SE Michigan vs NE Ohio Suburban Singletrack Shootout #5: A LITTLE SOMETHIN’ SOMETHIN’

Legend (and probably some police reports) have it that there used to be other ways to blow off a little steam besides riding mountain bikes at Island Lake near Brighton and Royalview in Strongsville. Nowadays, most of the happy endings have to do with drinking a few brews with your buddies in the parking lot after the ride.
Around 2008 when I met my wife, she had a trail in her backyard that led directly to the Island Lake loops (not the only reason I ended up marrying her!). I had sold my Red Line Monocog 26 inch SS and bought a new-fangled Raleigh XXIX 29er SS, and boy was it a hoot ripping around Island Lake’s 15 miles or so of high speed, dedicated singletrack. There’s a bit of backcountry exploring to do in the park as well as the Badlands, an old sandpit area, frequented by snowmobiles and fat bikers. I especially like the sections along the Huron River. I don’t ride there much anymore, but it makes a good wrap up ride after a weekend at Poto/DTE and Brighton, or you could extend your ride on the paved trail around Kent Lake in Kensington Metropark.
Royalview will always be haunted for me by Ray Petro’s tragic accident a few years back. Like Island Lake, it tempts you to ride its 12 or so miles of twisty, rooty singletrack at speeds that border on dangerous. It’s located centrally for my friends, so we end up doing group rides there from time to time. It alternates direction daily, and I’m sure there was a reason for the overall layout of the trail, but it just doesn’t seem like the directions match up with the terrain very well. And be ready for a Royal Scrotum Smashing because the roots have “reared up” (ha ha!) over the years and it gets bouncy.
I gotta go with Island Lake in this match up.
Island Lake 11 and Royalview 9

Halfway there. Next up is Highland vs Tuscazoar