Palos Single Track

I've been logging hours out in the Palos Forest Preserve Mountain Bike trail network lately.  I try to get to the Bullfrog Lake trail head by noon on Saturdays but the traffic getting out there is brutal.  I've even tried to go north take the tri-state toll way south to get there.  Any way I try it takes me 1.5 hours to get there.  I made a quick little video of the last time out there.  Now that I know what trails film better I'll try to spice the vids up with some jumps and technical moves.  Any how here it is I hope you dig it.

New SIngle Track

A while back I got a comment about the trails behind the Jewel Grocery store at Pulaski and Foster. I had yet to explore the area so on a hunch that I could get some mud on the 'ol mountain bike I geared up to check it out. LaBagh Woods is the name of the Forest Preserve and the best part is that I can easily ride my bike there. I love it more carbon neutral sport. I gather my knobby tires will get worn down faster but I think I can live with that. The trails follow the North Branch of the Chicago River and feels like nothing else within the city limits. I got my first flat on a trail ran into a Cubs fan (mind you the two teams had just played each other)and found a lemonade stand. The trails are a great fix when you want to get out of the city without leaving it.

Enjoy!

The Huffy

You have all seen it. That Huffy mountain bike with full suspension. I would gather that if you look out your front door every kid is out riding one on a nice day. Well I once had one too. Back in the summer of 2004 I was back in the Midwest after working in the mountains for the winter. I was looking for an activity to keep my lifestyle active. My friend Vincent's older brother had given him a nice mountain bike. Any sport with the word mountain in it was gonna do it for me. I had picked up a seasonal job taking tourist photography while also working freelance for production companies. The thing with freelance gigs is that you don't get paid right away. So picture working on a summer job wage and you have an idea as to what my disposable income was like. I had already borrowed my brother's mountain bike that could only be classified as mountain due to its knobby tires. To my brother's disappointment I immediately sheared off a pedal. The next week rolled around and Vincent along with his brother's crew were going back to the forest preserve for the best single track that Cook County had to offer, which mind you is not very arduous. Like a kid whose mom won't let him go out to play, I watched as everyone loaded up their bikes to the racks on their SUV's. Feeling pretty down I pulled out my childhood bike and took a pedal around the subdivision and passed the creek. Growing up you if you needed building supplies for your fort you went to the creek, you could find anything in the creek and after years of living away from home not much had changed, it was still a dumping ground. Cruising by I saw a knobby tire poking out of the silt. As I walked down I saw a pedal too and began digging. To my surprise out came an entire bicycle. The Huffy Vormax appeared like a rusty Lazarus from the dead. I spent the afternoon oiling and scrubbing and pumping up the tires like an A-Team montage, the next week I would ride out with everyone else. Saturday came and it was a perfect day for riding. We met at the trail head and the brands of bikes listed like that of an A-list party. Any one of these bikes would take me months to afford. Dubbed "The Creek Bike" I pulled the Huffy off the bike rack and the car's suspension visibly rose. We shared a good chuckle and hit the trail. I spent the rest of that summer exploring every tucked away single track trail that rumored to be. I raced out of work so I could get in a ten mile loop before the sun went down. I rode that bike until the rear hub exploded. I still ride with the same enthusiasm however my bike is a bit of an upgrade these days I owe a lot to that little bike.

The One Tank Trip: MIdwest Mountain Bike Fest

I'm coming to understand the Midwest really loves bicycles. It makes sense, the terrain is mostly flat which is conducive to human power. After all this is the home of Schwinn and SRAM. Mountain biking though? Well you have to be dedicated and that dedication can really pay off as it did this weekend. My buddy Chris and I went to the Midwest MTB Fest held in Grand Rapids Michigan. 160 miles away in the trails behind Cannonsburg ski area winding trails with great elevation oh yeah and pollen. The trails are unique in that they are sandy. When the glaciers melted and gave us the Great Lakes they left lots of sand and Michigan is already known for the sand dunes. Well even as far inland as Grand Rapids the soil content is mostly sand. I thought initially all that sand was kicking up into my eyes until I realized it was pollen making my eyes dry and itchy. I also learned that with sand comes erosion The Michigan Mountain Bike Association really has a nonstop job keeping up with both mother nature and a thriving MTB community. We rode the group ride on Sat. and got to know the trails and some other riders. We were told that we had to ride Yankee Springs before we left so we hit that trail the next day. The pollen wasn't nearly as bad and the trails were top notch. The flow was stellar and the elevation was tough complete with hair pin turns and steep drop offs. The single track took us though a pine forest that might as well have been out west somewhere. It was really impressive. Chris got to be Johnny on the spot with an air pump for some fellow riders and with a mile left in the 14 mile loop I broke a chain and had to hike out the remainder. But look on the bright side the last time I hiked out of a trail with my bike I had a mangled arm. It was a great weekend trip that took exactly one tank of gas and figured 22.3 mpg isn't horrible for a 17 year old truck.

I love loading up the bikes and gear.

Our bikes.

This is Chris pointing to where his head smacked the trail.

Yankee Springs Trail

Pines

Trail Riding Frenzy, Aug 10

Nice Flowy Singletrack.

The trail runners were pulled off the storage hooks yet once again on Sunday. Its funny, my reintroduction to the bicycle as an adult came in the form of mountain biking yet I participate in this of the two wheeled activities the least these days. There is a lot of work that goes into trail riding. Getting to a trail for one requires getting out of the concrete jungle and into the 'burbs. Cook and Will County have a fairly large network of forest preserves that cater to nature hikes and horse trails. There are also some rider maintained single track in the south suburbs with an official network in the Palos Hills Forest area. It is also a social activity (at least it is with the crew I ride with) so getting everyone to the trail can really be the toughest part. Now that wedding season has died down and the major city fests are out of the way, time is ripe to enjoy what lies outside of the city limits. Within a 45min drive lies Sweetwoods trail network in Glenwood, Il and the Pulaski Woods network in Palos Hills, Il. These pics are from Sweetwoods and I consider this trail to be my local XC trail.

Sweet Woods Climb.

Orion is Upside Down

So I've been on the other side of the world since the 22nd of Feb. About a year ago A girl that I had met while living in Florida and working for Disney shot me an e-mail telling me she was getting married. Our friendship is rooted in my passion for Chicago and hers for her home of New Zealand. She came to visit me in Chicago and by the time I had the cash to visit her in NZ she had moved to London. I traveled to London instead and thus began my travels abroad. So when I heard she was getting hitched in Auckland I took some time off work. I also found out that a cousin of mine was stationed near Sydney. The perfect storm for a down under vacation. My flight took me to Sydney first to enjoy the sites of the Australian metropolis and then to the sleepy surf town that my cousin and her family resides. I then flew to Auckland, NZ for the wedding which included a night boat cruise in the Auckland harbor. Once the wedding was over the suit went in the mail and I donned a backpack and went to the picturesque Bay of Islands. The town was called Paihia and I got out on the water again and took a few day-hikes through some mangrove forest. The next tier was back in Auckland for some museum action waiting for the weather to turn in Rotorua. Rotorua is in an area that is called the Bay of Plenty because you can plant anything and it will grow like its on speed. Here you will find a California Redwood forest that had the best mountainbiking I've ever seen. It is also an active volcanic region with natural hot spring pools and boiling mud pits. Rotorua was the highlight of the trip. Good people, great bicycle culture with an excellent visitor's center.

Sydney at Night

Newcastle, Australia
Major coal export industry. There were always ships like these waiting to get loaded.


The surfing side of Newcastle

I thought this was perfect. Everyone has to purchase a window sticker to register their car so the city printed a friendly reminder so the driver could see.

Auckland, New Zealand at night. Pic was taken from a boat so its not perfect.


Hole in the Rock, this is an icon of the Bay of Islands


Hiking though the mangrove forest

Another iconic image of New Zealand, a blooming fern.

Rotorua from the MTB trail. The best single track I've ever been on.


This town has their priorities straight. Notice the void of parking meter on the rack side.

Gearing up for my 22 hour 3 plane journey home.