New Ride, New Tires

Don't let the title of this post fool you. Yes, I went riding on a new route and I had to get new tires. However, I had to get tires for my wife's van, not my bike.

This past weekend we took a quick road trip to Michigan so that my wife, and my step-children, could attend a memorial service for her my wife's ex's grandmother, step-children's great grandmother. Making the twelve-plus hour drive is always easier when you can divide the driving between two people. When asked if I would go with her for what was essentially a one day visit, I agreed even though I would be missing a soccer game, which is difficult for me to accept as a goalkeeper. Then my wife had the great idea that I take my new bike and spend some time riding while she and the kids attended the memorial service. Her suggestion was for me to ride the Lansing River Trail. While I love riding on greenways around home and I am sure this trail would be enjoyable, I was hoping to take my bike on a more off-road route. With this in mind, I began perusing the Strava Heatmap in the area to see if I could find some well-traveled routes. I was lucky and found that Sleepy Hollow State Park was a mere five-mile ride from the home of my sister-in-law, where we would be staying for the trip.

Pre-Trip Planning

I reached out first to Mid-Michigan Mountain Biking Association in hopes of finding someone to show me around the trails. I was then directed to EPIC Mountain Bike, which is located closer to the park and they have regular group rides there. I messaged the group admin, told him of my plans, and was invited to join the group. There I posted my intentions and received some feedback from members. It turns out there was another event happening out of town that day that most people would be attending.

Day One: The Drive to MI

We woke up at 4:00am and were on the road at 5:01. We have done this drive so many times that we have a system devised to split the driving into approximate three-hour shifts. The first stop we top off the gas tank, use the facilities and switch drivers. The second stop is the same with the addition of lunch. The third stop is the same as the first. Between the second a third stop, on the Ohio Turnpike, I was driving. We were in the leftmost lane with a tractor-trailer truck traveling beside us on our right. All of a sudden I hear a noise that sounded very familiar. I thought it was the truck next to us engine braking. However, this sound continued for a few seconds. I then began to wonder, and said out loud, "Is that us?" Gina replied as I began to feel something through the steering wheel that confirmed it was us. I then got us over to the shoulder of the road and past the guardrail to get us further away from traffic. Exiting the vehicle and walking around to the left rear of the van I saw the problem. A flat tire. Not just any flat tire, but an utterly destroyed tire. So now the wife is out of the car, the 15 year old jumps out of the car eager to learn and help change a tire. We get the spare tire on,

get back on the turnpike being careful not to exceed 55 mph, even though the tire warning says not to exceed 50mph. It is several miles to the next exit, which happens to be our regular shift change, and we are going along at 50-55mph on a 70mph turnpike. We get gas, look up some Discount Tire stores close to us. I call the closest store and inquire about four tires in the size we needed. They only had three but did see that another nearby store did have four tires. We proceed, with Gina now driving we had to get back on the turnpike and make our way to the next exit, and then onto some more interstate freeways, to get to Discount Tire. Fortunately, it was early enough in the day that they were still open and were able to get the new tires on and we would then be on our way. The best thing about this detour was the bridge we traveled over. I am a sucker for architecture and engineering, so when I noticed the cable-stay bridge ahead, I had to snap a picture of Veterans Glass City Skyway bridge.

Day Two: The Ride

I had messaged the EPIC group again the night before but had no takers on escorting me around the trails at Sleepy Hollow. The morning air was a little cool and I was worried about heading out too early as I thought I may be a little chilly. No matter how many times Gina takes me to Michigan when I think it is supposed to be warm, and it is not, I always forget to pack a jacket. I was concerned that the weather would be too cool for me to go ride and I would have brought my bike all the way to Michigan for nothing. I waited until my wife left for the memorial service and I then played in the yard with my niece for a while. Soon though I felt that with the warm sunshine I would be comfortable on my ride. The night before I had planned a route mostly on dirt/gravel roads using Gravelmap. Heading out about 11:20 I was struck by how windy it was. It reminded me of growing up cycling on the coast of NC. Strong winds and flat. Fortunately, I had a headwind heading out and would have a tailwind coming back. Just the scenario I like and I used to take advantage of growing up. I made it to the gravel section of the ride. The roads in this area a very straight for long distances. The gravel/dirt was smooth and very compacted. It would be very easy around here to ride for tens of miles without getting on the pavement. I made it to the trail at the park and began to go around in what I had learned was the preferred direction of counterclockwise. The trail was well maintained and was a very easy trail to ride. The roots were not too much of a nuisance and there were very few rocks. There had been rain the day before and some sections were soft and muddy, but that just added to the fun. Although the trails were fairly well marked, I somehow strayed off the hike/bike trail and onto a bridle trail. I made my way, dodging the excrement, to another gravel road. instead of continuing on the bridle trail and possibly encountering a horse, which I had not yet done, I took the gravel road to a paved road and then to another trail entrance. On the gravel roads home I had a couple of interactions. I saw a nice sized garter snake on the gravel in the sun and snapped a picture of that. I thought that I might to some sprint training with Eddie, he's a real son of a bitch, but that was shortlived as Eddie decided to stay home. I finished my ride, with the wind at my back and can say that I thoroughly enjoyed second, even when I strayed and had to avoid the dung. 

Also, the cycling community in the area is great, even though I was not able to ride with anyone that day, they welcomed me into their Facebook group and were helpful.

On the trail

Gravel and more gravel

Garter Snake

Day Three: The Drive to NC

Nothing exciting happened on this day.