Depot Town

June 30, 2021

In a late arrival, here’s the video for yesterday’s ride to Hudson Mills:

Video sound track: Mannish Water, by William Topley

Like yesterday, we have a window in the weather this morning just wide enough for us to shove a day ride through it. We get an early start again and head back to the B2B, this time heading down river toward Ypsilanti and beyond.

The first few miles are a delightful ride along the river, with a character similar to yesterday’s as we bike along the edge of Geddes Pond, the impoundment formed by Dixboro Dam. There are a string of these small dams on the Huron in these miles near Ann Arbor. Originally they were built to produce hydro power, but the yield was too small to be worth it and Edison eventually sold them and the rights to the river along this stretch to the city of Ann Arbor.

Crossing the Huron again. It’s an interesting river through here, with rushing sections like this alternating with broad pond-like impoundments.

Such as Geddes Pond, the slackwater widening formed by the Dixboro Dam.

Stroke! Stroke! Stroke! In the background, one of those aggressive, unwanted mute swans mutely looks on.

You won’t be surprised to learn that this is the Dixboro Dam, finally.

Another look at the dam and Geddes Pond.

These miles to Dixboro Dam, now and again on our return past here, are by far the best part of the ride. The route as a whole though isn’t one we’d recommend or repeat ourselves. It’s fine as fas as Ypsilanti, and Depot Town itself (the historic center of Ypsilanti near the train depot) looks very interesting and worth more time than we gave it today. Beyond that though we’re just biking for the next ten miles on an uninteresting frontage road bordering on the freeway, and then turning back to repeat it going the other way. An oddly poor choice by Team Anderson’s route planner.

Video sound track: the Circle Game, by Joni Mitchell

Once you develop an ear for it, the insistent, chirping song of the cardinal is unmistakeable.

Depot Town, the historic center of Ypsilanti around the train depot that led to the town’s formation. Most of the structures were built between 1850 and 1880, after the coming of the railroad.

Depot Town has a small, well preserved historical core. Today it’s blocked off in preparation for some sort of event. Ypsilanti is the home to many exciting events, including ElvisFest, a gathering of talented and passionate Elvis impersonators.

The old Amtrak station, out of service for almost 40 years. Plans are on the books for the possible construction of a new station and the return of Amtrak service, as a new stop on the Wolverine line.

I checked out this snag in Geddes Pond on the way out, but it was turtle-free then. A red-eared slider?

So not the best of rides, but not the worst of rides either. We got our 42 miles in, saw some cool stuff, and got home dry. When we returned to town we stopped in at Sic Transit Cycles, primarily to replace the gloves that we lost somewhere between Douglas and Kalamazoo - we must have either left them behind at the motel or inside the taxi. Not a bad thing though, since we both were overdue for new gloves anyway. And while we were there Rachael took the opportunity to have her skipping gears adjusted.

It’s a great bike shop. We really enjoyed chatting with Kevin, its young manager or owner. He’s done quite a bit of overseas touring himself, and we enjoyed comparing notes on Greece and Tasmania. His wife of five years also bicycles and tours with him, although they’re slowed down at the moment by their one month old newborn. When we left Kevin gave us his business card and instructed us to send the shop a postcard from somewhere down the road to add to their collection on the shop’s wall.

We made the most of what the day allowed. Perhaps a half hour after we were back in the room the roof fell in again, and suddenly we could hardly see across the street through the dense rainfall. We anxiously end the day thinking about the weather and tomorrow’s long ride to Toledo. Hope we’re lucky.

Sic Transit Cycles, a fine bike shop in Ann Arbor. We stopped in to get new gloves for the ones we apparently left behind in Douglas, and to get Rachael’s gears adjusted.

Some sad news. The mount for Rachael’s camera snapped, and there’ll be no new video until she can order a replacement.

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Ride stats today: 42 miles, 1,100’; for the tour: 1,102 miles, 31,700’

Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 1,102 miles (1,773 km)

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