[TrailBurner]

Hello Everybody.
On Tuesday, August 3rd, many Detroit, Michigan area riders were faced with a dilemma:
Do they do the usual Tuesday ride at Novi and possibly ruin the trail due to all of the mud, or should they just do a road ride.
Ahhh, decisions decisions.

I said to myself, ?Self, we don?t want to do a road ride.?
And I was sick of mud.

So I decided to be crazy and drive from Detroit to Augusta, Michigan (the location of Fort Custer) after work, ride for a few hours, and drive home. This is the same amount of driving time as driving from Detroit to Chicago.

My riding buddy Kevin decided to be crazy as well and I picked him up from his office on my way out to the Fort.

Now I have never been to Fort Custer and I wanted to make sure I rode the whole thing properly.
So after a few quick emails, I was promised a tour of the entire Fort by the Queen of the Fort Herself: Briana (Queen of the Fort)

I left my office at 3:30pm and we arrived at the fort at about 6:10. Briana (Queen of the Fort) came a few minutes later and everybody changed and got ready to ride. A fellow named Blaine rode up and asked if he could join us.
Blaine is from Ontario and was in Battle Creek for a business convention. He rode from Battle Creek to the Fort and rode about 15 miles before he joined us. As you can see from the pics, he is a genetic freak of nature with 0% body fat and more stamina than a fleet of horses. I hate people like that. But I digress.

Briana (Queen of the Fort) took us on the blue loop, skillfully combined the red and the yellow loop, and then the entire green loop. I think 24 miles in all. We all had a great time and I can honestly say that the Queen of Fort Custer is a great ride host and tour guide. Thanks Briana (Queen of the Fort)! I?m looking forward to the next time I get out there!

And now for some pics:

Here is Kevin, Briana (Queen of the Fort), and Blaine before we start to ride.

Briana (Queen of the Fort) pointed out this Silo on the red loop but she?ll have to fill you in on its significance. I?ll be tarred and feathered if I can remember what she was babbling about.

Here is the entrance to Granny?s Garden. Some really fun section of trail if there ever was one. The picture does not do justice to the sweeping turns and trench-like nature of this section. I tried to depict what the trail is doing with my nifty little arrow.

Kevin hits a logpile at the end of Granny?s Garden:

Briana (Queen of the Fort) takes the logpile like a seasoned pro:

Here I am going down this armored chute which just happens to be in the middle of the trail.
This was so much fun I had to do it twice!

Briana (Queen of the Fort) rides through the trenches:

Kevin & Blaine play in the trench a bit:

Blaine just manages to outrun the famous Ft Custer Rancor:

Wow!!! It looks like our ship has come in! Gilligan! We?re saved!

and we?ll end with this beautiful view of Eagle Lake from the green loop.

Thanks again Briana (Queen of the Fort)! And thank you all for looking.
Have a great day!
-TrailBurner

 

[Gripshift]

Fort Custer Rocks.....

Fort Custer is one of my favorite trails. Over the past few years I have only gotten down there once a year. The Fort was my first real trail ride in "96". It's one trail I could ride all the time and not get board with. I think that Fort Custer is one of the best trails in Michigan. The trenches, cardiac climb, grannies garden, crazy beaver loop. I have to get down there soon.

 

[JmZ]

Fort Custer is one of my favorite trails. Over the past few years I have only gotten down there once a year. The Fort was my first real trail ride in "96". It's one trail I could ride all the time and not get board with. I think that Fort Custer is one of the best trails in Michigan. The trenches, cardiac climb, grannies garden, crazy beaver loop. I have to get down there soon.

Ft Custer is so far my favorite trail. I've been there once this year and need to get back. The trail is a blast to ride, lots of different types of trail to mix it up too, and enough mileage to make a 2 hour drive more than worth the trip.

Watch the Midwest and Michigan forums for info when rides are announced. If anyone is planning rides at Custer - please announce 'em too! I'm always looking for an excuse to go to up there. Winona Lake's a good ride, but still like Custer better.

JmZ

 

[®andyA]

Hey Jim...

Y'might want to keep an eye out on the MMBA forums (mmba.org). They've been tossing around the idea of a big group ride out at Fort Custer. No firm dates yet, of course. There was actually an idea brought up of doing a group ride right around Labor Day weekend. Most of the people on the board are at a race this weekend in the U.P. so they were thinking of doing the Fort as a "recovery" ride.

(Note: the [email protected]@rds have been doing epic rides all summer and they call this a "recovery" ride!?!? ... sheesh!!!! )

 

[TrailBurner]

Hey Randy, I just noticed your reply.
Heh recovery ride, eh?
maybe you and I can hang out in the back and take pictures of each other again.
who needs those fast slobs anyway? hmmph!
LOL