Smoked Pumpkin Ale.

Christmas moose.

Candle.

Cold, biker Di.

IMBA socks.

Flowers.

Coriander’s Lambchop.

Black bear nativity.

Quiet Christmas.

I lent my Jamis to new Tree Farmer, Vikki. Unfortunately, the front tire was flat when I loaded the bike into my Pathfinder, so I found time during my busy work schedule to put some air in the tube. I think the problem is a leaky valve. I think I’ll get many more miles out of this tube.

It was pretty cool watching the line of lights flowing backward through the trail.

Riding along the future home of new pine trees?

This reminded me of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

They’re heeeeere. Oh, wait, that’s Poltergeist.

Tree Farmers.

More Tree Farmers.

A shot of Jager for the originals.

As some of you also know, last night’s Powerball lottery thingamajigger was pretty huge, so lots of people were buying tickets. I don’t foresee myself ever being rich, so I donate my lottery money to beer because, well, you can drink beer, and lottery tickets really don’t taste that good; not to mention that they contain chemicals that don’t exactly file them in the “organic” category. I came across Sean’s Facebook post regarding said Powerball and felt that Sean needed a serious reality check.

Another crazy person (Steve Vigneau).

And another crazy person (me).

I never rode this bridge before this day, but I nailed it and loved it thanks to Ray’s.

The Lake Salad at the Lakeville Inn in Leonard minus the onion with grilled chicken added. The dressing was a thick balsamic glaze. My accompanying beverages were a lot of iced tea for hydration, and a glass of Apothic Red wine for dessert.

Happy Tree Farmers at the Novi Ice Arena.

My rental hockey skates—super comfy, and just like skate skiing, except no hills.

This is the warning sign we read after we skated.

My Trek Mullet for a day.

Loren gave me a tour of the bike park before turning me lose to attack whichever obstacles grabbed my interest. After 30 minutes of following him into the beginner room, along the cross country track, and up to the “Sport” area, the bike felt pretty good and I was ready to head off on my own. Don’t get me wrong, I still had some apprehension about where to go and whether I could ride anything, but following Loren on a long skinny—sure, it was only a couple of inches off of the ground—helped me to gain a little confidence.

Sport area.

Mark and Justin in the Sport area.

After a while, I got quite confident on the bike and was taking the downhill on the cross country loop from the rafters down over the pump track and through the corner pretty fast. Each time I went down that hill, I hit the corner bank higher and higher. At one point, after going around the bank, I didn’t turn far enough to the right and hit the end of my handlebar on the wall. That was almost an “oh, shit” moment. Of course, in my usual awesome form, I managed to execute a nice save.

Justin and Loren led me up to the pump track. It was incredibly tiring, but also incredibly fun. It was kind of like riding the Outer Limits loop at Michigan Tech with the respect that I was suckered into doing it so many times because it was just too damn fun.

Loren riding the pump track.

Justin riding the pump track. The three guys riding on the red track are entering the Sport area. I loved riding this part of the track because I would pump through that section really fast and then hit the berm at the end really fast. That was way too much. I probably wouldn’t have gone to the Sport area so much if it wasn’t for that little section.

I practiced some of the skinnies in different areas and gained a little more courage than I had before coming to Ray’s. I rode four lines in the Sport section, but just couldn’t bring myself to ride any of the teeter totters. I guess I’ll have to try those next time.

For shits and giggles—okay, purely for the purpose of being a smart ass—I turned on Strava for a lap around the bike park. Apparently, I’m the first to do it.

One thing I really liked about Ray’s was the classic rock they were pumping through the place, but there can be too much of a good thing. After lunch, I rode the cross country loop—again—and while I was riding through the beginner room, I noticed that no one was in there and I couldn’t really hear any music. I rode up on the platform, leaned my bike against the rail, and sat on the platform. I just sat there enjoying the quiet. It got to the point where I had to decompress (typical introvert quality). I took several pictures of the room, mostly because cartoonesque agricultural pictures were painted on the walls, and cows make me laugh, especially cartoon cows. Loren rode through and caught me slacking, but by that time, I was ready to get back up. I followed him into a room that had some lower skinnies to play on along with some different bridges. Thanks for the encouragement, Loren.

Beginner room.

Beginner room. Cows. Chicken.

I rode one line in the Expert section, but that was because I followed Mark D. up there—we were going to roll over the jumps in the Expert section, but didn’t get that far. I rode one line that goes into an “elevator,” lowers, and then exits onto some winding, narrow skinnies. Fortunately, the skinnies were only a couple of inches off of the floor, so I bailed.

Later on, Justin took me to the Expert jumps. A group of guys were hanging out at the entrance and were incredibly supportive. One even followed me through the course and told me that I did a great job. Of course, rolling over jumps isn’t that big of a feat, but it did take some courage to get myself into that situation. I even hit the Red Bull bank and was surprised at how easy it was. It was so cool! I think I rode that section three times.

The Red Bull bank in the Expert jump section.

I sat in a chair and kicked up my feet for a bit of a cat nap. I thought that I could go back out and ride, but it just wasn’t happening. Loren led me into the “rhythm room” and through a route in there. I was going to try the cross country loop before changing back into my regular clothes, but I knew I didn’t have the energy to climb up into the rafters again. Too bad, because the downhill was so much fun.

Rhythm room.

Rhythm room.

We all went to the Fat Heads Brewery afterward for beer and food. There wasn’t much on the menu for someone like me, so I opted for a club sandwich. Unfortunately, it was served on a ridiculous bun. I ate half the sandwich and took the rest home. I had 1/4 for breakfast the next day and ended up throwing the rest away with the chips—a shame, but I’m not supposed to be eating that much bread and chips. It was okay, but I dare say that there are probably better options in Cleveland. The beer was good, though! I tried their Sunshine Daydream Session IPA and their Brown Ale. The IPA was okay, but I really liked the Brown Ale.

It was a very long three-hour journey home. I got home at a decent time, showered, and went to bed. As I lay there, I thought, “I really want to try that cross country loop again!”

I decided that I had enough of picking away at the earth carefully crafting super sweet singletrack and decided to head out with the bridge crew. Pete was very cool and taught me how to use some of the power tools.

But first, we had to warn trail users that we were in the process of making the trail safer for them.

Pete cut the new posts to the correct length for supporting the bridge.

The fallen tree did some serious damage to the previous posts.

The bridge crew hard at work.

Mack trying to figure out how to work the wrench.

The finished product.

Oh, look! The other way!

Admiring the bridge from afar.

CRPT is happy once again.

A lonely generator waits for its owner.

CRPT: home of the squirrelly tree monkey.

Nick found out where the beer was.

My trusty dog, Corianderus trailbuilderus caninus, and I set out with our tools—a mattock and a rake—in search of great trail adventures. We didn’t know what the day had in store for us, but we were armed and ready.

Today’s journey gave us three exciting options. Yes! Three trail crews worked on three different projects. I made the trek along the soon-to-be singletrack that will return riders to the trailhead. Our fearless leader, Jeremy Verbeke, gave me instructions about how to find the last, lost crew that was transforming a ridge into an “advanced line,” or basically a freeride line with a drop that lands just before a wicked berm where the rider will swoop around the curve and up a hill to rejoin the wimps who either don’t want to break themselves (me) or are too scared to try it (me).

Tim took the lead on developing this line and gave us direction on how he wanted it to be. Brad and I started out cutting the drop. Tim buried the posts and created a support with some boards and rocks. Coriander inspected the work partway through the project.

Matt formed the structure for the berm and began digging dirt and moving it onto the logs he placed around the outer border. After I was no longer needed at the drop, I began helping Matt dig out the trail for the berm. We moved a lot of dirt to bring the camber closer to level and to build a lot of dirt up on the outside. After piling the dirt and shaping it with a rake, Matt packed it down. I raked the area after the berm to allow any water to flow away from the berm.

Super awesome Marty Shue became my favorite person of the day when she showed up at 2 p.m. with pizza and tacos. Although I said I was hungry, I don’t think I really felt hungry, but I did feel like I needed some energy. Trail days are hard work!

I did some grocery shopping afterward; took a long, hot bath; and then made dinner. I enjoyed a bowl of butternut squash soup, pumpkin ravioli with pesto, and pumpkin pie. That’s definitely a meal fit for a fine Sunday evening after a great day in the woods (I won’t mention the part about it being cold and windy).

Michigan.gov recently reported that a “Panel makes recommendations on future of Michigan parks, recreation areas.” I’ve read things like this before, but I have one concern that I addressed in a letter to Governor Snyder that I composed this morning.

Diane M. Ursu
[Address]
[Address]

October 27, 2012

The Honorable Rick Snyder
Governor of Michigan
P.O. Box 30013
Lansing, Michigan 48909

Dear Governor Snyder,

I am quite pleased whenever I see a report regarding the State of Michigan’s support for trail development on public lands. Unfortunately, none of the reports I’ve seen have clearly demonstrated what volunteers in our state really do.

The Michigan State Parks and Outdoor Recreation Blue Ribbon Panel’s, “The Future of Michigan’s Parks and Outdoor Recreation: A Report to Governor Rick Snyder,” dated September 23, 2012, recommends supporting volunteer groups, but one statement concerns me since you cannot make solid decisions without understanding the situation: “Chapter 1: Introduction. The Panel recognizes the valuable and insightful management of the DNR’s permanent and summer staff and the untold volunteer efforts that are contributed to the State Parks system.”

The goal of this letter is to briefly inform you of the volunteer efforts put forth by mountain bikers to advance trail development throughout Michigan at no cost to the State. I must point out that these volunteer numbers were reported to the Michigan Mountain Biking Association (MMBA) for 2011. Although volunteers did much work throughout the year, the Northern Michigan Mountain Biking Association (NMMBA) did not report hours for the High Country Pathway, designated as an “Epic Mountain Biking Trail” by the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA); and the Vasa Singletrack, a dedicated mountain bike trail on state land near Traverse City that is cared for by a joint effort of the NMMBA and other local cycling groups. Numbers also do not include the volunteer efforts of mountain bikers in the Upper Peninsula, where mountain biking is not only nationally recognized, but a significant source of economic development for towns such as Copper Harbor.

The following are the volunteer hours for 2011 by IMBA chapter:

• Clinton River Area Mountain Bike Association (CRAMBA): 2,408
• Holly/Flint (now part of CRAMBA): 133
• Motor City Mountain Biking Association (MCMBA): 1,176
• Mid-Michigan Mountain Bike Association (MMMBA): 472
• Potowatomi Mountain Biking Association (PMBA): 939
• Southwest Michigan Mountain Biking Association (SWMMBA): 1,951
• Western Michigan Mountain Biking Alliance (WMMBA): 1,363

Volunteers reported a total of 8,442 hours of trail development and maintenance throughout the Lower Peninsula in 2011. According to the most recent numbers reported (Independent Sector, 2010), the hourly value for a volunteer in Michigan is $20.07. Applying that number to the reported volunteer hours for 2011, and considering the great number of hours that were not reported, Michigan mountain bikers provided in excess of $169,531 of service.

In addition to developing and caring for mountain bike trails in city, county, and other parks, mountain bikers also maintain trails in state parks and recreation areas, including Brighton, Fort Custer, Highland, Holdridge Lakes (Holly), Island Lake, and Potawatomi. Our efforts include repairing and replacing old trails using sustainable practices set forth by the U.S. Forest Service in cooperation with IMBA. We also raise money for materials and tools.

If you so desire, I would be happy to arrange a meeting between you and other mountain biking advocates. These volunteers have more than five, 10, even 20 years of experience and knowledge with trail development in Michigan, and would serve as a valuable resource for you as you strive for our common goal to make Michigan a trail destination state. We would be honored to show you what we do. Let us help you.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments. You may reach me by email at [email]@moronacity.com or by phone at (###) ###-####. Thank you for considering the efforts of Michigan’s passionate volunteers and for all that you do for our great state.

Sincerely,
 
 
 
Diane Ursu

The idealistic question is why would any athlete with any integrity dope if it is about who is truly the best? Why would he subject himself to the dangerous effects and possibly even risk life? Reality isn’t so black and white, especially when doping is so rampant in a professional sport. “When it’s your dream job, you aren’t yet mature enough to have a strong moral compass, and are surrounded by an unhealthy environment, there aren’t many people who are going to stand up and shout that this is wrong,” says Millar.

USADA Investigation of Lance Armstrong

If EPO were that readily available in the early 90s, why is it that the governing bodies don’t have control over it in 2012? One has to question whether they really want to eradicate doping from cycling, or if it is nothing more than a scheme devised to make money. Either way, “witch hunts,” like the one against Lance Armstrong, don’t do much for the sport of cycling.

In the United States, it is unacceptable to punish someone when there is no proof beyond a reasonable doubt, such is the case with Armstrong. In fact, federal investigators dropped their two-year investigation earlier this year when they could find no concrete evidence. The issue with the recent USADA investigation is that is took the path of guilty until proven innocent, and the “proof” of guilt they have would not hold up in a court of law because all they have are signed testimonies from Armstrong’s colleagues who have all been accused of doping and took lesser punishments in favor of cooperating with USADA. Looks like those witnesses have a conflict of interest.

Let me be very clear: I am not advocating that Armstrong is innocent, only that the investigation was unfair and flawed.

Armstrong is not the only victim, though. The Lance Armstrong Foundation’s supporters are disappointed and hurt over this investigation. In spite of Armstrong’s controversial reputation, he managed to bring people together to fight for a good cause over a common bond, whether that bond be a love of endurance sports, personal experience with cancer, or both.

Those who love the sport of cycling are also hurt. Sure, some love seeing Armstrong stripped of his titles, but many of us have become apathetic with the whole ordeal. What matters to us isn’t that he doped, but that he served as a source of inspiration for many, me included. I am still inspired by him, and what I’ve learned from his book, The Lance Armstrong Performance Program, is no less valid.

Millar hits the nail on the head when he says, “What the UCI have done during the EPO era has been far from enough. They have let down a generation of fans, riders, sponsors and supporters.”

Anti-Doping Agencies

UCI—Union Cycliste Internationale, or International Cycling Union, is responsible for conducting blood and urine drug tests.
USADA—United States Anti-Doping Agency is a non-governmental, non-profit agency that is recognized by Congress “as the official anti-doping agency for Olympic, Pan American, and Paralympic sport in the United States” (see “Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2002: Public Law 107-67“).
WADA—World Anti-Doping Agency is an independent foundation that is responsible for the World Anti-Doping Code that is accepted by many governments and agencies.