Playing house was not my thing when I was growing up. I played at exploring. I would tear around my little town in Indiana for hours on my banana seat bike. Once I figured out how to balance on a bike, with the help of my patient mother, there was no stopping me. I rode everywhere the sidewalk, path or pavement led. I disobeyed my parents with regularity on which streets to cross and how far afield I was supposed to go. I didn’t go “just a few blocks” away, I went miles away. The town was small, and the world was large. It was all mine when I was on my bike. Recently, I looked on Google Maps and found my old house and it’s funny how the street looks like it’s been minimized as if it were that yellow dot on my computer window.

Today I got a bit of my childhood back. I bought the Trek Stache 5. It is the perfect combination of mountain bike-fatty tires and no muss, no fuss suspension. Tire pressure is my suspension. From the first test ride I knew. Love at first spin. It was the fourth and final bike in my research and I rode it home from the bike shop today. The best part was the detour. As is often the case with a detour, you discover. And that’s what exploring is all about. Oh, and fun. This was epic fun.

First bit of mud and dirt in the tires.

City view.

My detour path.