Times Change

Temperature at departure = 35° F (2° C)

Season change as well. Two weekends ago Peter and I rode 25 miles on the Indian Creek, Mahaffie Creek and Gary Haller Trails to Shawnee Mission Park and then 25 miles home again ... in shorts and tee shirts.



This last weekend I chose not to ride.



The nice thing about these early spring snow storms is they melt off pretty quickly. I had to dodge some big piles that snow plows placed at the enterance of just about every bike path access point yesterday morning, but all the snow was gone by the time I rode home.

Anyway, getting to the point of this post; my how times have changed! I was looking into some of the bicycle games that Sir Robert Baden-Powell came up with for the Boy Scouts of his day. There is no way I could get away with suggesting our guys do these...

Cyclists' Games

...but I'm thinking that a group of adults could possibly set up a match of Brigand Hunting. The idea is to map out an area aproximately 9 square miles and let the "brigand" have a 10 minute head start. That person would have to stay within the prescribed area for two hours while the other players try to corner them.

You can see how parents might be concerned that little Johnny might get run over by a car. Perhaps I can get some other adults interested in giving this a try later this spring.

That's Entertainment

Temperature at departure = 33° F (1° C)

Man, I've got to get a few moments to download a couple pictures and tell you about the 50 mile ride that Peter and I went on this last weekend. In the mean time, the Huffington Post has a nice story up highlighting music videos that include bikes.

I'd completely forgotten about Ray Parker & Helen Terry's music video from Quicksilver.

Culture Clash

Temperature at departure = 44° F (7° C)

Having prepared and fed my brood an amazing first attempt at vegetable risotto, one of my sons asked me to drive him over to a friends house to watch basketball last night. On the way home I signaled for a right turn, pulled onto 103rd and realized that the driver behind me probably didn't see me hold out my hand...

Momentum and Gravity, not Video

Temperature at departure = 48° F (9° C)

Spring Break week, but I couldn't take it off because I'm on call. Bummer. One thing I could do, however, is take the opportunity to ride my bike the long way to work; twenty miles on the Indian Creek and Tomahawk Creek trails. A bicycle ride of an hour and twenty minutes, mostly through the woods, gives you plenty of time to let your mind wander.


I've seen this trashed radio at the corner of 103rd and Metcalf for a week now. Since I first spotted it I started thinking about how it could be a metaphore for the radio industry. Or, it could just be a broken radio. Regardless, it has sparked several chains of thought about my work and the industry as a whole. Someone should pick this thing up and fix it. Me? Great, do I mean the actual radio, or the industry? Oh, look, a puppy. (Good thing I'm slightly ADD...)

Slightly out of Breath

Temperature at departure = 43° F (6° C)

I noticed that I was coasting down hills that I normally pedal down this morning as I rode my bike to work. It was a beautiful, sunny morning. I stretched the four mile direct route out to eleven miles and was surprised to find that my average MPH was 2.5 MPH higher than normal. Why?

This was on the MP3 Player:


I must have been really hammering. Bucephalus was pleased.

Public Service Announcement

Temperature at departure = 30° F (-1° C)

Do not smoke while riding a bicycle. Have a nice weekend.

Stolen Identities

Temperature at departure = 17° F (-8° C)

Even if they didn't know my name:

People in my building, in my neighborhood and at my kid's schools knew me as the guy that rides his bike to work all year long.

People at church knew me as the guy that plays saxophone in the worship band, the guy that organizes the annual bike ride and some even knew that I was the mysterious "Mr. Voice."

Last Friday's meeting was to tell us that our office in Overland Park will be closed on April 20th and we'll be working from home. Sunday we found out that as of the first of April, our church will be "merging" with a church that, to be honest, is too far away to be practical.

Still, it could be worse; I could be at home NOT working...

Hello old Friend

Temperature at departure = 52° F (11° C)

I'd planned on taking the day off, but was told to come into the office at ten this morning for a special meeting. Sounded kind of ominous considering how things have been going recently. It was a beautiful morning and I had a couple hours to make it to the office so I took the long way. 20 miles of stress relief.

The phrase "What can brown do for you?" kept running through my mind...



It can turn green, that is what it can do.

Spring Preview

Temperature at departure = 58° F (14° C)

The forecast calls for high temperatures around 78° this afternoon. I will not be sitting in my office looking at my screen during lunch. I'll be riding along the creek...

The Waters Of March

And the riverbank sings of the waters of March
It's the promise of spring
It's the joy in your heart

And the riverbank sings of the waters of March
It's the end of despair
It's the joy in your heart

-- Antonio Carlos Jobim

It is probably way too soon to post about another bumper sticker encounter, but I have to share. While riding down the nearly empty, school zone, road this morning I felt a rush of air as the rear view mirror on the pickup truck missed me by around 8 inches. Probably trying to school me on the supremacy of motorized vehicles. As he pulled ahead I had the opportunity to read his bumper sticker:

"Are you an organ donor?"

Almost. Jerk.

Yeah, you and every one else...

I don't normally like to post work related stuff (other than the ride to and from), but one of this morning's e-mail messages to support was too wonderful to pass up.


Yeah, I don't think anything we can do is going to help...