I have been getting out. Rode Merrell a few weeks ago. Made it about 4 miles before I chirped a rock and gashed a sidewall. So, I took a nice hike in the woods before finding my way out.
Having to wait a while to get a new tire I remembered that I actually have a fat bike. So I loaded that up and rode to the Allegan trail here in town. I wanted to see what progress had been made...and it wasn't much. I just tooled around checking things out before heading home. The main takeaway...the fatty is a way different bike than the DUFF.
Wanting to really test out the fatty (Albert) I headed to the Maple Hill trail at Markin Glen in Kalamazoo. This is a new trail that hasn't even had it grand opening yet. This will be an interesting trail for sure when it is done. It was fairly short yet, but there was a screaming fast downhill line that has table tops. Stupid fast. being on a 40 pound bike I wasn't about to fly...not that I like to fly anyway. I was just riding and checking out the terrain. Hilly. The fist section is uphill to an opening where you can choose the "downhill only" line or the other section of trail. I missed the other section the first time thru. I just went to the downhill run and really enjoyed it. After that run there is a section of trail that is fairly flat and winds around the south side of the park. This is where the trail construction is continuing so you take the road back to the lot and go uphill again. This time I took the trail towards the right. it wraps around and ends up back at the trailhead. Overall, a fun trail and a nice change of pace when compared to the other trails in the area.
I headed to Hammond Hill the next week with Albert (fatbike) to see how the new trail system is doing. It is interesting for sure. This is another new trail system that is about 6 miles long. The kicker here....it is bi-directional all the time...meaning you can find someone head-on....while bombing down a hill....or they could be...so it was farily nerve racking riding here. Other than that, it is a pretty cool trail system. There are connectors all over and you can just sorta keep riding and turning left or right and generally end up back at the car.
Once I got the tire fixed on the Anthem (D.U.F.F.) I had to go try out Merrell again. This time I rode with Nate and we did 2 full laps and got all the spurs. The major thing I noticed....after riding Albert for a few rides I was super twitchy on the D.U.F.F., super twitchy. It took me at least a mile before I was getting comfortable again. Because Merrell is such a blast (in the yellow direction) it didn't feel like we rode as far as we did. Solid ride, slow....but solid.
Today I headed to Fort Custer. I turned in a solid lap on the red loop. The dirt was "hero". the trail was in amazing shape all around and I was just pushing everywhere I could. I felt "good" for the first time in a long time. I have been feeling ok, but not good. Today was good. I headed out on the green loop to complete my ride and it was cut short by another torn sidewall. This tire had about 25 miles on it. I didnt hear a big twinge or anything, but I must have hit a rock just right to cut the wall. Oh well, just need to get it replaced again...for the second time in less than a month. Going to look into the snake skin version next time.
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