The M.C.F. Trails
The legs took a while to bounce back from yesterday's cold 44 miles, but with the help of my friends at Sierra Nevada (Celebration Ale- OMG!) and the pizza place down the road, they bounced back big time. So I headed over to Midland, MI to take a look at the Midland City Forest trails. And I have to say it was WELL worth the 35+ minute drive. The trails kicked ass! SUPER tight, bermed corners, wooden bridges, marked trails (a rare sight in WPA). It was like a very well taken care of Boyce Park back in Pittsburgh.
I did a couple laps, back tracked on a couple and then did another hunk of trail "just 'cause it was fun!" The M.C.F. trails were the best I have ridden here so far. They had roots, some rocks, and more curves than party at the Playboy mansion (with none of the STDs!).
While still no REAL climbing, the trails required so much finesse that it felt a little tougher than trails that flat should be. There were a few little grunts to make it worth while for sure. I rode for 2 hours there and I'm pretty sure I had a smile on my face the full 120 minutes.
These trails were serious fun. And has with the Mid Michigan Community College trails, they are made that much "funner" by being about 35 minutes from home. The trails reminded me of the best sections of Boyce Park, the Leesburg BD course, Lodi farms and Bavington all rolled into one perfect single track package. It was so perfect at times, I mentioned to Wifey that I'm almost think that Dow Chemical (whose factories/HQ is in Midland) has come up with some sort of SingleTrackz® chemical spray that the forest gets dosed with. That or there are just some good trail builders with a love of making some fun trails. I sure hope to get some more riding in there before the snows.On the way home I put trust in my borrowed GPS system to get me back to MP. I ended up in te cul de sac of a Midland neighborhood. I turned that shit off ASAP and went with instinct. 30 minutes later I was home in MP kicking it with B-Man, Wifey and the visiting Papa-O'.
You know you're "up north" when you see signs like this. LOL!What a great weekend. 2:45 of gravel, 2 hours of sweet single track. I could sort of get used to this.
Later.
posted by Jason @ 3:13 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
What? No iceman?
Get used to it. Hills do not always equal fun - flat is fast
Glad to see you found some nicely made trails in your new area.
After reading your comments on how flat the area is I got on my Delorme Topo 7 and checked it out. Yeah, it's flat. If you're in search for hills you'd be better off heading west or northwest than east. There seem to be some hills starting southwest of Lake Isabella. Then further west as there is some gradient at the Muskegon River. Also it may be worth your while to look at the trails at Pere Marquette State Forest and Manistee National Forest. A bit further to the NW, Chippewa River State Forest (SE of Leroy) looks better than the surrounding area. Of course, chances are that you've already looked into all this - but if not it may provide some good riding.
Steve Z
Richard- No, I was the only racer in the state (and a few others) NOT racing it. Sold out since last March. Plus the weather was so perfect I couldn't resist just riding.
Brad- Been having a blast, even with the lack of hills.
Steve, The is some hills near Lake Isabella. Noticed that on a road ride, and yeah, the trails in Manistee were great and kicked my ass at the L'Jack in 09. Anxious to get back there to ride. Thanks for the info. Much appreciated.
Jason
" It was like a very well taken care of Boyce Park back in Pittsburgh."
Glad to hear you are finding something good in Michigan! My entire perspective on Michigan comes from the Robocop movies...
My entire perspective of RoboCob comes from a video game at the mall when I was growing up. LOL.
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