Kensington riders, question for you

I usually do a 30 mile loop there.

Starts at the East boat launch. I take a left out of the lot and follow the park roads counter clockwise until you get around to the West boat launch. Then, you head onto the multi use trail until you get to the part of the path that goes under the highway. Take that and then you are in Island Lake State park on their multi use trail. I follow that until it ends at one of the parking lots (can't remember the name), then take a right turn out of the lot onto the park road. Follow that past Spring Mill Pond (will be on your left) and end up running out of road at the parking lot just after the railroad tracks. Then, I turn around and do the course backwards.

Not the best description, but I'm sure others will post up as well.

Thanks... now, the multi use trail.. if its anything like stoneys, I cant ride on it due to all the walker/rollerbladers/etc. Is the trail your referring to the same, or is it for road bikes to?

It's similar, but I've never had a problem riding on it. You do have to dodge other people, but normally it's not too bad. Additionally, the Island Lake one has much less traffic than the Kensington one. At least that's what Ive found.

Um, I avoid kensingtons Multi use trail now.....The other week I was being irrisponsible and rounded a blind corner at 23 mph and almost hit ..... my wife who was walking the other direction and about to turn around.

trixie and i got pulled over by officers on horses on the multi use trail. 'nuff said!

trixie and i got pulled over by officers on horses on the multi use trail. 'nuff said!

Agree with the above on the multi-use...it's got a 10mph limit and is full of baby stollers.

As far as getting mileage, yes...there are many routes outside of the park available. I typically utilize the ILRA park road, the road around Kensington and the roads north of the park (Commerce Road, Pleasant Valley, Hickory Ridge, Hyne are all good.) If you wanted to do Sat instead of Sun, I could show you some great routes. You can also just stay inside the parks and do the ILRA/Kensington loop a couple times.

Here's my route from Brighton through the parks...this is a very nice ride:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/map.asp?route...

thanks! I'll probably print that map off and use it as reference. If i could change to saturday i would but Ive got a couple other people heading out with me sunday

The route for the kensington tri is 12 miles could just do it three or so times. (OUCH).

Cant figure how to post the picture here.

A link to a thread that has a great map 5th post.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

We just did the Huron valley trail that attaches to kensington yesterday. It was much better than riding around kensington. Very few people and lots of road in between stops.

Sunday is the Tour de Cure ride in Brighton. 50 & 70 mile routes start at 7:30am at Kent Lake. It costs $25 to register. There is supposed to be a $150 fund raising minimum on top of that but they may let you register and ride anyway for $25. Can't hurt to try.

IL is a great place to ride. The roads are smooth, there are a couple of hills, and with a lot of bikes and relatively little traffic, very bike friendly. When you cross over from Kensington via the path that goes beneath I-96 just get off the trail and onto the road (parking lot) and go from there. A lap at IL is 12.5 miles. Do a couple of those and a couple at Kensington and you can get a good ride in.

I totally agree with the others regarding the multi-use paths... lots of foot traffic. Just use it as a breather for the time you are on it and then get back on the roads.

I've never had an issue with the multi-use paths, but you guys bring up some good points.

thanks for the tips guys, i should be good now!