Rainy Saturday

I don't really think it's likely that the rain falls disproportionately on the weekends, but sometimes I wonder. Either way, last weekend was a good one, as rainy weekends go. Maybe that's because for a rainy weekend it wasn't really all that rainy.

I'll warn you up front that this is going to be a rather boring read. There aren't even any pictures.

As usual, Cindy was working on Saturday, so the kids and I made plans to do some trail riding. I must diverge here and comment about my terminology. When I use the term "trail riding" my intention is to describe the riding of bicycles with fat, knobby tires on something other than pavement. I probably should simply let it go and call it "mountain biking," but I have a little trouble with that term in the absence of mountains (probably because I really wish we lived in the mountains). There are some great trails in Michigan, mostly thanks to the Michigan Mountain Biking Association , and I absolutely don't mean to suggest that riding them isn't tremendously challenging, fast and furious fun, and a great workout. I simply mean that the trails we usually ride in the Lansing area are trails through the forest, not trails through the mountains. "Whatever!" you might say, and that's fine, too. One of my goals for this summer is check out some of the trails in the more heavily contoured portions of southern Michigan. Maybe, if everything works out just right, I'll get a chance to ride some of the trails in the Upper Peninsula this summer, too.

While we were getting our gear together on Saturday, one of Abbey's friends called and requested her company for the afternoon, so trail riding with kids became trail riding with Quinn. That was great, because Abbey is pretty cautious, and in her absence Quinn and I could simply throw that stuff to the wind.

We sent Abbey away, ate a quick lunch, and loaded up the bikes for the 17-mile drive (so much for car free recreation) to Anderson Park, which is a mostly undeveloped piece of forest along the Grand River in south Lansing. Some of the park is off-limits to bicycles, but MMBA has put a really nice effort into making some fun bicycle trails in other portions of the park.

The primary users of Anderson Park appear be mushroom hunters. When we arrived a little after noon on Saturday, there were no other cyclists at the park, but there were five car-loads of 'shroomers wandering around looking under leaves for their prey. The forest appears to be a dense second growth forest, shady and moist, with ferns and forbes covering the floor. Great for mushrooms, great for bike trails. Maybe the absence of bicyclists resulted because for days the weather forecast had predicted a 90% chance of heavy rain on Saturday. There had been a trace overnight, but the trails were only slightly damp and were nicely tacky, providing excellent traction.

I warned you that this would be boring...

Quinn and I first rode the green loop, which we'd ridden last year with girls. It is really fun. The trail is generally smooth and flowing, but too tight and twisty to build up much speed. The gentle ups and downs and constant curves make it a very enjoyable. In many places the trail squeezes between trees, which is a challenge on a bike like my Rize (now RZ) with such wide bars. There are only a few log crossings, and just a few little rocky spots, but for the most part the trail could just as easily be ridden on a cyclocross bike as a mountain bike. Riding with Quinn, I avoided pushing the limits: there were no crashes. We both had a good time.

After finishing the green loop, we buzzed down the road to the red loop. The red loop is a little more challenging that the green, but only a little. There are some slightly bigger hills and a couple of spots where you can really build up some speed and then power through some bermed corners. There's a two- or three-foot deep ditch that runs through this portion of the park, and the red trail crosses it repeatedly. Quinn was a little afraid of it the first time he went through it, so I stood close by to assist, just in case. It was actually quite easy, and after that he enjoyed dropping in and popping out each time.

Quinn seemed a little tired after the red loop, and was ready to call it quits, so I made him do the green loop again. I probably shouldn't have - he was too tired and started complaining about his legs hurting before we finished the loop. We settled for riding the portion of the green loop that's south of the road, and then packed up the bikes and headed home. We'd had about 5.5 miles of fun in just a couple of hours.