Really fast before I start this post... I was thinking about blogging today (I do that a lot, you know) and I realized that if my posts were shorter and more frequent, that my blog would be infinitely more interesting... so I'm gonna see if I can say all that I want to say in under 15 minutes. This is gonna be a challenge. :P
The other day, I was done with all my chores and responsibilities around the house, and my schoolwork was all caught up, and I had nothing important left to do... and it was only around 4 PM. Since I've been down here, I really haven't had the chance to do a lot of physical activity. I mean, I'm from Gaylord - I am used to lots of wide-open spaces between acres of woods. Canton is awesome, yes, but I can't exactly walk out my door and go running in the middle of the forest. After the whole Bob Evans gig (which involved me riding between 50 and 60 miles a week ON MY BIKE just to get to a crappy minimum-wage job), I got kinda soured on riding my bike up and down the road. Also, the nearest skatepark is 20 minutes away AND it costs $5 just to skate for a few hours - and when I was up in Gaylord for the funerals, I decided to go to the skatepark to chill with my bros once more, and I managed to snap my skateboard. I am not yet good enough at traditional team sports to go play basketball with people who play every day all day long (and may never be, for that matter), and there really aren't a lot of physically demanding chores around the house, so I have kinda been not getting a lot of exercise.
I started feeling the need to GO DO SOMETHING. My lungs started missing that familiar burn. My body felt like it needed to sweat. My arms started asking me why they hadn't done anything cool lately. It began to dawn upon me... the time had come to GO FIND SOME GOOD SINGLETRACK TRAILS. (For the unenlightened, 'singletrack' refers to a very narrow trail through the middle of the woods, often made difficult by trees everywhere, roots, bumps, hills, and the occasional log across the trail. Singletrack trails are usually reserved for mountain bikers (or incredibly adventurous runners). Mountain bikes exist, in my humble opinion, for the sole purpose of navigating these paths of awesomeness.)
I hit up Google and found that there was a trail system not 10 minutes from my house. I grabbed my old beat-up shoes, threw my bike in the Man Van, and headed out.
When I got there, I was pretty impressed with what I found. The trail system isn't as big or awesome as Aspen Park (in Gaylord), but then again, it has only been around for a few years. (I ran into the guy who spearheaded the clearing of the trails - he's a prominent member of one of the local Michigan Mountain Biking Association chapters.)
Anyway - to cut a long story short (as I am WAY over 15 minutes by now), I went back yesterday, rode pretty hard, and took some pictures for you to see! As soon as I wrap up this post, I'm going to grab some socks and head out again to catch a quick ride before the night's over.
Behold:
Well, that's it for now. I'm running low on time, and I really want to ride tonight. Catch you all later!
-K
3 comments:
The pics are awesome =)
That looks like my backyard! :)
Oh, the purple flower in that fourth pic... it looks a lot like mountain lupine? I didn't know that grew so far east. At what sort of altitude are you?
Also, I'd welcome a switch back to short, regular posts as opposed to a small novel every month or so :)
Happy blogging! Oh and keep an eye on your email for music-related stuff. [You'll see what I mean, soon.]
-elf
@Lynn: Not unlike you, my dear. ;D
@edlin: Lucky. It +used+ to look like my backyard too, until I moved. There are advantages to being down here, but being closer to nature definitely isn't one of them. :P I dunno what altitude I'm at. Lol.
-K
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