Apres Ride

Ahhhh......

A pictoral of Downtown Ypsilanti

Historic Downtown Ypsilanti

What a great day for a ride, the temps were much more moderate than in the last two weekends, there was humidity but it was lower, all around it was just perfect cycling weather! 

I rode the southern leg of the B2B (Border to Border) Trail in Washtenaw County.  Round trip is was 11.55 miles through quite varied landscape.  I rode from St. Joseph Hospital to downtown Ypsilanti, Ypsi has some great old historic buildings and architecture.

The B2B border to border tail wanders through natural wooded paths, and urban city sidewalks.  It roughly follows the Huron River throughout the whole trail This section of the trail winds around the hospital campus, down past Eastern Michigan University, around some of EMU's buildings, down a shady lane, up some good hills and eventually gets you to Frog Island Park and Riverside Park, Depot Town and downtown Ypsi. I did a little exploring around town.  There are some great old homes in the area, it's very interesting riding around town and so unique with having the river and boardwalks available too.

I did some exploring around town and stopped at a food co-op for refueling on some dried fruit snacks and lemonade.  Across the street from the co-op is Frenchies Sidetrack Grille appropriately named as is nearly sits on the RR tracks, I didn't stop there today but they have some of the best burgers and onion rings ever, their colorful outdoor umbrellas and tables beckon those strolling by.   Lots of colorful and historic architecture, it was like taking a peek into Americana of yesterday.  Downtown has quaint shops and a big share of homes that can be classified as the "grande old dames," some have been refurbished and a few are still in need, but it is really like taking a step back in time.  The city has taken steps to preserve it's historical architecture and it is very evident that it is an important component of what brings visitors.

Riverside park, below street level and stretching along the Huron River is a great place for peaceful and natural getaway right in the heart of downtown, with a band shell, meandering paths along the river, a tridge (three way bridge) and plenty of places to wet a line and catch fish.

Perfect weather and a perfect way to spend an afternoon enjoying the outdoors.

 

This just had to come home with me

From our local florist, it came without the polka dot planter which my sister bought and said I just had to have it.  I planted with English thyme.  Outdoor Adirondack chairs are whimsical, I couldn't make up my mind last year which was the prettiest color so I bought one of each. So I have a rainbow of yellow, liliac, green and hot pink with the appropriate color hanging floral baskets over each, of course!

Brrrrr

59 degrees at noon, earlier in the week it was 96, we have had weather this week to satisfy all different kinds of people.  Recapping some short evening rides around town in combination with last weekends longer rides brings me to a total mileage for week #10 of this outdoor riding season of 39.96 miles.  Feeling pretty strong with 6 days of riding and a day of rest yesterday I look forward to the weekend and some longer distance rides.

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Heat Wave & the Joy of Riding, an Unlikely Combo

Oh boy we are in the midst of a mini heat wave.  The last two days have temps soaring into the upper 90's with heat indexes well over a 100.  I pretty much chalked up "no riding" but was surprised when going outside and away from the AC to water flowers in the evening that the horrendous hot day time temps dipped at bit.  With the sun low in the sky the temptation to ride was there and I quick as a bunny hopped on my bike for a little ride around town.  Short little jaunts of a few miles, but enough to nearly satisfy the crave to ride.  It's amazing how addictive this hobby or sport can be.  Methinks it's the rush of endorphins one gets from physical exercise that beckons.   Whatever the lure, I felt strong tonight.  I think it is, in part,  the after glow from the weekend of pushing limits.  Short quick recovery rides this week seem to be very rewarding, I return home more energized than tired, and that my friend is what the joy of bike riding means to me!

Doing difficult things

I dread hills and to some degree still do but I am finding my way to get some enjoyment from them and find that the pleasure comes in the conquest.  A very nice byproduct of the mission of doing long difficult climbs is that when I do my crusing around regular routes, little hills that I suffered over seem to be a breeze, or nearly so.  Tiny inclines that gave me the fits are a mere "oh did I just go up a little hill?  Hardly noticed."

Preparing the decent

Preparing to climb

Saturday June 4th was shaping up to be nearly the same heat and humidity as last week when I did the first dreadful climb on this trail.  The week before I made the climb but never descended as I could see off into the distance a few miles where the Huron Valley Trail was going to connect to the South Lyon Rail Trail. 

That day I'd had a late start and it was at the height of the mid day heat.  This Saturday I had the earlier start plus the advantage of parking right at the junction of the Island Lake State Park Trail, the Kensington MetroPark Trail and the Huron Valley Trail.  That gave me a head start of about 3 miles and I had been hankering not only to descend the monster that I had climbed the week before but to continue on and finally get to the end of the SL rail trail.  I'd ridden it to within a half mile of it's end but for one reason or another never got to the end.  Today was the day to ride the entire connection from the three way junction  and to the end of the other trail. 

The climb up this ridge was long going from west to east, the descent was swift and I reached speeds of 30 mph with brakes on, I'm guessing if I had not had brakes on it would have been upwards of 40 mph.  That's pretty fast. The assent on the trip back going from east to west was shorter but much steeper.  The descent from that ridge continuing west was about half the speed but you could roll forever it seemed.

My round trip mileage for the trip was 11.11.  On Sunday I hit the flat portions of the rail trail 4 miles up and 4 miles back for a RT overall of 8.16.  Today I had a run about town for a total of 5.55 miles.  Saturday's ride was long, hot, challenging and very tiring.  Pushing to do the difficult thing showed up in the subsequent days riding, pleasantly so. I found my following rides to be a lot less effort.  I believe this is a sign of getting stronger and that's a good thing.

Doing difficult things pictoral

Kite Festival atop a large windy hill

Looking down into one of the valleys from the summit



A cyclist is decending



down the hill

Finally ready for picture time - A one of a kind bike

  Fenders to keep me clean and a back rack to tote things round and now that she's all decked out the new bike is suitable for a photo shoot, here she is!

The aquiring of the new parts became somewhat of a quest.  The bike is white with brown accents on the saddle, hand grips, inserts on the brake levers and pedals with some minor black lettering.  I was not able to find a set of white fenders anywhere, to make a long story short, I purchased off the shelf silver ones and took them to a local auto body shop for painting and pinstriping.  The painter did an excellent job and when I went to pick them up today we chatted for a bit and it turns out he is an avid cyclist and he showed me the custom paint job he did on his bike, which was in the shop because he commutes to work!  How serendipitious.  When I took the fenders and rack back to my LBS for installation they were amazed at the workmanship on the fenders as was I.   

And with her pretty wicker basket!

  

And details on the fender pinstriping.

I did say that I gave her a proper cleaning, notice the clean wheel cogs. 


So my new baby is ready for stealth riding, she might look like a cumbersome cruiser but slyly she's ready to rock and roll baby!

We have had the most beautiful and awesome weather in the last few days, strong sunshine, low humidity and moderate temps in the 70's.  Can you say perfect Michigan Spring!  Sadly my work schedule has kept me from all but a little bit of tooling around town in the last few days and today when I got her back home I put on 3.28 miles just around town again.  Brings me to a weekly total for week #9 of 38.76.  I'll be all rested up for a nice long ride tomorrow.  Let's hope mother nature cooperates.