Yankee Springs Half Marathon and Fandango First Ride

Taking advantage of window between spring showers, we stole Friday afternoon for a trip to Yankee Spring Recreation Area. I've known about and wanted to ride the 13-mile bicycling trail at Yankee Springs, about 70 miles to our southwest, for quite some time. With the new tandems set up for Quinn and me, it seemed like the time had come. No, it wasn't actually a half-marathon of the running sort, it was a bicycle trail ride, but the distance matched.

The trail at Yankee Springs was really nice; many thanks to the Southwest MMBA Chapter and the MDNR for all the work to build and maintain the trail and the nice facilities (included a clothes changing station) at the Staging Area.

The trail conditions were great this weekend. The trail had only been thawed enough to ride for a couple of weeks, and recent rains had left much of the sandy trail damp and tacky, but there was almost no mud. There were a few areas of deep sand, which I understand will grow larger and deeper as the summer progresses, but none of the sandy spots gave us significant trouble.

The trail is generally smooth and flowing with gently bermed turns and a few rooted climbs and descents. The terrain is notably more contoured than most of what is closer to home for us. It climbs over forested ridges and descends passed lowlands and marshes as it loops around the Devils Soup Bowl, which the MDNR describes as "a glacially carved kettle formation." In some places the trail ran along the edge of the bowl, with steep forested hillsides sloping frighteningly downward; frightening, particularly if you're an 8-year-old on the back of a tandem weaving through the trees at break-neck speed.

Cindy and Abbey rode their single bikes, while Quinn and I shared the new tandem.





Most of the forest comprised deciduous trees, which had not yet sprouted leaves.



In some areas, pine trees dominated, giving the trail the look and feel of some of the trails we rode in Colorado.



Although most of the trail was smooth and easy, allowing the local racers to speed through on hardtails and rigid 29ers, there were a descents and climbs that gave our team pause. For this particular section, we'd had to stop and scout the trail to make sure there weren't any drop-offs that might cause someone to go over the bars. After a quick survey, Abbey tackled it with ease.



Abbey really did quite well on her Chameleon, handling obstacles and hills that I thought might have stopped her.



However, we did not bring enough (any) food with us on this trip, and with a late afternoon start, we were getting quite hungry and low on energy after a couple of hours of riding.



Abbey is making use of solar power, placing her face in the sun to soak up some calories, while the rest of us watch in awe at her abilities. Cindy probably wished she had solar cells in her face, too, since she'd run 16 miles the day before and consequently started this ride with leg muscles already sore and shaky.



This 13 mile trail ride, equivalent in length (but not difficulty) to a half-marathon run, was quite successful. We didn't hammer it out in record time, but that wasn't our goal. The trail was fun and scenery was nice, and we gave our legs a good first-ride-of-the-season workout.

The new (used) Fandango mountain tandem worked really well for Quinn and me. We only had two incidents in which the boy was launched from the bike. The first being a simple case of me stopping us quickly and attempting to lean against a tree, but losing control of the front wheel and tipping the bike over. It was a good laugh. The second was a little more painful for him. We were trying to wield the bike around a tight bend with a few big roots roots to climb, and lost our speed; I had to put a foot down and the bike tipped to the side, rolling Quinn off to the left on the roots and rocks. He survived, but in his eyes, just barely.

I found the biggest challenge to be just that: navigating around corners and simultaneously over roots and rocks. Although the captain of a tandem can un-weight the front end to some extent, it's not possible to 'wheely' over stuff as can be done on a single bike. For getting through those spots, the tandem requires momentum, balance, strength, and commitment. The squishy fork is very helpful, too. I wish I could get more progressive dampening out of this one for better small bump squish.



Here's the report from Cindy's Garmin:

Garmin Connect Link