RA Flare-up

has kept me off the bike for some time now.  And what misery that has been!  We have had a stellar autumn season with unseasonably mild weather, abundant sunshine and just plain glorious days.  It pains me not to be out for these many last weeks.  I've had a few forays for short little errand runs that didn't amount to more than a few blocks, but they've been few and far between.  I've worked with the Doc to get new meds dialed in and so far the latest combo has done the trick and Sunday (glorious day that it was) found me out with my pal Deb Anderson on a trip to one of our favorite trails at Dexter Mills Metro-park.  I felt like I was pushing it but the day was so gorgeous that I couldn't help myself.

The last time I'd gotten out was a few weeks before with my nephew Andrew and we took a trip to downtown Dexter to check out the new trail and see if the connector was open to the park yet.  It wasn't.  So Sunday Deb and I decided to check it out from the park end and yes there was a barricade up and well, yes we did ignore it and rode around it on the new trail.  Does it count that others were doing the same?  Can I use that as an excuse?  Doesn't matter, once a rebel always a rebel.

Deb Anderson - fellow rebel

The new connector trail that goes from Hudson Mills to downtown Dexter is wonderful.  From the Metro-park end you start out on heavily wooded trails traveling over paved sections, elevated wooden boardwalks, bridges and more pavement.  Shortly the path begins meandering alongside of the Metro-park golf course just south of the park proper.  After that the path opens to some meadow-land before turning woodsy and following alongside of the Huron River then a long boardwalk over a wetland leads you into Dexter.  For some reason the Dexter end is still barricaded off and since so many have ignored the barricades they finally erected one on that end that is nearly insurmountable except for the very tall or stout of heart.