The Musketawa Trail

When I was in college, I took a physics class. On the first day of lecture, the professor wrote the word "RELENTLESS" in large block letters on the board. He explained that that's how the class was going to be throughout the entire semester. And it was.

I thought of that class yesterday as I rode a 55 mile training ride on the Musketawa Trail. I pedalled against a relentless headwind the entire way out! Then, thank goodness, I got to turn around and let it push me home. Needless to say, the trip back went a bit faster!

I decided to check out the Musketawa Trail, which runs from Marne (northeast of Grand Rapids) to east Muskegon, for the first time yesterday. It was a bit of a drive from my house to the trail head, but it was worth it. What a nice trail. I like riding through forests and farm lands on my bike, and that was pretty much all I saw along the entire trail.

All 25 miles of trail were well paved, and there were porta-potties at each trail head. There were even beverage vending machines near Muskegon. Overall, there was little civilization to be seen other than a couple little towns. One of these villages is Ravenna, where they are restoring and displaying memorabilia from the old rail road. Here is the restored rail road water tower.



There were some little country stores and ice cream shops that I didn't stop to explore this time around, but I will in the future. They at least inspired me to take my hubby out for some soft serve when I returned home. I also passed over some wetlands and a couple small rivers like this one.



There were lots of breezy fields like the one below. This picture is a bit washed out and unfortunately doesn't do justice to the incredibly blue sky.



About a mile before the western-most end of the trail, I saw this prison through the trees. The inmates were out walking in the yard. I imagined myself in there looking out at the people biking and roller blading on the trail, and I was glad to be on the outside of the razor wire enjoying my bike in the sun.



I'm getting stronger with each long ride and recovering faster afterwards. I'm still pretty done by the end of them, though. My legs get tired and my neck and shoulders hurt. It will really take my willpower to finish the century. But I know I can do it!