Handmade Bikes, Sloppy Gravel, & The Best Flow Trails! 

Once again what a blast. I always wish I was there. You should know that some of the folks I ride with, whenever we start an early ride and end up stopping at a couple-three breweries/restaurants along the way and end up getting home in the dark we call the ride a Fitzwater and while on the ride we call it Fitzwatering. Totally love it!

Cool Video, I'm a local, I work on DTE/Poto trails, ride/have all kinds of bikes, DTE is 22.5 miles, 4 loops, professionally built, so it does drain water well, maybe it'll get added onto maybe not, there is a protected snake to deal with, but DTE has a 7 mile connector to the Potatawtomi Trail (Poto) the granddaddy of trails in this area, it has over 25 miles of trails there with 3 loops, the main loop is 18.5 miles, it was 17 when built in the 60's, giving us over 60 miles of awesome trails, Poto is being reworked now, 7 sections of Boy Scout built trail from the 60's is getting go arounds, by the same company that built DTE, it will not be another DTE, keeping its old school feel. The original fall line trails are where the work is being done, so its still rideable, the upper 4 mile Goslin section in Hell, Mi is not getting worked on this year, but still good to go. Plenty of gravel around this area too, Michigan has more miles of gravel then paved I believe. With the freeze thaw, and high moisture around the roads are not always smooth, suspension is never a bad thing to have, spring especially, the road crews can't grade frozen roads, so its depending on the time of year, I ride all year out in the Wonderland of Mi, once the roads get snopacked they smooth out..Thanx for the great Vid, Happy Trails ;) !!! potomba.org/trails/potawatomi-trail/

Thank you for joining us at the Roadhouse before your ride! 🥰

I saw you in the park riding the hill. I was walking my dogs and you all went past and said hey. In the moment I didn't recognize you but 30 seconds later I realized. Glad to see you had a great time in A2.

Summer is kicking in! Lovley routes and nice to see those forest bike trails. Looks like everyone got a healthy slice of fun :)

I lived and commuted to work in Ann Arbor for about a decade. It looks like they've really improved bike infrastructure. It was cool seeing you ride a bunch of familiar roads. I'll have to go check out the DTE trails.

That street with the shoes is Greenwood Ave. between E. University and Packard. That block is known for its massive undergrad block parties (at least it was when I went there). If I remember right, the tradition is to throw a pair of shoes on the power lines after you graduate and you’re moving out, but I’d encourage anyone to correct me if I’m wrong.

DTE is totally rideable with a rigid 29er. I ride my rigid ‘09 Rockhopper out there as often as I can. I no longer live in A2, or go near the town, but your video gave me a bit of nostalgia about it. Reminded me of some good times from my days there.

So many beauties! Thanks for sharing!

Where’s the LOVE ❤️ button. I need to hit the DTE trails.. Everyone I tell that I haven’t been there yet give me a hard time about it…LOL…Wish it didn’t rain. It scared me off …LOL… We got to meet up next time you come back to Michigan.

after a month out of pocket and unable to to my fix I log in and once again some of the best content out there makes my day! took a couple hours to get caught up and kind of disappointed there is not more. Thanks!

The DTE trails look fun. Nice shot of Toledo and the Skyway Bridge!

Thanks again Tim, for introducing Ann Arbor and I didn’t expect it to be such a chill area. I knew Ann Arbor from a song - Prison Song by Graham Nash back in 70’s… a unique name that stayed in my mind till today but I never check it out until I saw this video. I love the video very much…..maybe it’s the coffee or food ❤️

Grew up outside Chelsea MI and really enjoyed seeing the Jiffy Mill pop up on my RU-vid feed. Great video! Those curious about the gravel East of AA should check out the Watermoo gravel race, it’s an amazing route

DTE is a professionally built trail system. Cost over a million $$$$$. Great trails for sure.

Great video Tim. Enjoyed it very much. Best wishes to you from Tennessee ✌️

Those trails look so nice. I gravel and mountain bike, I can ride black diamond and be all alert, but my favorite flow is green and blue with a little technical. exactly what you were doing, good job

Can't believe I missed Ann Arbor! I didn't hear a word about it. 😢

My fastest time on the DTE green loop is on a gravel bike. The Sugar loop (biggest jumps) is best done with a MTB.

Man, you make that part of the country look good.

Good luck on getting your derailleur hanger replaced on the Raleigh. My bikes also have integrated derailleur hangers, which one has dealt with being bent once or twice.

Great video! Love the Rando bikes as well 😍

oh man, I have a purple RB-2 just like that. woot!

I need to build a gravel bike. I live in Battle Creek; so about an hour and a half away. That would be so cool.

Dang, too bad we missed you and that bike show, we were just there the 7th-9th. Rode part of the DTE trails, what I saw was definitely rigid friendly, and my gravel bike would have done fine as well.

Wow, that DTE looks like my kind of trail. Bypasses are my friend, btw. I'm not auditioning for Red Bull, lol, but want to have fun. Thanks for the great video - looked like a great trip. This puts Ann Arbor on my radar. (I went to school in Spring Arbor many many many many years ago) I'm thinking this would tie in well on the way up to spending time in Mackinac! You really capture your rides well. Have you considered a career in photography? :)

Studies have shown that paint on the road have a very strong psychological effect on human behavior. I am a big advocate for more paint on the road. It's the least expensive and most nimby friendly solution for bicyclist to be just a little safer.

Cool beans

Great video Tim. Yeah, miss the voice over too.

Thanks Tim , is it possible to see , and order online , the caps you spoke about ??

Alex Stewart trail boss of Spectrum designs built DTE and also did work at Cayuga . Had the pleasure of working for him at DTE but the back gave out before Sugar got built. It was a dream job getting PAID to work trail after all those years of volunteering. He has worked all over Michigan and without knowing you can tell where he has built. I have stories and great memories of the DTE build. 😉🤣 The bro element is the only negative about DTE. It's annoying enough for me that I only ride DTE early AM or at night in the fall. Poto is my home trail but I am circumspect about my riding times . Busy multi purpose trail on the week ends. Thanks for liking the DTE build . A lot of prep work and a huge amount of advocacy when into building that system. Yep, I have stories .🤬

You were up in my neck of the woods in Toledo. Ann Arbor is 30 miles from me. I gravel ride up there then cruise around AA then head back. Nice 100 mile round trip. Doing OTET next week I will be cruising through your hood!

Great footage. Try Jolly Pumpkin in Ann arbor if you haven't. Fantastic sour beers.

Great video and an accurate portrayal of the biking scene here in Ann Arbor/Washtenaw County! One minor point: at 9:37 you talk about heading west out of town and then on to Detroit….Detroit is east of A2. As for biking from A2 to the D…..maybe? I think a person would be better off following the Huron River watershed southeast toward Lake Erie and Monroe….but if you definitely want to get to the D, use routes that take advantage of Hines Park and the Hines Park Trail. Anyway, glad you discovered Detroit Street Filling Station vegan restaurant (which is in Ann Arbor, to be clear, haha).

Love Ann Arbor - I have not seen this much of it. Think about Ann Arbor -> Detroit -> Port Huron....

Nothing wrong with a lil rooster tail haha. Good to see some old stomping grounds in good ol Mitchigan. So many bike lanes there now Link a ride out to Ypsi next time it’s chill

omg! I was in Ann Arbor that weekend too!

Great running into you guys, Tim! The DTE trails are definitely faster with as little tread and suspension as possible (except for the Sugar black diamond trail). I'm not shocked that some MTB bros were threatened by you all. ;) Shoutout to Jade who made that awesome route. She crushed it!

Another great video. That looks like a lot of fun .

That area looks very appealing. I love custom comfortable bikes. Great narration too... liked and subscribed. 👍

Ann Arbor is great. Im from Chelsea but live in Oregon now. Never ridden DTE but those trails look really fun. Good video.

hell yeah love the vid Tim! lived in Ann Arbor for a bit but never got the chance to really explore the trails or bike outside of the school campus. loved seeing all the footage you took from the trip up there! shoutout Sic Transit Cycles! i'm not exactly sure why there are so many shoes on the power lines lmao (allegedly a post graduation celebratory thing?) but that street ya'll biked through is Greenwood Ave, which is known for a huge rowdy informal block party right before the school semester starts that usually gets shut down by the police haha

So many places already on the list, and now Ann Arbor. We did the Greenbriar River Trail week before last. Four “seasoned” friends, at a senior pace. Perfect weather.

Wtheck.I was recently there and had no idea of the trails or bike scene. Saw the beautiful trees and geese though. Gorgeous state,no doubt.

Interesting trails and town. The hand made bike show looked fascinating. Thanks.

Anyone who thinks they need to comment on Ben’s bike choice, obviously doesn’t know Ben.

damn, those trails look flowy and the suds look good.

Super bike scene u have out there, all the best, wish I could be there.

Those dirt roads look super fast.👍🏻

I will just watch this my lower legs are paper a fall on a trail like that would be a trip to the hospital

Cool looking trails!

These are my kind of trails. Nice. It is important to know what you like and what you don't. I am surprised so many Mtb riders gave you direct feedback about bikes/components on a trail like that. That is not my experience from MTB people unless you are very specific trails/jumplines.