Tuesday & Wednesday @ MMCC

This week there will be group rides at MMCC Trail (Harrison, MI) on both Tuesday and Wednesday at 6pm sharp. This is to better accomodate all rider’s schedules.

Tonight! Wednesday Group Ride @ MMCC

If you are looking to get a ride in tonight, you should hook up with the group at the Mid Michigan Community College (MMCC) Trail.  If you don’t already know, the group leaves at 6pm sharp from the main parking lot. The 10 mile loop will take a little over an hour to complete (Vaughn says that the trail and lap times are improving).  Usually, the ride concludes at Ruckle’s (in Clare) for a brew and a bite.

MMCC is in Harrison, MI…see older posts or Google it for more info.

New MMCC Map Images…

 

MMCC Trail (Harrison,MI)

These are from the GPS data retrieved from last nights amazing group ride.  If you haven’t already participated in the Wednesday night group ride…you should!  It departs at 6pm  sharp! Historically, it has taken place at Burns Rd, but lately at MMCC.  We will try to keep you properly informed.  The images are from the Garmin 405 and it’s new collaboration with Google Earth.  It’s a great and easy method for making maps!  Enjoy.

MMCC Trail (Harrison, MI)

MMCC Trail Now 100% Complete

This Wednesday’s ride (June 3rd) will be at Mid Michigan Community College trail at 6pm sharp! The trail is now 100% complete and ready to ride. Course is 9 miles long and begins at the MMCC main parking lot on Clare Avenue.

Directions: US-10 west to US127 North. Take Exit 168 Mannsiding Rd – turn right for 1/4 mile. Turn left (north) at stop sign on Clare Avenue for 3/4 mile to main MMCC entrance. Or plug 1375 S. Clare Ave, Harrison, MI 48625 into your GPS. We’ll be in the parking lot closest to the road.

No worries…Red Wings are off that night!

MMCC Trail Nearly Complete (Now Ridden)

MMCC Trail (not completed)

Enough with the rakes, loppers and axes already…we’re going ridin’!  The new trail at Mid Michigan Community College has about 2 miles left to be cut in, but we were eager to ride it. Wednesday night a great group of riders met and did exactly that.  I plotted the 8.1 mile route on my GPS to give you a visual.  The combination of the heat and hill climbing earned us a spot at Ruckle’s (in Clare) for post ride beers, burgers and laughs.

A big thanks to Vaughn Murray and Steve Hoffman for their leadership and dedication to this project.  I could almost name the many others that volunteered their time as well, but I’m sure that I would miss someone.  Thanks to all that helped!

Stay tuned for details on the next build project…a mountain bike skills park at Midland City Forest, that will include dirt jumps, skinnies, drops, teeters and a pump track.  Approvals have been granted and we are finalizing the design.  Until then…RIDE!

First Group Ride at NEW MMCC Trail

This Wednesday’s ride will be at the Mid Michigan Community College Trail in Harrison. We’ll be leaving the main parking lot at MMCC at 6pm sharp. Figure on a 45-50 minute drive from downtown Midland. The weather forecast for Wednesday is PERFECT (sunny and 80 degrees) and we’d really like to get a good turnout for the ride this week – guaranteed worth the drive!

We’re really excited about getting on this trail. It’s set in a beautiful forest with massive trees (some that we ride under) and rolling hills. This trail sports some long, gentle climbs (a few not so gentle) and is completely dry. I don’t think we’ll need a single bridge, which is really great for these recent soggy days. Once we get this trail ridden in with a few bikes it should be fast (big ring?). A nice combination of mostly fast flowing trails (like Hanson Hills) some tighter technical trails (Burns Rd), with a couple short sections of hilly two tracks (Iceman). What’s not to love?

We made great progress this past weekend thanks to a really nice turnout for the trail work session on Saturday. We’re close to having the entire loop cut in, and should be able to easily navigate around the few sections still needing work for our ride. At this point, we probably have around 7-8 miles ready for riding, with perhaps 2-3 miles to go. We’re shooting for a 10 mile loop when all is said and done.

Directions: Take US-10 west to US-127 North about 12 miles to the Mannsiding Road exit (exit 168). Turn Right on Mannsiding Rd. for approx 1/4 mile to Old Clare Avenue. Turn left (North) on Old Clare Avenue for approximately 3/4 mile to the MMCC main entrance parking lot on right.

FYI: Some of us will be working on the trail during most of Wednesday afternoon, before the ride. If you’re interested in joining us , give Steve (430-7082) or Vaughn (205-5909) a call.

Ride on!

Steve

MMCC Work Party 9am Saturday, May 16th

Thanks to all the volunteers who have been helping at the Mid Michigan Community College mountain bike trail these last few weeks. We currently have almost half of the 10 mile loop cut and with a good turnout this week we hope to make a big dent in the remaining sections.

The next trail day is coming up this Saturday at 9am. We could really use some help with raking and pruning (loppers). We’ll meet at the MMCC main parking lot on Clare Ave (Old 27) and then head out to various sections.

Questions? Give Vaughn (205-5909) or Steve (430-7082) a shout. Thanks.

Steve

Another Mid-Michigan CC work day…

This is late notice, but if you would like to get involved with building the new trail near Harrison, be there tomorrow Saturday May 9th at 2pm.  Volunteers are meeting up in the main MMCC parking lot.  See older posts for details.  Big (plastic) leaf rakes work well and loppers/hand pruners.

Call Vaughn with any questions (989) 205-5909

MMCC Trail Build Kicked Off!

 

The "roller coaster" section

Day 1:  Perfect weather!  Two small crews working in two different sections.  Each crew following the orange ribbon markers plotted out by Vaughn Murray.  The crew that I was in tackled an extra dense section. The chainsaw and loppers were mandatory here.  Our section was further complicated by the removal of some trail markers, prior to our arrival.  Steve, Tom and I did our best to think like Vaughn and forge ahead.  We later rewarded ourselves at Ruckles (in Clare) with fish dinners and cold beverages.

Day 2:  Again…perfect weather!  About a half-dozen of us formed one team and tackled what will be the last mile of the loop.  It’s fast and flowing through slightly rolling terrain.  It concludes with a roller coaster style, winding section before spilling back out into the main parking lot at Mid-Michigan Community College.  This section made our mouths water with anticipation of bombing it on our bikes.  Of course, it can’t all be fast and flowing…what comes down, eventually has to go up again.  There will be some good climbs to test your strength as well.  A glimpse of Vaughn’s “roller coaster” section shown at left.

We need more volunteers to speed up this build process.  There is plenty more trail to build.  Upcoming work dates/times to be posted soon.  Thanks to those who volunteered last weekend!