Friday was pretty wet around these parts. So wet that I had to abort a rail trail spin due to the heavy rain. When Saturday came around, I planned on doing Friday’s ride on Saturday; a 25 to 30-mile ride on the paved Jaque rail trail out of Clare. Then I didn’t.
A ride didn’t work out on Monday. Weather and time conspired against me, and I was left to do things like mow the grass in the evening humidity in an attempt to get a sweat on and burn some calories.
Even without a significant workout I slept like a rock last night and was up early to coffee up, eat and get my riding gear together before heading down to the Dirt Road Launching Pad at the Fred trailhead in Riverdale.
But first I had to vote.
Note: This is a pseudo cycling blog. This post is not about cycling; it is about my recent trip to the U.P. with my family. It’s a long account written—as per usual—more for me than anyone else. The trip will be broken into four parts. The time betweenst each of these posts will be filled with my usual tales of crap rides, short hikes, “needs work” photos and bad writing.
Previous Paradise Chronicles:
Thanks,
Management
Our last day in Paradise started very similarly to the day before: Wifey and I got up and went for an early hike and B slept until our return.
This time our hike was a 6-mile out and back hike that followed the banks of the Tahquamenon River west of town. It was during this hike that I started to feel like I bit off more than my back could chew in the hiking department. 15+ miles over our four days plus touristy walking around is more than my back is used to. Walking is so much better when it’s done in the saddle of a bike!
I worked at the shop on Monday so of course I came home with a sore back, sore feet and peopled the hell out. As my grandmother always said: “It’s hell getting old.” And as I’ve always said: “I hate people.” I seriously don’t know how full-time shop employees do it without losing their minds and end up never wanting to ride their bike again.
It’s been said that 58.2% of all bike shop customers are insane. 39% of bike shop customers are calling or stopping in shops attempting to buy or obtain free things that have little to nothing at all to do with cycling. And 40% of all customers expect their bike repaired while they wait or by the next day during the busiest time of the year.
I could go into detail about some of the amaze-ball fucked up shit I’ve seen and heard recently, but that really wouldn’t be professional and would violate the Customer/Bike Shop Buffoon Confidentiality Act (C.B.S.B.C.A.) that was passed by a high-ranking, strong-armed, lawyered-up group of dealer/shop officials at Interbike 2007. So I’ll just move on. I will say that bike shops are top-notch weirdo magnets, much respect to those who own or work full-time in shops and have to deal with people every day. People are the worst… except for the good ones.
On to Tuesday…
Note: This is a pseudo cycling blog. This post is not about cycling; it is about my recent trip to the U.P. with my family. It’s a long account written—as per usual—more for me than anyone else. The trip will be broken into four parts. The time betweenst each of these posts will be filled with my usual tales of crap rides, short hikes, “needs work” photos and bad writing.
Click HERE for Part I of the series and HERE for Part II.
Thanks,
Management
After two days of hiking in the wet woods battling bloodthirsty mosquitos, we promised B that he could sleep in and chill on Monday morning while Wifey and I went for a 4-mile hike on some trails right outside of town.
I had a good ride on Friday and was happy with the way I felt after a week off the bike. Still, I found myself longing for something different as my attention turned to Saturday’s ride.
Note: This is a pseudo cycling blog. This post is not about cycling; it is about my recent trip to the U.P. with my family. It’s a long account written—as per usual—more for me than anyone else. The trip will be broken into four parts. The time betweenst each of these posts will be filled with my usual tales of crap rides, short hikes, “needs work” photos and bad writing.
Click here for Part I of the series.
Thanks,
Management
I rarely sleep well in motels, hotels, by the hour rooms, back alley cardboard boxes, cabins, tents, or car trunks. But for some unknown reason, I slept quite well in The World’s Smallest Two Bedroom Cabin™. It was refreshing to sleep so well, and that made getting up (reasonably) early on Sunday morning for our trip to the upper Tahquamenon Falls that much easier.
I had a great few days in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with my (family) unit. The U.P. continues to be one of my favorite places in the U.S. for (summer time) outdoor activities and it’s only a few hours away, which makes it even better!
The plan Wednesday morning was to get up, coffee up, dump out, hit the road and get home to get shit done as quickly as possible. I did eventually get out but had to deal with a curve ball first.
I knew going into Friday that a ride wouldn’t be in the works. So, between rainy morning errands and an afternoon spent finally cleaning our garage, having junk hauled away, and taking tires to the recycling center, I headed to the Sylvan Preserve to hike, er walk a few miles with my camera.