I lived in lovely Cadillac, Michigan, twenty years ago. During my few years there, I was heavily into mountain biking, and my pals John Van Eden and Harry Milton and I did a lot of traveling around to the different local trails in the northwest Lower Peninsula.

My absolute favorite was a section of the North Country Trail, a 4,600 mile trail primarily for hiking, which stretches from North Dakota to the New York – Vermont border. The section in question is called the Marilla section, and it runs along the Manistee river for about seven miles each way. It’s beautiful single-track, with lots of exposed roots to contend with – but most of all, it winds up and down the river bluff, making for an extremely challenging ride.

I was up that way over the weekend for some Scouting stuff, so I brought my ancient K2 along and spent some time Sunday reliving my past glory. Between legs unaccustomed to off-road riding anymore, and the accompanying lack of technical skills, it was a lot slower going than back in the day. But it was no less fun.