Fort Custer is a WWI training camp that is now a forest preserve. Remember from high school history class that WWI utilized trench warefare. Well, the trenches are still here at Fort Custer. But now they’re all overgrown and the trails weave in and out of them. It’s like riding a BMX track through the forest. It’s so fun.

This video is from November of 2004. I was riding with my friend Dennis. We met there again in July 2005 and I have more video of that trip coming soon.

Video has now been converted to Flash Video that should be more compatible to more viewers. The file is still pretty large though, but it will start playing when there is enough downloaded. Be patient.

This past summer was the second year in a row that Dennis and I rode the south Michigan mountain biking trails. This year we camped a Fort Custer near Battle Creek and spent three days getting lost on the trails. Nearly 70 miles in the forest resulted in about 3 hours of video, currently being edited and should have some clips up shortly. Here are a few still photos the whet the appetite.

 I arrived at the park at about 5pm Friday just as Dennis was finishing setting up the camper and preping the campsite. We did a little shopping for food and got back after dark.

Our first ride was a night ride starting around 10:30pm. Got back to the campsite after midnight. We did another night ride on Saturday night. The beam of the headlamp lights just a hole like a tunnel through the trail while the forest closes in around. But the trail is mostly hard packed sand, so it’s fast even at night.

Saturday morning, coffee and fruit kicked off a wake-up ride. About 15 miles around the lake, then back in time for whole wheat pancakes, before another late morning ride. Ended up all turned around, but met some of the local bike club people who got us back to the main trail.

Another early morning ride Sunday morning. Shorter this morning. Harder on the butt than the legs and lungs, but it was time to pack up and hit the road.