Easter Sunday April 24, 2011

Christos Anesti! Christ has Risen! A great day for celebrating life. Nice day with my family. After the family dinner I took a spin with my Godson Andrew (we're wearing our Easter Bonnets), they have bike path in their subdivision with some fishing ponds, boardwalks and nature trails. I forgot how much fun it is to ride with a kid.

Yesterday Kensington Metro Park was all a'bloom with cyclists, walkers, joggers, in-line skaters, fishermen and folks out enjoying a l-o-n-g anticipated nice break in the weather. We had abundant sunshine and warm temps. Beautiful. 8.86 mile ride, for a map of it check here http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/32466264

Day 67

September 29, 2010 18 miles round trip throught the B2B Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County parks. Started at the foot of Whitmore Lake Rd. and Barton Drive, into Brandemere Park, Argo Dam, Race way trail, up to U of M, around the hospital through a another series of parks, past Gallup Park and the Dixboro Mile to St. Joseph's Hospital on the Ypsilanti side of town. Vigorus trail with extremely diversivied terrain, from very wild to urban and back to pastoral. Gorgeous scenery, points of interest, several canoe liveries, a dam, athletic fields for U of M. This is the Border to Border Washtenaw County trail system that roughly follows along side of the Huron River from the North part of Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti and Belleville. I probably made it 1/3 of the way through the trail system.

Spectacular ride, challenging, rolling hills, flats, significant climbs. On the way back I passed the Dirt Bike Jump Course and there were several kids using it, got some great air shots and shot some video. If I can figure out how to post the video I will.

Boy, I can't wait to see how I'll feel tomorrow. Oh, here I am again lifting my bike over another deadfall. 95% of the path is paved and this photo was of one of the densely wooded sections of it.

Ok, here is the link to the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6_meILI8XQ and this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOMui9UJahc

Day 65

September 27, 2010 Short 5 mile ride but very rigorous. My only time to ride today was rush hour so my killer hill was out because it's a high traffic volume road. So I decided to explore the new path I found in Ann Arbor at Brandemere Park. Some portions were closed for tree trimming so I got off the path and used some small side roads. That's when I discovered THE HILL, this one is even steeper than the hill I wanted to practice on, so steep that the road up it tacks back and forth. I road some, I walked my bike some and I rode some more. That was not the only hill I encountered. Very rigorous ride today and the most fun part is exploring new territory. Besides the need of a bike that has many more gears than I have (mine is an 8 speed) hills are not only a function of the bike but also the condition of the rider. I continue to try to conquer them.

I found a Dirt Bike Jump Course just off the path and have photos of it (I bet kids love that), also the Argo Dam (the one with the real narrow crossing) and the U of M rowing team was practicing on Argo Pond upstream of the Huron River. The Argo hut is a canoe livery that is available at Longshore Park. All pictured here.