Post-Apocalyptic Cycling

My children might tell you that I tend to pontificate during episodes of The Walking Dead about the way the survivors could simplify their journey by ditching the cars and trucks and setting out on bicycles instead. And then, during commercials, I go into my reasons. They go get a snack.

It's not just The Walking Dead, look at any story from this genre, from Will Smith's I Am Legend,  any zombie movie, and all the way back to the grandfather of all these stories, the excellent 1949 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel - Earth Abides by George R. Stewart. (Seriously, if you haven't read it, do so.) Cars get stuck due to loss of gas, blocked roads, fallen bridges, and more. Bikes can get around all those obstacles.

I now understand why my son Peter encouraged me to read Stephen King's The Stand. Three of the main characters made the right choice.

"Halfway there a thought rose to the surface of his mind like a bubble and popped. It happened casually, with no fanfare, but the implications brought him to a dead halt.
The thought was: Why haven't you been riding a bicycle?"

Exactly! Thank you Peter, and thank you Stephen King.

Indian Creek Trail Mile Marker 3 has Moved

In September I mentioned that the new mile marker at mile 3 was either a stroke of traffic calming genious or poor planning. Looks like it was the second option since enough of us must have complained that the marker has now been moved.

From General Bike Pix

The marker has been re-positioned so it is no longer in the path of riders coming off the bridge a little too quickly.

From General Bike Pix

As an added bonus, it is now also visible as you pass under Nall.

From General Bike Pix

One look at the tire tracks on the ground where they first placed the marker shows that cooler heads have prevailed. Many thanks to Park Services.

From General Bike Pix

December 2011Christmas gift from my wife ... a trailer hitch and platform bike rack.

For over a week I failed to notice that my wife had borrowed my car and had a trailer hitch put on it. We'll be testing this rack out in just a bit as my son Peter and I head to Shawnee Mission Park to ride some of the Gary Haller Trail.

Is there anything worse?

Temperature at departure = 19° F (-7° C)  

From General Bike Pix

December has been a lousy month for bike riding for me. Up until this morning I had only ridden three times because I was in Dallas for a week, when I got home it rained too much and then last week I had a cold. I was bound and determined to get out this morning.

There are many things I like about riding in cold temperatures, the thing I like most is I don't have to deal with as many people out on the Indian Creek and Tomahawk Creek Trails. 

There are some things that you do have to watch out for, including ice. Remember, we've had a lot of rain lately. There are several patches of ice due to run off from the saturated ground, including a big patch in the middle of a long, steep, winding decent. Just keep your eyes open.

After riding 6 miles I encountered my first jogger. I rang my bell several times as I approached him from the rear. He was wearing earphones and jogging with a dog on a retractable leash. I hate retractable leashes! So, even though I rang my bell and shouted "GOOD MORNING" he didn't hear me and was startled as I rode past. Ugh. I thought to myself "There's nothing worse than a guy jogging wearing earphones and using a retractable leash for his dog." But, of course, there are worse things...

Less than two minutes went by when I approached two guys jogging with two big black labs OFF LEASH. I rang my bell and the guys moved out of the way but the dogs zigzagged around in the path. I had to stop short to avoid hitting them. I harnessed the power of an angry glare and moved on thinking, "there's nothing worse than a couple guys jogging with dogs off leash." But, of course, there are worse things... 

Three miles from home I make the sharp turn to go under Nall and there, in the middle of the path next to the creek, sat an idling CAT bulldozer taking up the whole path. Fortunately, I always slow way down taking that blind curve thinking there might be another biker or jogger under there. Is there anything worse than a bulldozer taking up the whole path in a blind curve? 

Yes, there are many worse things that could have happened today. But they didn't. All told, there were maybe 30 seconds to a minute of bad experiences this morning during an otherwise wonderful one hour bike ride on a clear, crisp morning. In retrospect, it was a really nice start to the day.

While I've got the opportunity, I hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

The Siren Song of a Southerly Breeze

A Bunch of Jehus

One of the things I had always admired in my father was that I never heard him utter a cuss word. Not once. Not even mild, broadcast TV replacement ones. I hope my kids will be able to say pretty much the same about me ... but I know they've heard me use a couple of the mild replacement ones a couple of times, especially when I'm driving. I've been guilty of calling some other drivers the modern day equivalents of Racca. But I'm going to change that. I'm going to try to emulate my dad.

I do recall my father remarking that someone was "driving like a Jehu," so I'm going to go with that. I'm also going to stick with his pronunciation jay-hoo, rather than the dictionary's jee-hyoo. 

So, the text for this morning's message comes from the book of Second Kings, chapter 9, verse 20:

"The lookout reported, 'He has reached them, but he isn’t coming back either. The driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi—he drives like a maniac.'" (NIV)

So Jehu had been anointed king of Israel and was headed to Ramoth Gilead with his troops to dispatch Ahab's son Joram. The troops had been spotted and first one and then a second rider had been sent out to find out if the troops were coming in peace. The riders were told to fall in behind.

It reminds me of a bike ride I took with my son Peter a couple weekends ago. We decided to head south on part of the route I'd ridden for the Tour de BBQ. A good part of the route was on Nall between 123rd and 157th. As we headed south, things were mostly good; we had a nice tailwind and most of the drivers gave us plenty of room. Things changed as we headed back north. That nice tail wind turned into a nasty headwind with gusts pretty steady around 25 MPH. Drivers turned ugly and aggressive as well. Just past 135th a large pickup truck pulled up next to me, their front fender two feet to my left, and paced me for about 20 seconds before gunning it to pull ahead and pass myself and then Peter. There were no cars in the lane to his left. I suppose the driver was just trying to teach me a lesson or something. This was not an isolated incident. 

When we got an opportunity to get back on the bike path, we took it. It just felt too dangerous. I didn't want to be out in front of a bunch of Jehus anymore.

Something to keep in mind, next time you're out in front of, or mixed in with, a bunch of Jehus; pull over and fall in behind. Let them drive off like a maniac and wait for the danger to pass.

Stay safe out there, and stay off Nall on Sunday afternoons.

10,000

From General Bike Pix

I reached a milestone today. Since I began noting my mileage back in July 2006, I have ridden 10,000 miles. This may not seem like much to some; it may seem like something heroic to others. Regardless, I'm glad to see that number on my spreadsheet. And, really, that's all it is today -- a number on a spreadsheet.

I began riding my bike to work in March 2006. I didn't begin tracking my mileage until July 2006 after purchasing Bucephalus (2006 Trek 7.5 FX Disc components with the 7.3 FXD frame - because Trek was out of the 7.5 frame and I liked the color of the 7.3 better anyway).

Chain and cassette problems cropped up late last year, so I started riding the 2007 Mendota. My number of miles ridden per month dropped from triple digits to double digits. I'm not sure what caused the drop. Riding a different bike? The lack of a bike computer? Unusually nasty winter weather? More time spent walking the dog? A combination of all those, perhaps.

Throughout the spring, the malaise continued. In June of this year, I took a ride to the grocery store on Bucephalus which required no shifting and decided then and there that I had to get a new cassette so I could start riding this bike again. The next day the bike was fixed and the number of miles ridden skyrocketed (if you could call it that). I broke my previous monthly mileage records in July, August, September and have already beaten the old record for October and it is just past the middle of the month. I am on a roll. Last week my buddy John even mentioned that I've seemed a lot happier the last couple of months...

I'm looking forward to the next 10,000, and I don't think it will take 5 years this time.