Change Of Pace

A little single speed action in Geo Wyth State Park

Instead of hitting the gravel roads Wednesday I decided to ride some local single track instead. I went with the single speed specific On One Inbred Limited Edition. I wonder why anyone would spend more on a single speed specific frame set. It really is a nice value for the money, but that's another story.

After getting things squared away with my gear, I took off for George Wyth State Park to hit up a trail I had heard about, but never ridden yet. On the way over, I did a bit of trail in the area South of George Wyth by the 218 bridge and then crossed over to the State Park proper to ride over toward the beach area, where there were a fair amount of sunbathing folk. Just West of the dressing rooms on the North side by the fence a trail picks up and basically runs along that fence for some way until you are forced out on to the road to miss a scum filled pond and then you dive back in again briefly before popping out again to avoid a fen. Then back in one more time till you arrive near to Alice Wyth Lake and connect up with a trail that jets you back out toward the highway and Cedar Falls through more open country.

Well, I rode it, and it was fairly unremarkable. But that checks off all the trails in Geo Wyth that have ever existed since the mid-90's that I have ridden. Many no longer exist at all. It is an ever changing network over there, for sure. I suppose it shouldn't be surprising, given that Geo Wyth is in a flood plain and floods affect the area on a frequent basis.

This was once a marshy area, and very well could be that again in the future. 

The old deer trail in Lower Hartman

I ended up coming back across the river on the pedestrian/bicycle path bridge, and then down the trail alongside the Cedar toward Lower Hartman Reserve. Back in there we found a deer trail in 1994 or '95 that we were bushwhacking through to get from the main Lower Hartman trail to a motorcycle enduro trail that existed on the far West side of Shirey Way. Traditionally we had run right on Shirey Way, but this deer trail paralleled that road and would end up becoming the single track that it is today through much work in clearing it out back then in the mid-90's. I can vividly remember bushwhacking my way through this before it was established. 

Now it is just a memory, and this trail is well established, to the point that most locals have no idea where it came from. I guess that makes me an old timer, eh? Well, whatever I am, I continued onward till I popped out on the cycling trail toward Waterloo and headed on home. It was a good two hour ramble and should help me keep things going toward a good effort at Gravel Worlds in a week and a half or so.