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- Week DJ_MI's Nightly Rides. I'm going to Detroit; wish me luck!

I wanted to ride a little more but didn’t really have any idea where to go so I hit my favorite practice lot not far from home.

I’ve talked about practicing here before in other threads. I run a slight slalom through these spots in the width and in the tigger length using the intersection of the lines as imaginary cones. Early on learned about “target fixation” the easy way by dropping my bike on the curb nearest to the camera in this picture. Better here at 5MPH than on the road. I had plenty of room but started to get nervous and was looking at the curb until I ran right into it.
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I practiced figure 8s in these four spots and can do it consistently. I can do it in three of the spots but it’s not easy and one mistake eats up the available room quickly. I’m not so consistent with those.
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I owe this parking lot. It’s possible that it has or will save my life with all the practice I’ve gotten here. Thanks a lot, lot.
 
I’m tired of work already this week. I’m cutting out early and riding around.

I rigged up a pulley and lever system held up with a bunch of ice cubes so a weight that, if my math is correct, will fall on the time clock and punch me out later right on time. :D

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The Light Guard Armory in Detroit.
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Yep, Detroit.
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Apparently what remains of the old State Fair Grounds. It looks like new construction to me but it’s supposed to be one of the old barns.
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This looks more like one of the old barns.
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The Magic Bag in Ferndale. The gayest city in Metro Detroit. I watched my mirrors carefully at the lights…
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Yep.
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DJ_MI said:
I’m tired of work already this week. I’m cutting out early and riding around.

I rigged up a pulley and lever system held up with a bunch of ice cubes so a weight that, if my math is correct, will fall on the time clock and punch me out later right on time. :D

IMG_7193.jpeg
Click to expand...
HR LADY IS GONNA HAVE HER WAY WITH YOU IF COUGHT
 
My dad was born in 1912 near South Lyon, MI, and grew up in Oakland and Livingston Counties. Back in the 1920's Michigan would allow you to do road
building and maintenance in lieu of paying property tax. He did that with a team of horses that belonged to my grandfather. Now we pay people big
bucks to operate air conditioned equipment that costs millions of dollars..........
 
762x54 said:
My dad was born in 1912 near South Lyon, MI, and grew up in Oakland and Livingston Counties. Back in the 1920's Michigan would allow you to do road
building and maintenance in lieu of paying property tax. He did that with a team of horses that belonged to my grandfather. Now we pay people big
bucks to operate air conditioned equipment that costs millions of dollars..........
Click to expand...
That's really interesting. I'd never heard of that. Did he have any stories about what that was like? It wasn't that long ago but the thought of using horses to build roads seems so foreign to me.

Something that I noticed recently is that M-53 from around Shelby Township up to Romeo creates a pronounced divide between the more rugged terrain on the west and flatter farmland on the east. I've noticed it before but never really thought about it. It would make sense that they skirted the road right along the rougher terrain.
 
DJ_MI said:
That's really interesting. I'd never heard of that. Did he have any stories about what that was like? It wasn't that long ago but the thought of using horses to build roads seems so foreign to me.

Something that I noticed recently is that M-53 from around Shelby Township up to Romeo creates a pronounced divide between the more rugged terrain on the west and flatter farmland on the east. I've noticed it before but never really thought about it. It would make sense that they skirted the road right along the rougher terrain.
Click to expand...
Looking at M-53 on the map I see that it runs right along the section line until it reaches 18 Mile Rd. then it jogs east one mile and continues along
a different section line. Sometime when you see that it indicates that the road was built from different directions and the two sections failed to meet as planned so they would have to connect them as best they could. My Dad didn't talk much about his childhood and I tend to think it wasn't very happy. He did say that if you had a team you could stay on with your horses and work for wages when the tax liability was satisfied, which is what he did. The horses belonged to my grandfather and Grandpa took all the money my dad earned to cover the expense of feeding the horses so my dad basically worked for nothing. This was around 1929-1930 and things were pretty hard at that time for most folks.
 
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