The Fox Lake Odyssey

There are not many places in Michigan where you can go from needing the easiest granny gear to the big ring in less than a mile. Fox Lake Road is one of those places.

Today I set out with a goal: to conquer some hills. This area is riddled with lakes and ravines that make for some pretty extreme ups and downs. It all culminates around Fox Lake Road, where the Hadley Hills trail system starts. (I only recently learned it's closed to mountain bikes—equestrians only.) So, I planned a brand new 20 mile loop of dirt roads and hills. And conquer them I did. My max speed was 37 mph—not bad for a mountain bike on dirt roads.

And then I hit mile 11, about halfway through Fox Lake Road, where I saw this.

The pink arrow indicates where I *thought* the top of the hill was.

Then and there I should've turned around and found an alternate route. The sign was right—it truly was impassable on wheels. It's hard to tell from the blurry cell phone picture, but it was really, seriously, incredibly steep. The lowest granny gear could not get me up that hill. When I got to the area of the pink arrow, I realized it flattened out for about a quarter mile, and then took another steep incline...far steeper than the last:

Reaching the top of it (which I am now referring to as The Summit), I had hiked the bike .8 miles. I was being eaten alive by a variety of flying insects, and couldn't bear to pause to take pictures of what lied after this.

The "road" (because let's face it, at this point, I did not consider it a road, but rather the path to Mordor) narrowed even more, eventually turning into a soup of sand, fist-sized stones, and boulders that ranged 10-12" wide. A quick downhill period followed (which was more technical than any of the descents at Pontiac Lake), I hit 35.5 mph, and discovered yet another giant hill awaited me. It was about as steep and long as the first hill. Off the bike again. I cursed outloud.

After enduring that third peak, which put total hike-a-biking at just over a mile, the rest of the ride was gravy. Hills that would've annoyed me seemed like nothing more than anthills. I'm chalking it up to experience, and next time I ride those last two miles of Fox Lake Road, I'm bringing a sherpa.

Time to get serious

That's right. I just registered for Ore to Shore: Soft Rock edition. 28 miles. My first race.

I'm going to kick its ass.

It feels good to be back

Back story: I've been sick lately. Really sick. So sick I had to go to the ER to get an IV and a bunch of fancy medicines. But now that I'm all fixed up and itching to ride, outside it's been...raining. And cold. And gross. So I decided to clean the house today, and when I finally stopped to take a look out the window, the sun was shining. When I went outside, it was warm.

So I went riding today, for the first time in about two weeks. It was great. I didn't want to aggravate my freshly-healed throat, so I kept it short, but it felt so good to be back on the bike. I rode down our gravel road to the creek that runs along the edge of our property. The air was warm and still misty from the rain, and the sun was shining where the clouds had broken. It renewed my conviction that cycling is largely a spiritual experience. Boy, does it feel good to be back.