To all the CHOADS out there on the MMBA

website posting crap about how the pontiac TT was going to ruin the trail because it was raining. Get over it. The fact is I think the trail is much better now as much of the ruts have been ridden in. The funny thing is I wonder how many of those people who bitch about the trail actually show up for the trail maintenance days? My guess is not many. So relax the trail is FINE. Go ride it and shut your pieholes.

First dry trail ride of the year

The plan was 3 laps today at Pontiac. I haven't ridden out there since it's been dry and although the crack tends to dry out quickly I have been doing mostly longer rides and holding off on riding the trails. So today I rode 2 laps by myself then hung around to meet Joe for the third. I have to admit that the first lap at speed felt awkward. All the old lines are there it just felt like I didn't have the autopilot set and I kinda sketched out around a few corners. The second lap felt much better and by the time that my third lap came around I had the place dialed in although my legs were starting to ache up the climbs. Several observations about today's ride. Firstly disc brakes are THE ONLY WAY TO GO. I used to be one of "those guys" that said "what do you need disc brakes in Michigan for"? Well after several laps I felt that I could better modulate speed into a corner better, often braking later than I normall would which resulted in smoother cornering and the abililty to take some lines that I never would have thought of before. Secondly while the trail was "dry" for the most part (ie devoid of mud puddles) the ground did feel heavy and slow. I'm sure this won't make some people happy come this weekend at the TT but what did you expect for the beginning of April. I wanted to get some pics of the more gnarled out sections but I just can't seem to stop to take pics when I'm riding. It kinda spoils the moment.

Backroad update

The back roads are totally dialed, unbelievably fast and even the bottom of Fox Lake road was dry. The only thing that sucked about today's ride was that the dog that resides at the bottom of Fox Lk was waiting for me as I descended back down heading back towards Clarkston. That little fucker almost took me out as he seemed to be playing a high speed game of chicken with me. I'm not one to kick dogs as they usually back down if you yell at them loudly enough but this fucker might be tasting some Sidis soon. And Yes Mitch that was me you saw on Sunday. It appears that I don' t know the backroads as well as your husband and I somehow got lost and ended up in downtown Ortonville. I didn't want to screw around trying to get back home so I took M15 back to Clarkston. I'm going to invest in a map and start doing more ride planning. TC