on your forehead that says, “I’M A COCKNOZZLE.” I digress.
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I would love to see what the patrol looks like.
On Friday, I took a chance on the trails and was rewarded with 97% snow-free trails and busted out a 4.25 lap with a grin on my face the entire time. Of course, that grin was short-lived when I realized we are supposed to get 3-5 inches of snow on Saturday. Thankfully, the daytime highs should have it gone ASAP.
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I’m looking forward to more miles this weekend… in the snow and rain.
Later.