South Lyon Rail-Trail Bike Tour
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Difficulty:
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(regular)
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A nice easy bike ride along a converted railroad grade.
This one is for all you avid geocyclists out there. This is a 5-stage multi-cache where the first 4 stages only provide coordinates for subsequent stages and the final cache is a half gallon plastic jug that contains an assortment of bicycle-related items, including one semi-official, quasi-authentic, nearly-genuine 12-function FiddlinFool Geocaching tool.
If you do the entire tour from the recommended parking coordinates, and then return via the same route, you will have covered approximately 20 miles.
You can park either in Lyon Oaks park (the first stage is just outside the park entrance and there are several other caches in the park), or, if you don’t have a permit or want to do the full distance, use the parking lot located at N42° 31.360 W083° 32.510 (look for the first stage of another multi GCK7KF at that location).
This is the easiest biking it’s possible to imagine, since the trail is paved and dead level, having been put in place over an old, unused railroad grade that runs from Wixom to South Lyon. (OK, OK, it would be easier if it were all downhill, but then the ride back would be tiresome!) Each stage is plainly visible and touchable from your bike, in fact, you could do the entire run without getting off your bike, if you care to.
Note: if your near-vision is starting to fade, like mine, make sure you bring your reading glasses, or a young person with good eyesight!
Once you find the first stage virtual, you will know what the next three stages look like. You have to cross Pontiac Trail to get from Stage 1 to Stage 2, the paved trail picks up again just north of there and continues west.
At stage 4, ask yourself how that inner tube got up there. Is somebody the world's champion ring toss artist, or did somebody go out into the swamp and climb up there? Maybe it fell out of an airplane. After recording the coords at stage 4, return to the main rail-trail. It's possible to get to the final stage through the subdivision, but the distance will be greater and you will encounter more traffic.
The final stage will take you into downtown South Lyon, through McHattie Park, to the end of the line. (Be careful crossing Pontiac Trail, it carries a lot of traffic, so cross at a light. Check out the “Witches Hat” Train Depot and the historic village in McHattie Park before you go for the final cache. You will have to get off your bike to reach the final cache, but only just barely. A large garter snake lives near the cache location – I’ve seen him twice – but he won’t bother you.
If you trade items, try to bring something appropriate to bicycling. Initial contents include a bike lock, shirt pocket radio, repair kit, various tools, and a camera to take a picture of your exhausted faces (or startled faces if you meet the garter snake).
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ybbx sbe fznyy fgnvayrff fgrry gntf jvgu fgnzcrq pbbeqvangrf