Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Back Woods Ypsilanti

I've lived in or near this town for 12 years, & I thought I'd seen everything it had to offer. Recently, however, Solstice & I started going for little bike rides in the evening & we've seen tons of cool stuff. We started simply enough a few weeks ago by cruising around our hood to get a feel for the area. Last week, we went up River & checked out Highland Cemetery which features the grave sites of many of the earliest Ypsilantians & a few Civil War Vets. As it turns out, the Cemetery closes @ 6:00 & we got there about 5:50. By the time we were ready to leave, the gate was locked & we had to lift our bikes over the fence before climbing it. I was appalled to learn that she had never climbed a fence before, but that was quickly remedied. Our other travels include a jaunt to my office, basically to see how long it takes (basically to see how late I can sleep before leaving to get to my office hours). On the way back we went down by the river near the Michigan Ladder Company & discovered some cool little trails. We've explored the local alleys & saw some crazy birds. This evening, after dinner, we road through Riverside Park & found a little river overlook by Michigan Ave. that I never knew existed. I've begun really looking forward to our short rides. We even got new helmets last week. I think that next week,we are going make a trip to Value World. At this point, I need to thank a certain friend & bike enthusiast (who wants to remain anonymous) for greasing my chain (& no, that isn't a euphemism) a couple weeks ago w/ Canola Oil (which is why he wants to remain anonymous)... & Andy, sorry, I guess I gave you away, I still haven't gotten around to getting the required stuff so I'm still cruising on bio-grease.
Ypsi c. 1868

6 comments:

Zoe the Wonder Dog said...

I'll try, try, try to bring some proper lube for you tomorrow!

peltierinator said...

Did you get another purple helmet?

Andre said...

No, they didn't have any purple ones... I looked though.

Daye said...

I love Highland cemetery--I used to have picnics out there with Lisa when Z was a wee baby. We would push the strollers out there. It is beautiful. Did you know you can see it from Tony's side of the Eng Dept?

Stephanie said...

This post made me wish I could stay upright on a bike for more than 5 seconds.

Shannon said...

hey, call me if you ever want another friend to tag along with you while biking around. i'm always passing through your neighborhood.