Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

No, I didn't really need any excuses to ride Saturday, but rather than just ride in the same big circle I ride to work I figured I could get some weekend errands done without having to drive.

"Honey, I need to run by the scout store. I'm just going to ride."

"It's pretty warm out there..."

"I'll take plenty of water."

"Can you run these scissors by my Mom's?"

You bet I could. CAT's mom's house is basically on the way to the scout shop. It was pretty warm, the humidity bumped the 89° F temperature up to a heat index over 100° F. BTW, By the time I got home the 92° temperatures had a heat index of 105°.

Having dropped off the scissors I doubled back a little and hopped on the bike path at Indian Creek Drive and Lamar. One of the things I enjoy about riding in extreme temperatures, hot or cold, is that it certainly cuts down on other pedestrians and cyclists.

If you happen to ride this trail, you may want to be aware that there is an additional obstacle on the Indian Creek Trail since the last time I rode it a week ago. Just west of Mission road they've torn the path up to do some maintenance. It is pretty easy to get off the bike and hop over, but I'm concerned that this may not be possible during the weekdays when the construction crews are back. I spaced it off this morning and rode it again ... no work crews so I made it across with no problems.

I split off from my normal route and rode through Leawood Park and continued to the Missouri part of the path. For some weird reason there was an over abundance of Blue Tailed Racers (western skinks) and Canada Geese.

There were WAY more geese out than normal. Noticed it this morning as well. It is my theory that the flooding that happened along the creek while I was gone has displaced a bunch of geese and other wildlife.

I rode to Holmes and then rode up Holmes to 103rd to turn into the scout shop. I won't ride that stretch of Holmes again; we'll leave it at that. The trip to the shop was due to the need for the cycling merit badge book. I've decided to become a Cycling merit badge counselor and needed to get the book to get an idea of what requirements we need to start working on.

The ride home was uneventful. I checked e-mail and found out that the library got a book in for me and have it on hold, so...

Once home, my mother-in-law called with another errand. Another trip there and home before the last ride of the day to the pool with Curtis and Jon.



Curtis on the climbing wall.




Jon in mid-air.

31.2 miles total for the day.