Michigan Vacation 3

Just like last year we made a trip south to Clare for some tasty pastries at Cops and Doughnuts.  Ellen didn't hesitate to enjoy the sugar.  Our good weather continued and it warmed up later in the week, making swimming in the lake more enjoyable.  More fish were caught, I got in another mountain bike ride, and there was plenty of chasing after the kids.

Doughnut time.

 Which is bigger... hanging basket or

the bike seat?

I spy an Ellen.

Someone forgot their pedal.

 I'm being watched.

Not so much a tan line, more a sand line.

  I thought it said $6k... I was ready to buy.

 Thanks for the fun MMCC trail and Karate Monkey.

After another summer trip to the cottage I wonder where we will go next year.  I guess we'll have to take requests from both kids when the question of "where do you want to go on vacation?" is asked again.

Michigan Vacation 2

It's nice to be on vacation.  We've spent time flying a kite over Lake Huron, hiking around sand dunes along the Au Sable River, and jumping off the dock at our cottage.  Never a cloudy sky so far.

Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron.

Lumberman's Monument, Huron-Manistee National Forests.

Budd Lake, Harrison, MI..

I made it back to the MMCC for another ride.

Parked amongst registering students.

Slow riding past the camera.

There's fungus among us.

 Sandy puddle ahead!

 British Soldiers Lichen on a stump along the trail.

 The "powerline climb" of the trail.

Michigan Vacation!

Back in the spring we asked Daniel where he would like to go for vacation.  Without much hesitation he said, "the cottage!"  KT and I agreed, remembering the good times we had last year on Budd Lake in Harrison, MI.

A major goal for this year's trip was for Daniel to catch a fish.  Without much delay, we headed to the boat dock upon arrival.

KT and Daniel casting away.

Fortunately fish are not very smart, at least not at first.  We soon caught a nice sunfish by simply dropping an un-baited hook into the water.  Subsequent attempts were not as successful so we progressed to banana chunks and finally bait on the hook to catch several more sunfish.

Nice first catch fisherman Daniel!

The temperatures were pretty mild the first part of our week on the lake.  It was mid to upper 70's by day and in the 40's at night.  We still spent plenty of time down by the water.  Tuesday I headed 5 miles south to Mid Michigan Community College for a mountain bike ride.

Forgot bike pump and didn't have presta to schrader

adapter.  Solution... shoot air into CO2 pump head.

It worked!

Last year I really grew to like this ~10 mile course.  It's not flat but rolling, there's plenty of corners and twists, and the occasional sand puddle adds to the interest.

In the woods.

The course was in great shape this year.  From some web reading I'd heard there were some storms resulting in down trees earlier this year.  I saw very little evidence of damage and constantly thought this is a cared for trail.

Plenty of interesting 'shrooms along the trail.

The Karate Monkey was my steed this year.  I knew it would be a perfect match to the course and there were no disappointments in this choice.  Only one gear is needed, though I could've used a smaller cog on this course, and suspension is not necessary here.  The quick handling and agility of the Monkey made for tons of fun.

Banana stop.

KT and the kids went for a hike while I rode.  As we relaxed under a tree near the parking lot a mountain biker car pulled in.  We talked with a retired couple of school teachers who came from nearby to ride.  They also had a really positive review of the course.

Post hike rest break.

This is how retired teachers roll.

 

Less than 10 minutes from our cottage to the trail, there will be more rides this week.

The end.

Knob with Patrick

After being rained out yesterday afternoon, which has not happened very often this year, Patrick and I went to the Knob after work today.  We enjoyed a nice ride.  I asked Patrick of his first memory of the Knob and he said his first visit was about 1995 just after the official opening.  It was interesting to hear his comments about different sections of the course and how they had changed over the years.

Towards the end of the course.

One Way Commute

Set out on an extended morning commute this morning.  After work KT will be in the neighborhood anyhow and pick me up at work, so I added some distance to the ride in.  Once again I was on the road while the sun was rising and enjoyed the brightening sky.

A pastel sky in the morning.

 

The weather forecast called for afternoon rain so the plan to ride in and get a lift home was a good one.  I rode further east before turning north towards work.  The back roads are nice and calm in the morning.  Sure, there's the occasional car that flies by, someone hurrying to work, but these passings are few.  I sure do enjoy the ride in.

Having the road to myself.

Carbon Control

It's been long enough with the Bontrager Big Sweep bars that came stock on my Trek Paragon.  These are abnormal bars with 17 degrees of sweep.  They were awkward at first, I sort of got used to them, and this summer I've come to blame them for the mild wrist pains I've had the past year.

The Big Sweep.

I upgraded to a carbon Bontrager bar with "only" 9 degrees of sweep.  This matches the setup of the Race Face bars on my Karate Monkey which have treated me well.  Now what to do with the boomerang?

An expensive carbon fiber tube and some cheap grips.

Rising Sun on the Commute

Finally made a bike commute happen today.  Though I often think about it, the schedule rarely cooperates.  I set my alarm for 6:15, rolled out of bed at 6:20, and was on the road by 6:30.

Bike was in the garage the night before and pointed out.

On my way out the door I questioned whether or not to bring the digi cam.  I was already carrying two cell phones and some food in my jersey pockets.  Do I really need the camera?  Yes, no, yes, no... yes, may as well in case there is something interesting to shoot.

More than half way to work I realized I never even thought to take a picture.  Why did I bring the camera?  To justify the carrying it along I paused eating a banana, holding it in my mouth, pulled out the camera and snapped four quick pictures towards the rising sun.  Later in the afternoon I had a look at the pictures and was glad I packed the camera!

Eastward on Secrest Road.

Nice morning light.  Cold enough for arm

warmers when I first left home. 

Lovin' the morning commute.

West and Back on the Road

It feels like it's been a while since I headed out on a longish road ride.  Sunday morning is church time for our family, but with two sick kids we stayed home today.  So, this morning I unhooked the road bike from its perch, pumped the tires, and set out on a ride with no specific route in mind.

Sun at back , heading west in the morning.

The sun was laying down some heat already but the humidity was not too uncomfortable yet.  A induced breeze of riding along helps on the road.

Tough decision; turned left for a longer ride.

I rode past Mohican Golf Course and into Ashland County.  Turning south I found an Ashland County Park I had either never seen before, or it was never there before.  The park only consisted of a short trail through the woods to a canoe launch on a stream.

I followed the sign to check it out.

I'm really not sure where you could paddle on this stream.  Knowing this area a little bit, I didn't think there would be any constant streams through these low lying areas.  I figured the waterways would come and go.  But I guess it's currently as dry as it has ever been and there is still a stream, so what do I know.

The canoe launch into a muddy stream.

After visiting the canoe launch I circled south and had a couple good gravel / chip-and-seal climbs.  At some point I lost track of where I was and found a couple new road to bring me back to the east.  The sun was getting higher and hotter as I rode.

Interesting terrain formation.

About 2 and half hours after rolling out the driveway I pedaled back up the driveway a sweaty mess.  It felt good to be out!

Bike Art

Title = "Bike", Artist = Me, Medium = bendy, sticky, kids' twizzle stick thingies

Ride and Picnic

The birthday festivities for Daniel continue.  Ryan and I went down to Mohican in the afternoon for a ride and then we joined the families for a picnic to celebrate Daniel's birthday.

A nice sunny day for ride and picnic.

 

Ryan and I did a trail, road, trail combination before heading to the campground.  Jessica and Chris met up with us there and we enjoyed dinner and playing with the kids.  Daniel fell asleep on the way home.  I think it was the first time ever that Ellen outlasted him.

Rylen checking out daddy's bike.

Daniel is 4!

Today is Daniel's fourth birthday!  He enjoyed a party with family, another party with friends, and another party with family and friends.

A robot cake made by mommy at Daniel's request.

A new water bottle and bike lock from

Aunt Jess & Uncle Chris.

Daniel received a workbench from Grandma and Grandpa.  Hmmm... it looks familiar because it was my work bench when I was a little guy.  Grandpa freshened it up for another round of service.

Daniel will undoubtedly get some

use out of the workbench.

 

Happy Birthday Daniel!

Grey Shorty Ride

The past several days of rain have been badly needed.  Today the skies were grey and overcast but no rain, and it was about 15 degrees cooler today.  I headed out for a short ride after dinner.

Looking down into town.

On the way out the driveway and down the street I actually felt chilled for few moments.  I guess low 80's are a slight shock to the system after 90's and heavy humidity.  It felt good.

Praise the creator for His creation

we get to pedal through.

The Tour de France has been going full force the past couple weeks.  Last weekend, a week late but better late than never, we upgraded out cable package in order to watch the Tour.  A DVR was also part of the deal and makes it easier to catch each stage.

Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky have the yellow jersey locked up now.  After just watching those guys in the high mountains of the Pyrenees it was nice to get out on the road and stand in the pedals a little bit.

"Bike lane" on the uphill.

The traffic was virtually non-existent.  It seemed strange to me for a Friday night.  I took the opportunity to ride the hill up Lincolnway to SR250.  It's not so fun when there are cars whizzing by but today I was only passed a couple times.  It's two lanes going up and one lane coming down, so the cars passing me have a lane to do it in.  Not a long hill, but fun to ride up chasing KOM points.

Ricardo at the Knob

Ricardo, a friend from work, wanted to hit the Knob before transferring to a new job out of state.  He is headed to South Carolina where I'm sure he will be able to find some good trails to ride.

Arriving at the Knob after work I watched lightning and dark clouds moving in.  Is it really going to rain?  I guess it's been so seldom to have rain this summer it's surprising when the skies actually let down some water.  Ricardo and I set out on a lap and rain it did.

Weather moving in.

At the first crossing of an access road I led us back to the pavilion.  Soaked to the core, we stood in the pavilion and watched the show.  Torrential down pour, lighting, and nearby thunder was frequent.  About 20 minutes later the storm had passed by and two guys rolled into the pavilion having experienced the storm out on the course.  It sounded pretty sketchy.

 Our mounts picked up some mud.

Already geared up, and muddy from our short ride, we decided to head back out and see what we would find.  Puddles were frequent but it seemed much of the rain had run off.  We had a fun, slightly sloppy time riding.  Ricardo's bike handling skill was impressive, the conditions did not seem to affect him.  I'm sure Ricardo will be able to find some off road, two-wheeled fun in his new neighborhood!

Back to the vehicles, sporting some wet dirt.

I enjoyed riding the Karate Monkey for the first time at the Knob.  The handling once again felt natural, which made mazeville fun.  The rigid front end did not beat me up to much, which was a little surprise.  Good ride and display of weather this afternoon!

Guess it's time to wash the shoes.