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.