AllYearGear.com

Author: Todd Scott

  • Detroiters march against the Nain Rouge

    You don’t believe a red dwarf has terrorized Detroit for over three centuries? It’s true. It’s in Wikipedia.

    Starting in 1710, Detroiters marched to banish the Nain Rouge from the city — along with all the terrible events associated with him. For the past century, there was no march, but on Sunday — the 300th anniversary — we marched again.

    Both the Time Magazine blog and Model D have good accountings of the event which saw 200 people march through the Cass Corridor.

    Surprisingly enough, Mayor Dave Bing didn’t mention the Nain Rouge or his banishment during yesterday’s state of the city event. You’d think that was good news.

    I’ve uploaded a modest photo gallery of the Nain Rouge march.

  • Happy Birthday, Babe!

    Yesterday, February 6th was Babe Ruth’s birthday.

    Now that’s not something I’d normally get excited about, but there is an annual birthday party for the slugger at Tom’s Tavern in Detroit.

    This was my first time going, and the small bar was absolutely packed but friendly. The Stroh’s were cold. Everyone got a Babe birthday pin, too.

    And here’s some interesting local history from the Babe Ruth article in Wikipedia:

    Ruth’s name quickly became synonymous with the home run, as he led the transformation of baseball strategy from the “inside game” to the “power game”, and because of the style and manner in which he hit them. His ability to drive a significant number of his home runs in the 450–500 foot range and beyond resulted in the lasting adjective “Ruthian,” to describe any long home run hit by any player. Probably his deepest hit in official game play (and perhaps the longest home run by any player), occurred on July 18, at Detroit’s Navin Field, in which he hit one to straightaway center, over the wall of the then-single-deck bleachers, and to the intersection, some 575 feet from home plate.

    That intersection is presumably what’s now Trumbull and the service drive. With Tiger stadium gone, it’s easier to visualize just how far that home run was.

  • Taping on toe nails

    One problem with ultra-running is it can really lead to some ugly feet. No matter how much one spends on fancy shoes and socks, it seems the occasional black toe nail and blisters are inevitable.

    I’ve read that the blackening is often caused by the toe nail continually hitting the inside top of the shoe. If that’s the case, I plan on wrapping my bigger nails in athletic tape prior to any future long runs.

    During this year’s Leadville 100 I got four black toe nails — a personal best!

    Twice now after pulling on socks I’ve felt a wood splinter against my foot, which only turned out to be a smaller toe nail falling off.

    Losing the bigger nails is usually a little more traumatic. I had one flip back while pulling on a sock. It didn’t really hurt as there was a partial nail underneath it. I just taped the old nail on top to provide some protection until the new nail could grow in more.

    And if you think damaged toe nails are a sick and wrong topic for this blog, by all means avoid this video I made while draining blisters.

    Don’t forget! The 2010 Leadville Trail 100 run application is now on-line!

  • Bigg Rod’s got candy for you

    Bigg Rod's Candy Shop in Highland Park, MichiganI was biking home from a meeting downtown. I was hungry and in Highland Park. I’d been meaning to stop into the Victor Bakery, but it was Monday and they were closed. Just nearby I discovered Bigg Rod’s Candy Shop was open, as open as a tiny store can be.

    And what a great address: 4 Victor.

    So, I leaned the bike outside and started inside.

    An African-American tween asked, “What am I doing here?”

    My suburban-bred-jump-to-conclusions-stereotypical thought was, is it because I’m a white guy?

    Before I said a thing, she replied, “You’re an adult!”

    I still have much to unlearn.

    I purchased some gummy worms and funky coconut treats for cheap and hit the road.

    I began thinking that if Bigg Rod was truly big, I couldn’t see him fitting inside his own store.

    This also made me realize that this old time candy store offered one major dietary benefit. It might help explain why obesity rates were lower back in the day. If you ate too much candy and got fat, you could no longer get inside to buy more. Candy was a treat for the fit.

    Now that’s a genius design!

  • Beers and Gears Detroit Bar Tour

    Chilaxing at Coogan's Bar in Southwest DetroitSordid tales from last year’s ride and amazingly warm November weather led to a huge turnout for the Beers and Gears Detroit bar tour on Saturday.

    Sixty-degree weather, thirty-eight riders, and six bars.

    The first stop was the Lockerroom Lounge on Livernois near Curtis (6.5 mile.) Cleo was working behind the bar and was awesome. I’d already mentioned the music history behind this bar, including it being Bettye Lavette’s stomping grounds. As it turns out, her cousin was bellied up to the “dirty end” of the bar.

    Bar number two was Abick’s in Southwest Detroit.  Without even a sign out front, many asked me how I’d ever found this place. The answer is this Neil Rubin article in the Detroit News. This bar was built in 1907. The proprietor is 86 year old Manya Abick who woke up early that morning to make chili for us. Abick’s certainly seemed to be the crowd favorite. It’s the perfect neighborhood pub.

    After taking a photo with Manya behind the bar, one of our riders stepped on her cat, who let out a huge screetch.  Lila Lazarus, who was knitting at the bar, blurted out, “Had a great time until we killed the cat.”

    Don’t worry. The cat was fine.

    Next up was the nearby “Red’s” Coogan’s Bar which also had a Mexicana Cantina sign over the door.  A bar can’t have enough names. Gilbert served up some cold ones while some in the group went next door to El Rancho for margaritas.  Birkett played some Kid Rock on the jukebox, we finished our beers, rang the cow bell and head towards downtown.

    Before the next bar, we rolled past the RiverWalk and then up the Dequindre Cut, a first for many on the ride.

    Stop number four was Joey’s Meatcutters Inn or Cutter’s for short. They reportedly have the best angus burgers in town but I’m the wrong guy to vouch for that. The beers were distributed via ice buckets as some old-school Curtis Mayfield played in the background.

    Next up was a beverage break at Hamtramck’s Whiskey in the Jar, formerly known as Mr. Joe’s back in the day. This was a quick stop as the sign was getting low on the horizon and not all of our group had lights.

    We rode west on Caniff into a beautiful sunset.

    The last official Detroit bar was the Dakota Rathskeller Inn on John R and… Dakota! This German bar is simply amazing. Again, with the daylight fading, we unfortunately couldn’t stay for long.

    Heading up Woodward, our group split. A contingent went to the Stonehouse bar on Ralston near the State Fair. This was the final bar stop in last year’s tour.

    We eneded up D’Amatos in Royal Oak. It’s ironic and frustrating that Royal Oak perhaps has more than it’s share of bars yet perhaps only one (Gus’) would be worthy of a stop on our beer tours. They lack the character, history, uniqueness, and grit of what we’d visited this year.

    Yes, my bike tour photos are on this web site .  Andy Correll also posted some on Flickr as has Marielle Deighan.