Whether the weather be fine

Today marked the fourth day in a row of amazing riding weather here in Michigan. It has been unseasonably sunny, warm, and dry, which meant I didn't have to break out the gore-tex, nor full-fingered gloves, nor tights. It is a welcome change from riding in the 40-45ºF rain and mud. Along with the change in weather, I also got to take in a change of scenery. In Lansing there are barely any dents in the flat topography, but in the Hadley/Oxford area there are lots of rolling hills and long, winding dirt roads. On Saturday and Sunday I hit the aptly-named Hadley Hills, which was a great change of pace. Along the way I discovered two things: a new 19-mile dirt road loop near my parents' place, and that nothing beats a 29er on dirt roads. Also, my legs turned to mush. I'm not accustomed to hills...at all.

On Monday, I rode the river trail in Lansing with a friend. We were a little overdressed for the weather—I was in a merino wool jersey and he had on leg warmers. Looking at us, you wouldn't have guessed it was almost 70ºF out. In my defense, I was preparing for a chilly night ride home. Can't speak for the other guy. June was the last time I rode the river trail, and I forgot how annoying (loud) all the bridges are. But it was a really fun ride, I played tourist and saw some cool sights in downtown Lansing I hadn't seen before.

Today I was able to squeeze in a couple laps around Burchfield before heading off to class. I finally managed to pry myself off the pedals long enough to take a picture of Sybil. Normally I'll stop about twenty times on a ride to take pictures of random things—the fact that it has taken me almost two weeks to take one photo says volumes about how much I hate getting off this bike.

Beautiful view, huh?

Those pink bottle cages aren't permanent, they're getting replaced by white ones soon. I robbed them off the road bike (Alice, who has been more or less out of commission since Sybil's arrival), where they belong with the pink bar tape. And pedals.

Her name is Sybil.

Christened the Paragon today with mud and a new name: Sybil.

And it was amazing. I was nervous about riding clipless offroad, but my worries were completely unfounded. I think I'm going to love this mountain biking stuff. Unfortunately I came back sans photos—sorry, but I was too busy actually riding to bust out the camera. Maybe next time.

Then again, maybe if I rode with other people more I wouldn't have to take my own pictures. Unfortunately I tend to go on rides as early as possible, which apparently isn't all too popular. I missed out on one potential riding partner this morning due to my morning habits, and got declined twice (in advance!) for a ride tomorrow for the same reasons. Is 9:00 AM really that early? Be thankful it's not the summer anymore, for my morning rides in June and July tend to depart at 6:00 AM or earlier when the sun is up. All I can say is, AYHSMB. Morning rides rock.

New bike, new perspectives, new adventures.

Well, today I picked up my new bike: a 2009 Gary Fisher Paragon. The bike is a (somewhat early) graduation/Christmas present from my parents. Unfortunately, I had to work all day and I won't have the time to take it on the trails until Sunday. It's absolutely killing me to wait. Right now the bike count stands at 4, but that won't last for long: now that I have a proper offroad bike the hybrid will be kicked to the curb. After an extremely lengthy fitting (over 75 minutes; are all bike fittings this lengthy, or just the ones that involve girls?) I feel prepared to take on the world on this bike. Or at least the lower peninsula of Michigan. Ok, maybe a little bit of the upper part too.

While I was at work daydreaming about riding my new bike, I met a pretty cool customer. Turns out he owns (or at least manages) a switchgrass ethanol plant. Switchgrass is a better source of ethanol than corn because it takes far less energy to reach the end product. I learned a lot about switchgrass today—I had no idea it was being used as an alternative source for ethanol. We talked for a while about the earth, sustainable systems, politics, and the nature of the American auto industry. It was refreshing.

By now most of you know I've applied to take part in an expedition to Isle Royale with a research team to study the predator/prey relationship between wolves and moose on the island. The island is about nine miles wide and forty-five miles long, located in the northwest area of Lake Superior up near Canada. It's incredibly remote and home to the longest continuous study on predators and prey in the world. If I get accepted, it will be a week in August full of hard backpacking in serious backcountry, observing nature and collecting moose bones to bring back to Michigan Tech to study. I'm crazy excited. Wish me luck!

Photo from www.isleroyalewolf.org