Posts Tagged → dirt road life

I Remember How To Bonk

I mentioned a few things here recently about the need to shake things up and push myself a little harder, so as not to burn out on any one outdoor physical activity, similar to what I did with dabbling in trail running last summer to get over some injuries and summertime ennui.

I love my lumbers, and I love lumbering with my camera, but the past couple of weeks of relentless bugs, lack of quality photos, and humidity have had me a bit miserable and looking for easy options.

Since I had a come to Jeebus moment in the spring of 2024 in regards to my love/lost/sort of re-found love of cycling, I figured, fuck it, let’s interject some riding into the lumbering mix again.

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The Bundy Hill Volleyball Scene

After a successful Monday morning doing my best interpretation of trail running for 5 miles, I wanted to do something slower on Tuesday, as well as get some time with my camera.

I chose to go to the Bundy Hill Preserve, the highest point in the county, coming in at a whopping 1,270 feet above sea level. It’s no mountain, that’s for sure, but it’s a beautiful wooded area, and its location is along a very rural gravel road that I often frequented on my bike due to the series of climbs on it.

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Weeks and Lists

I haven’t had what I’d call a “normal” lumber in the woods since the first week in January. The time in between has been spent doing the following:

  1. Snowshoeing.
  2. Walking the park service road.
  3. Gravel Tramping®.
  4. Stumbling and sliding on mushy snow while grinding my teeth down in rage and muttering cuss words.
  5. Drinking too much beer while watching footy on TV as my penis retreats into my winter FUPA against his will. Sorry buddy, I’m working on it.

It’s been a hell of a month, but such is life.

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Gravel Tramp Mega Pixel Post

On Tuesday, I did my second Gravel Tramp® in two days, completing a 7.66-mile loop and taking way too many photos in a hair over two hours.

Unlike Monday, there was no sun, and the temps hung at just about freezing. I saw a lot of great stuff (like Amish school kids playing soccer at recess!!) and a lot of fucked up shit, as you will see further on.

I wanted to share a few more words than usual in the photo captions for this post, so the format is a little different. Also, there is a photo towards the end that is pretty graphic, so I have blurred it. It’s up to you if you want to click it or not.

14.70 miles of Gravel Tramping® in two has my legs a bit sore today, so no lumbering today. Just some attempts at home repair that may or may not result in me having a breakdown before I reluctantly call Al The Handyman.

Enjoy the photos!

Later

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Gravel Tramping (2024 Edition)

The trails are getting there, but not yet, and this week was a combination of stumbling around in the woods trying to stay upright while hiking through slippery melting snow, pounding out laps on the park’s dirt service road, a combination of both, or recovering/being bitter with frosty adult beverages while watching football—until Friday.

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Days and Days After

Note: this post has been updated. See second footnote. My bad.

I seemed to have, for the most part, recovered from Monday’s “McGregor Strut” injury to my foot and was able to return to the gym on Wednesday.

For some reason, I didn’t have a lot of desire to be in the gym, so I got in, did a casual warm-up on the treadmill, did my quick circuit of weight exercises, and got out. Then I spent the rest of the day doing whatever it is I do. While I’m still not sure what it was I did (or do), I bet I did it very just adequately enough.

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It’s Not You, It’s Me

As I write this, it’s a dark, cold, icy Saturday morning in mid-Michigan, and I can’t make up my mind if I want to go for a photo walk in the icy woods, go to the gym to lumber nowhere fast on the Dreadmill or go back to the Bed of Torment for a second sleep; the world is my mother friggin’ oyster as they say.

Somewhere between morning bowel discharges, too much coffee, and my 3 egg white omelet with veggie sausages, I was made aware via a variety of Instagram posts that today is the Barry-Roubaix gravel race near Grand Rapids.

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