Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride, part 2

Temperature at departure = 76° F (24° C)

I've been trying to find a news story to link to regarding either the Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride, or the activity that occurred during the ride. No news to be found. So, apparently 4 people can get together on a corner to protest something/anything and get coverage, but > 1,000 cyclists just isn't news worthy. Not that I'm bitter...

Around 4 miles into the ride I noticed a helicopter overhead. Cool, I thought, I'll have to watch the news later in the morning to see if they show some shots of the ride. Time and miles went by; around 2 miles from the finish one of the volunteers stationed at an intersection yelled to us that the next major intersection might be closed off due to a high speed chase the police were involved in. Up above we still see the helicopter, but now I notice it is shining a spotlight on the ground. Close by. Where we are riding.

We made it through the next intersection without event. A few more blocks go by and we noticed some officers walking between a couple industrial buildings -- the helicopter is now shining its light on and around the officers. We picked up the pace just a hair...

So, I can't find any news about the Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride or anything about the police searching for a fugitive in the area. All I know is it added just that much more excitement to the ride.

French Lessons

Temperature at departure = 76° F (24° C)

Curtis, our youngest (11 years old), and I have been spending quite a bit of time together the last few weeks. CAT has been working late the last two weeks or so, moving her office and storage down to the Arts District (warning: the preceding link has audio - you have to put your cursor on the video and hunt down the mute button - I hate sites that do that) and the other kids are either working or out with friends. Curtis' friends have been away on vacation or busy with baseball, so he has been hanging out with dad. A lot.

Last week I started watching the Tour de France for the first time in my life -- and I'm hooked. I avoid checking the news in the morning (which isn't difficult) and catch the re-broadcast on VS later in the evening. Curtis decided to watch with me. It is interesting (to me) to watch people's reactions when he tries to discuss the peloton, breakaways and the four special jerseys.

A quick note about the news coverage: you really have to dig for it this year. I checked several of the big news sites, like Google News and there is nothing to be found on the front page. Fritz is doing a wonderful job keeping up and there is always Versus but, again, I watch at night so I've been trying to skip checking in until after 10 p.m...

Anyway, when Curtis and I watched Stage 8 the other night we noticed some things that looked like awnings covering parts of the alpine roads. The odd thing, in my mind was that they have grass growing on them.

"That's cool." said Curtis...

"That's weird." I said, to which he replied:

"Well, it's France."

I got a good chuckle out of it...

Here is a fuzzy screen capture of a YouTube video of one of these overhangs. From what I gather, they are designed to keep the water from the melting snow in the Alps off the roads at critical places; and you know, they are cool.


By the way, CAT, Curtis and I decided to head out to see Ratatouille last night -- FANTASTIC!

Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride, part 1

Temperature at departure = 75° F (24° C)

Sunday morning's Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride was an absolute blast! I am so glad my buddy John talked Peter and I into giving it a try. John has ridden a bunch of organized rides throughout the country and he says this one was organized and run better than any in the Midwest, and as well as the good ones he has ridden in California. The volunteers and the police were fantastic.

Peter and I met up with John at 10 p.m. and waited for the registration table to open up -- they'd closed it down and moved all their stuff under some awnings since a thunderstorm was threatening. They opened the tables, briefly and we got our selves checked it and went back to get our bikes and kit pulled together.

A half hour before launch I saw Noah; it was wonderful getting to meet him and ride along with him. We took pictures of each other taking pictures of each other...

Dude, sorry this one came out so blurry; cell phone camera...

There was a photographer that the city of Lenexa uses to take pictures of all their events. Cool idea.
From left to right, a shot of Noah, my buddy John, my son Peter and myself, waiting for the ride to begin.

Having maneuvered up towards the start of the pack, past most of the families with small children and the guy with the big dog in the kiddie trailer, we were in a good starting position and since the thunderstorm warning had been lifted we actually got to start at Midnight.

We rode for about a mile when John asked if we wanted to move past some of the people we were behind. Off we went! We never made it up to the breakaway, but we were in the front part of the peloton (I've been watching a lot of the TdF). I can't tell you how much fun I had riding straight through left turn lanes while running the red light with an officer standing there watching. The ride was fairly level until we got close to the turn-around point. There is a rather steep hill -- a half mile down and a half mile up -- we flew down the first time and John and Peter made it to the top well before I did. I was huffing and puffing a bit, but recovered by the time we had to do it again. This time I let everyone hammer away on the downhill part and I took it easy. This time I passed the others on the uphill side.

Lesson: always keep a little in reserve.

The ride through the industrial limestone caves was worth the whole entry fee and more. Very cool ... in more than one way; it was fascinating riding past all the limestone pillars and the temperature cooled down so that it felt like we were riding through a refrigerator. The cool temp.s were very welcome after the hills we'd just ridden. I'm borrowing one of Noah's pictures of the caves.


The photographer they had on hand got the following pictures of Peter, myself and John close to the end of the ~2 miles we spent underground.

Peter

Me

John

Chris Cakes pancakes at the end were a nice touch. Great ride and I'm looking forward to doing it again next year. Sorry for the length of this post. I've got a few other things I want to mention, but will wait until tomorrow.

That Was Much Better

Temperature at departure = 69° F (21° C)

This morning more than made up for the previous day. With no one else stirring yet I got up, made my mocha latte, headed out to the back yard with the dogs and just sat on the porch and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Then I packed my backpack and headed out on the Trek hoping that I fixed the flat and got the rear wheel back on correctly. I've got some adjusting to do since to shift up a gear it is two steps forward and one back at the moment. But, I made it.

I saw another bicycle commuter in my neighborhood this morning. He pulled in front of me ~20 yards from a side street and I thought I was going to be able to catch up and say good morning at the traffic signal of doom, but he swung to the left and hopped on a sidewalk that goes through a group of duplexes. I continued on and lucked out with the light; a driver had pulled up earlier and the light turned green just as I got to the intersection. I turned left and headed down 103rd and right where I pull off to the right to join up with the trail, and I see this guy pull up to a stop on the far side of the road. Now, if I'd been stuck at the light for a bit, as is the norm, he would have had the advantage. So now the dilemma, the sidewalk has a sign that says "Private Drive" -- but it would cut out the majority of the only real traffic I face daily. I could try it and take the "It is better to ask forgiveness than permission" approach, but I'm a rule follower by nature. We'll see; once school starts and the traffic turns ugly again, I may give it a try.

I'll leave you with a shot of yet another cyclist on the Indian Creed Trail. Didn't catch up with him though...

Grumpy

Temperature at departure = 73° F (23° C)
Days until school starts = 37

I love that book -- and it pretty much sums up my ride home last night and the ride in this morning. I left work a little late hopeful that the 3.5 inches of rain we got in the late afternoon would be mostly dried up, and that I’d beat the next batch of storms headed my way. Eh, kinda. Here is what I faced in the first .8 miles home:

1. Snakes. Apparently, snakes seek high ground during flash floods along the creek -- and the bike/hike path is the high ground.
2. Washed out sections of the little bridge that I’m so fond of. The water got so high that it popped up a couple of the boards.
3. Mud. Lots and lots of thin patches of mud.
4. Flat tire. I’ve been reading a bunch of blogs that have been discussing all the problems people have with flat tires. I didn’t understand because flats have never really been a problem for me. I went 28 years on my ten speed without a flat; I ended up replacing the tires once or twice and got a new tube in the process, but no blowouts. Now, after close to 2,000 miles on the Trek, I’ve had my first blowout.

So, I called my wife - she has the van and is at a job site. I called my eldest – he’s out with buddies and is more than a half hour away. Tried calling my daughter but found out that she and the next oldest boy were both at work. So, I walked home. As I was walking across the bridge over 435, I got to the far end and found it was blocked off. Figures.

Storms threaten again this morning, but I decided to hop on the Mendota and head in. The tires are LOW. I decided I’d still ride in but skip the extra loop and fill the tires in my office. I make it half way down the part of the path that runs adjacent to 435 and am met by this guy.

Keep all the rain we’ve had in mind and you’ll understand what a soggy mess it was maneuvering around the guy. He wasn’t happy I took the picture (which will soon be e-mailed to the construction company working on the project) but, tough! I’m having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad continuation of yesterday.

I made it to the little bridge and stopped to take a picture of a wild turkey that was standing five yards away from me when a woman walked up and scared it away. We chatted for a minute about all the wildlife on the trail and I headed to the far side of the bridge to take a picture of the popped up boards to share with you. She followed and, just as I was about to snap, stomped the boards back into place. Oh, well. Perhaps the rest of today will be better once I’ve found my coffee cup. I know it has to be here somewhere…

Back To Work

Temperature at departure = 77° F (25° C)
Days until school starts = 38

It was a great weekend! I got a bunch of yard work done that needed attention, meals for the next two weeks planned, got to spend some time relaxing on the newly cleaned off back porch and got some extra miles in on the bike. I even spent some time watching the Tour de France.

I'm running a bit behind on my cycling goals for this year and just passed the 1000 miles mark for 2007 yesterday. I'm going to quickly place the blame on some business trips and all the rain we've had this year (excuses, excuses). I'll pick up some more extra miles this weekend as Peter, my buddy John and I are riding in the Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride. Should be cool and I'm looking forward to some Chris Cakes at the end of the ride. I believe Noah said he'd be there too ... hope to see you dude.

Drafting

Temperature at departure = 76° F (24° C)


Although I recommend against it, I enjoyed watching one of the mythbusters drafting behind a semi. The video on the link is around 4 minutes long and did not appear on their show. Now, before you get any ideas I'll remind you of what they always say on their show: do not try this yourself, they are professionals. Still, how cool would it be to have their job?

Nice Day Off

Temperature at departure = 75° F (24° C)

Not much traffic out there on the bike/hike path this morning. My office building is ground zero for the big Corporate Woods Fireworks Display so there was plenty of debris to avoid on the way in. The other, minor, inconvenience was the Caution tape that had been strung on the far side of the little bridge I have to cross. I hit the 4' wide bridge at ~16 MPH and didn't see this tape until I was just about on it.



I stopped with my front wheel having bowed the tape out 6". Easy enough to hop over; and I hope no one minds that I pushed the tape down to the ground. No further need to keep people from going to that side of the creek.

Sorry about the quality of the picture; taken with my camera phone...

Buzz

Temperature at departure = 71° F (20° C)

This morning I was riding through the woods when, suddenly, a bee hit me in the neck. No biggie, I thought; at least it didn't sting me. I continued on my way and after another half mile I started thinking how fortunate I was not to end up like RickyD.

A few moments later I felt a frantic buzz inside my shirt, just above one of my backpack's straps.



I was in the woods with no place to really pull over so I had to wait a half minute until I found a clear spot (shown above) at the side of the trail. Off came my back pack and I started fluffing my shirt with all my might. Finally the bee fell out the bottom and flew away. I can't remember if I'm allergic to bee stings or not. I know my 14 year old son has very nasty allergic reactions to bee stings, so I've decided I need to start carrying some benadryl in my back-pack along with some aspirin, wipes, bandages, etc. What else would you suggest?

Hee-uuuuu-mid

Temperature at a.m. departure = 68° F (20° C)

You know, 68° sounds like a nice temperature to get out and have a leisurley ride to the office. Problem 1 - although I wouldn't mind a leisurely ride to the office, once I start looking down at the bike computer I start pushing myself to get my average MPH up. Problem 2 - the relative humidity this morning was a muggy 81%, so by the time I got to the office I was soaked. Oh well, it IS July and our normal temperature for this time of year is ~10 - 15 degrees warmer...

We spent a good part of the weekend out looking for cars for TWT. His gave up the ghost this last week and although he intends to give commuting by bike a try, he still wants a social life. I hate shopping for cars. 'Nuf said.

Not Really That Popular

So, I've been encouraged to switch over from Outlook to gmail at work. Part of the problem is that all of the e-mail that I've received in the last year is considered unopened now. I've been trying to clear it out for a little over a week and here is where I'm at this morning.

On the bright side, there are some messages that I had deleted, which I shouldn't have, that are back in my Inbox.

Drove again today. I'm trying to remember if I have a wetsuit around someplace. My IM icon at work has been switched to Annie Lennox with the witty tag message of "Here comes the rain again." I'd switch it to BJ Thomas but I'm afraid it would be lost on most of my colleagues.

Family Night

I drove yesterday because CAT and I needed to head out early in order to get out to Camp Naish for Family Night. It had been a pretty nice week; hot and humid, but that's what you expect at camp. Yesterday the rain came back; but you have to expect that at camp too...



Curtis was a bit home-sick when we got there and, truth be told, I was a little camp-sick. I'm really missing not being there this summer -- but it IS a good oportunity for Curtis to be on his own. He is a trooper and had no issues with slogging around in the rain as long as that wasn't going to keep them from doing their late-night swim.

More rain today but I've got the Trek in the van in the hopes that the rain will end this afternoon and the kids will need the van for something, come get it and let me ride home. If not, tomorrow is another day and is supposed to be beautiful. With the trip to Dallas last week, I'm not going to hit my target miles for June anyway.

Wha' huh???

Temperature at departure = 73° F (23° C)

I was listening to the News/Talk station this morning as I was driving JLT to his summer school class and heard an actuality from a guy with the Missouri Department of Transportation discussing some changes to enforcement of lane change violations. He made a comment that I had to scratch my head over:

“Courtesy is the lubricant for traffic congestion.”

At first I thought he meant in an attempt to lower the chance for road rage they are encouraging people to NOT be courteous? Huh? I guess he is trying to convey the oposite. Anyway, I don't want to have to concentrate on stuff like that before I've had coffee. Perhaps if they'd given the story more than the 30 seconds the devoted to it versus the 4 minutes of coverage regarding a certain non-event that is the top headline of the day - I would have understood. Oh well.

I'm Back

Temperature at departure = 74° F (23° C)

Sorry about the lack of posts last week. My daughter is back from Europe. I'm back from Dallas. My youngest son is off to Scout Camp and I'm jealous - I'm on call this week and couldn't go this year. I believe there were only 4 bona fide emergencies while I was gone -- so, typical week away.

It was nice to get back on the bike again today. Almost hit a bunny this morning who was on the path here when it should have been on the game trail to the left. Perhaps the city could put up a multi-species sign of some sort that would direct wildlife to the left and cyclists and pedestrians to the right...

Band Trip Brief

Temperature at departure = 72° F (22° C)
Days until school starts = 63

My daughter has left Paris and should now be in Bietigheim-Bissingen. I've been popping in to check a webcam of the Marktplatz occaisionally and it looks like it is raining there at the moment. They should have a beautiful weekend though.


I got a text message from her last night and she sounds a little home-sick. We're missing her too, but what a wonderful opportunity for her and the other students.

Media Rant

Temperature at departure = 72° F (22° C)
Days until school starts = 63

I've spent my entire adult life working in the media in one form or another and have considered myself a justified critic of the industry. In the last couple of weeks I've seen the local media here do an excellent job covering a story that hit very close to home. They kept the relevant relevant -- great job. Now, the news cycle has shifted gears and we're back to the type of "news" that I abhor.

Samuel Morse changed everything about the way our nation and our world communicated by creating the first information network able to move data faster than the 35 MPH that trains, the era's current delivery system, could travel. At that time, Henry David Thoreau wrote in Walden:

"We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate.... We are eager to tunnel under the Atlantic and bring the old world some weeks nearer to the new; but perchance the first news that will leak through into the broad flapping American ear will be that Princess Adelaide has the whooping cough."

Well, now we have the internet and satellite delivered news to let us know that our own princes is suffering and we're back to the media making the relevant irrelevant and vice versa. So it goes.

/rant

If this makes any sense at all, you may enjoy Amusing Ourselves to Death - Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman. Written in 1984, it seems even more pertinent today and makes great pool-side reading.

Should a detour need a detour?

Temperature at departure = 73° F (23° C)
Days until school starts = 64 {with appologies to TOB}

The gang working on the 435 and Antioch project made it a little difficult riding on the bike/hike path detour this morning. They could have at least tried to warn us that this was coming up:



I actually entered from the far end and although I saw the two workers, I didn't see the hoses until it was too late to turn back.

This made it rather difficult as well:



Oh well, still a beautiful ride in, albeit a humid one.

Magic Scale

Temperature at departure = 70° F (21° C)
Days until school starts = 65

Scale, scale, on the tile
Who's the sveltest man on file?

For the longest time I noticed a discrepancy between my weight as calculated by the scale in our bathroom compared to the scale at the gym or doctor's office. Let's just say I always preferred the results at home.

Sunday we were packing my daughter's luggage for her trip to Europe with the school band and needed to make sure her bag hadn't gone over 50 pounds. We brought down the scale and weighed the bag by itself and it came in around 45 pounds. My wife suggested I stand on the scale and weigh myself with and without the bag to see if it came out any different. It did.

I weighed in at a miraculous 185 pounds. I then picked up the bag and it had somehow shed 40 pounds as the dial read 190. Cool, sounded like she'll have plenty of room for presents for her father on the trip back. Now, next time I go to the doctor's office I need to tell them their scale is off ~10 - 15 pounds...

Thanks Anyway

Temperature at departure = 66° F (19° C)
Days until school starts = 72

I didn't put on any sunscreen last night; I didn't go out after dark and there was no rain last night...

It is no wonder more people ride their bikes for transportation in Amsterdam than they do here. In U.S. dollars, they're paying $6.48 per gallon. Yikes!

Who Am I To Question The Weather Channel?

I don't understand it -- but, okay, I'll make sure I wear sunblock during the thunderstorms overnight the next two nights.

Another bobcat

Temperature at departure = 65° F (18° C)
Days until school starts = 73

What a beautiful morning. Windy, but sunny and mild temps. I saw my second bobcat today. Took the extra loop on the way in to work and came around a corner in the woods and there it was, standing in the middle of the path. Compared to the one Peter and I saw a few weeks back, this one was quite a bit larger.


For my own benefit, I've created another Google map to note my Bobcat sightings. A quick screen shot is shown above, but the actual map can be viewed HERE in the event you are very bored.

WOF WOF

We went to Worlds Of Fun with my sister-in-law and two nephews from Wyoming yesterday. A good time was had by all. While there, I noticed some Emo kids walking through the park; it made me wonder -- why would Emo kids want to go to a place called Worlds Of FUN?

"Nice going Janet"

Temperature at departure = 64° F (18° C)
Days until school starts = 77

Wednesday night, just as I was shutting down the laptop in preparations to head home, another thunderstorm rolled in. I wimped out and called Peter to come get me and left my bike in the office along with my helmet and gloves. Yesterday was yet another stormy day so I drove the van so I could haul the bike back home. Today is nice and sunny. Sure, everything is still soaked; there are tons of rain laden branches hanging down over the streets and bike path, lots of mud and puddles and humidity -- but still a nice day to ride. I got the bike out and realized that I'd left my helmet and gloves in the office. I rode anyway and felt weird to be without that piece of Styrofoam wrapped around my noggin.


When I got to the part of the path that loops into the woods around Founder's Park (seen above), I ran into more of the slick mud that nearly did me in back in March. I slowed down a bit and as I came back out into the clear where a sidewalk from the park's parking lot joins the path I was met by three people out for a morning stroll. One of the two ladies present said, loudly, "You should be wearing a helmet."

I was feeling 'ornery.

I stopped and said I agreed, shared the information I just shared with you - including the story from March and noticed that they were more than ready to move on. I continued to ramble a bit and finally bid them a good day. As I rode off I heard the other lady in the group say "Nice going Janet." I just smiled.

Now, that I think of it, I've been rambling on here a bit. Some of you must be saying to your computer "Nice going RSS..."

Depends On Your Viewpoint

The kids: Hooray! Today is the last day of school!

Me: 78 days until school starts.

Zip On!

Temperature at departure = 69° F (21° C)

We had a wonderful day in Wichita yesterday with CAT's two sisters and their families. I enjoyed the chance to sit with my two brothers-in-law and just talk; it has been a long time since we've had the chance. Randy did a great job grillin' [including some antelope that one of my nephews bagged in Wyoming]. I was very happy that the kids hardly spent any time indoors playing video games. The cousins rarely get together like this and they spent the day riding bikes, catching toads, playing ball and just playing outdoors. In fact, Randy's buddy Kenny owns Mosey's, an outdoor challenge center in north Wichita, and invited us all out to take a crack at the climbing walls and zip lines. I'm sure the kids are going to remember this for a long time. If you are in or around the Wichita area - this is a great place to take a group (kids or adults) to do a cool, adventurous outdoor activity.




There is a new feature on the bike path that I'll be seeing every day.


This fountain is in honor of County Commissioner Ed Eilert, former mayor of Overland Park and the 2005 Johnson Countian of the Year. As the summer progresses I'll probably ride closer and closer to the fountain...

Serendipity?

Temperature at departure = 60° F (16° C)

I used to travel quite a bit for work. That stopped just over a year ago and left me with a bunch of points sitting around in various awards programs for air travel, hotels and rental car companies. The big problem is I always went with the lowest reasonable price so never had enough points in any one program to do me much good. So, that time of year has come again - time to redeem some of my points on magazine subscriptions or loose them forever.

Last time I had done this I ended up with most of the magazines I had requested, but two that somehow got mixed up: ESPN and Fast Company. The ESPN typically got handed off to one of my boys, one of their friends or -ahem- the trash can. Fast Company, on the other hand, turned out to be a GREAT read and I looked forward to it each month. I missed it when the subscription expired last time and was going to renew it on my own. Now, I've checked it off on the card I sent in the end of last month and am anxiously awaiting its arrival. Then again, who knows if I'll get it.

The first magazine showed up this week. I had checked off Wired because I have actually gone and BOUGHT copies of it before. Did I get Wired? No - I opened the mailbox and was greeted with a slick and shinny copy of Water Ski!



Now, don't get me wrong, the two times I've gone water skiing in my life, I've loved it [thank you Randy] but the last time was ~15 years ago and I don't really need a magazine about this sport right now. I wonder what other surprises I have in store.

Senator T; Governor T

Temperature at departure = 68° F (20° C)

"Someday - and that day may never come - I'll call upon you to do a service for me..."

I saw the guy again this morning on my ride in; he must be home from college for the summer. I just smiled and waved.

It happened around a year ago, a graduation party is my guess. I walked out my door one morning and there at the end of my driveway was a mess of beer cans and bottles. Some of the bottles were still in a black garbage bag along with a few other items, including ... a student planner from the high school my kids go to.

I cleaned up the mess putting everything in the garbage bag that had been provided and took the planner into the house. I grabbed one of the kids' student directories and looked up the guy's address -- right down the street, about four blocks from our house.

With the garbage bag in the back of my car, I drove up to the boy's house where he and his mother were out in the front yard doing some yard work. I pulled up, got out of the car and called the boy's name and told him I'd found something of his. He walked around to my side of the car where I opened the door, opened up the bag with all the beer cans and bottles, pulled out his planner and handed it to him. The look he gave me was worth more than words can express. His mother had walked up to the other side of the car and asked him what it was; he said something lame about how his friends had taken his planner and thrown it out the window. I just closed the door, smiled and drove off with the garbage bag still in my car leaving them behind to whatever conversation may have followed.

Every now and then, like this morning, I'll see him. He has that look; he knows that I know where he lives...


...and he knows, deep down, that someday...

Tactics

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

From: Commander, 4th Division, Light Infantry
To: Troops, the Marauding Mammals
Sent: Friday 18th May 2007, 08:43
Subject: Tactics

First, I would like to commend the troops of the fighting forth for their efforts. In fact, I observed three of you this morning as you executed daring feints against the enemy in rapid succession. Your bravery has been duly noted.

In light of the exceptional attempts against the enemy this morning, it pains me to say that our current tactics have been unsuccessful. The enemy continues to make daily sorties onto our path in both morning and afternoon. This must stop. Several of you may be asked to go on missions of a more dangerous nature in the near future; just remember I am proud to have served with you.

A. Squirrel, "Ol' Stumpy Tail"

Ad astra per sciurus

Good Morning Mr. Murphy

Temperature at departure = 55° F (13° C)

What a beautiful morning. Sunny skies, no gusty winds and the temperature was cool but not cold. I had ridden 4.8 miles (7.7 k) and had seen no one on the trail. NO ONE; not one cyclist and, even odder, no pedestrians. I was reflecting on how strange that was when I noticed ahead that a young mother with a toddler on a bike with training wheels and a puppy on a leash had stopped to talk to another young mother headed the other way with a baby in a stroller and approaching them from behind was an elderly couple we all met up at the same point at the exact same moment. We had a brief chuckle, said good morning and the elderly couple and I moved on. After that the flood gates were opened for pedestrians as I met ~5 others before making it to the office.

Bike To Work Weak

Temperature at departure = 53° F (12° C)

I normally see at least two or three other bikes on the way to work. It is Bike To Work Week and so far, on day 3, I've seen a grand total of 1 other cyclist. Maybe it is a reverse psychology thing; perhaps we should have called it Drive To Work Week. Weird.

There have been more pedestrians on the path this week. Every single one of them was polite and very pleasant as we greeted each other with a "Good morning." Even the dogs were well behaved this morning.

Happy Bike To Work Week!

Temperature at departure = 70° F (21° C)

Mother's Day went really well yesterday. CAT said she had a really nice day. Not only had we got her some more lillies for her lilly bed, Saturday we got the bed raked out and weeded, ready for planting the new additions. Dinner out and ice cream afterwords with the kids behaving well. Nice day.

A Couple Wildcats

Temperature at departure = 85° F (29° C)

Spent yesterday in Manhattan at K-State moving things down six flights of stairs to get Peter moved out of his dorm room and back home for the summer. We got quite a bit of yard work done so Peter and I decided to get the bikes out and take a ride on the trail.

Since I had my Trek back (with new spokes), I let Peter ride the Mendota. What a difference that bike made; normally I would have to hold back a bit, this time he made me work to keep up with him.

We came across some other wildlife to add to the list: we chased a bobcat off the trail and saw a 6' long black snake. 23 miles altogether and a wonderful time.

Wait, Wait, Wait

Temperature at departure = 64° F (18° C)

Very humid this morning. I'm pretty tired, I'm on call this week and I had three customers I worked with last night, 2 until 10 p.m. and one from 3:30 to 4:30 this morning. Two of them were great to work with. One of them is a new customer who didn't pay very close attention when the installer was at the station last week and has decided to tinker with the system - thus loosing more than half of the audio for 4 radio stations. Got it back though!

Anyway, I had to watch this again this morning to get a bit of a chuckle to start the day. If you're involved in support in any way, you'll be able to relate.

You Have To Know These Things

Temperature at departure = 64° F (18° C)

Last night was the last high school band concert of the year. The Freshman, Concert and Symphonic bands all did a wonderful job and the guest soloist, Dr. J.D. Parr from Baker University, was amazing on clarinet. We may get in a short 5th grade band concert this afternoon and then the last middle school band concert is next week. I can't believe we're this close to the end of the school year. Let's see ... how many days is it until August 16th?




Had to chase another couple off the little bridge that is close to the end of my ride. As you can see above, it's not very wide, but the thing seems to be a very popular stop for couples out on a walk in the Spring and Fall. I'm still test riding the Mendota so I didn't have a bell to ding at them this morning. I had to politely stop and say "I'm sorry" to get them to move off the bridge to let them pass. As always, I was ready to say "An African or European swallow?" It didn't come to that this morning...

Water Wheels

Temperature at departure = 60° F (16° C)

Well, here is my solution to next week's Bike to Work Week if the rain comes back.


The kit is available at http://www.shuttlebike.com -- too bad I don't speak Italian.

The rain stopped yesterday afternoon and the streets were, for the most part, dry this morning. I had to skip riding on part of the path because it was either covered with running water or 6" deep mud. No matter, it was just nice to get back on the bike. Rivers and streams are going to continue to rise over the next day or so -- a lot of flood preparation segments on the local news. We should be fine, but I'm really ready for things to dry out for a bit.

Oh, and Ducks and Frogs

Forgot to mention those Friday...

I am so tired of the rain. I just checked NOAA and we've gotten 5" in the last 24 hours and here is the forecast for the next few days:


With the recent posts about wildlife I am tempted to make the obligatory Noah's Ark joke but will refrain. Instead I'll just say that perhaps next week should be Canoe To Work Week instead of Bike To Work Week.

Wild Ride

Temperature at departure = 62° F (17° C)

It is Bike to Work Month and here is another reason why I choose to ride my bike rather than drive: wildlife.

I find it odd that after spending 3 days camping out with Boy Scouts and 3 days in the outdoors with the fifth-graders, I had to get back on my bike and ride to work to see some wildlife. Granted, over the six days with several hikes through the woods we did see the remains of a deer that had been taken down by something (probably coyote) along with a handful of turtles and squirrels -- not much else to report.

This morning I came into fairly close contact with the following:

• White Tail Deer
• Woodchucks
• Rabbits
• Squirrels
• Wild Turkey
• Great Blue Heron
• Cardinals
• Robins
• Wrens
• Finches
• Mourning Dove
• Sparrows

...along with others that I've forgotten to note.

Not bad.

Wild - Wildwood

Well, I’m back. Friday through Sunday I was off with the two youngest for a Boy Scout campout. Monday through yesterday I and nine other adults were out at Wildwood, an outdoor learning center with a pretty cool adventure challenge course, with around 70 fifth-graders. It is nice to be back to the normal schedule, but I really should have taken one more day off to just take a long nap.

One quick story about Wildwood: I was in charge of a group of 10 kids and the first half of the day was so – so. The last half of day one turned ugly; especially during free time when I was watching close to 20 kids trying to play a game of basketball. The “game” turned out to be more of a trash talk session so I ended it early. Day two we went on the five hour adventure challenge with one of the staff and I was just supposed to sit back and observe. The kids started out okay but things quickly fell apart with the kids complaining about each other and, finally, making fun of each other's physical attributes. At that point, when the staff leader just looked at me and shrugged, I stopped observing and went into dad mode. Things settled down for a bit - but the arguing never went away. More free time at the BB court with more of the same and I, along with one of the teachers who came down to watch, made the call that there would be no more basketball for the remainder of the trip.

So, I’d not been having a very good time to this point when one of the teachers shared the following story:

When she was in 10th grade, she and some of her classmates went to an adult day-care center as a service project to just spend some time talking with some of the residents. One elderly lady in a wheel chair was sitting off to the side in a corner looking out into space. One of the members of the class, a boy who was very sociable, decided to go engage her in conversation. He spoke with her for several minutes as she continued to just look blankly ahead when, suddenly, she started screaming. She was still just looking straight out into space but screamed and screamed. The manager of the day-care center just looked at the kids from the class and simply said “She taught for forty years.”

I SO appreciate the teachers at our schools.

Smooth

Temperature at departure = 50° F (10° C)



Busy week and an even busier weekend ahead. At least we've got another break in the rain this morning. I got to ride the Mendota again this morning (seen above) and after making a few adjustments to the seat position, etc. I have to say this is a very smooth ride. I'm going to do my best to get the initial installment of the review posted to CommuteByBike later today.

Mendota is Here

Temperature at departure = 54° F (12° C)


Saturday morning I took my bike into Bike America to get the spokes on my back wheel fixed and was happy to find out that the Gary Fisher Medota that I'm supposed to review for CommuteByBike was in. I'd hoped to get a nice ride on the trail in with Peter, who was home for the weekend. Saturday's weather was beautiful and we took the Indian Creek Trail to State Line and then decided to see how far into Missouri it went. We passed Watts Mill, Wornall, Holmes and the trail ended at 99th -- two miles into Missouri. The 16 mile round trip was a breeze; we saw kids catching fish just below the falls at Watts Mill (pictured above), stopped for a cold drink at the QT at 103 and Wornall where we used to always get gasoline when we lived in that part of town and it was a nice chance to spend some more time with Peter before he headed back to start getting ready for finals in a couple weeks.

40 MPH winds kept me from riding to my Dad's yesterday, so I drove. I forgot the camera and really wouldn't have been able to get the shot of my Dad's tulips that I wanted anyway -- they peaked the week before and the winds the last few days finished them off. I wanted to show you a picture of them because I think they are amazing. I've grown tulips over the years and they seem to make it 3 or 4 years before they just refuse to come back. My Dad's tulips have been coming up for more than 50 years! I'll have to remember to get a picture of them next year.

Spoke Broke

Temperature at departure = 53° F (12° C)

At least there was a departure... On the way home last night, I hit an inch and a half thick branch on the trail which ended up inside my back wheel and broke one spoke and bent two others.


Won't be a big repair, but this was going to be the first time since the end of October that I'd ridden to work all five days in the week (I normally get four out of five). I called the guys at Bike America to see if the new Fischer Mendota that I'm supposed to test ride is in (it isn't) and asked them if I should stay off my baby until I get the spokes replaced and they said since the broken one is on the gear side of the back wheel - STAY OFF.


There, hanging on the garage ceiling, was my old, trusty, 1977 Yama ten speed. I'd hung her up after the cable for the rear derailleur broke. Since I had an excuse, I bought the new bike last July. I did not want to miss riding this morning so I figured riding the Yama, as is, would give me a hint as to what it would be like to ride a fixed gear. Wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Still, it was weird riding a road bike again after riding the hybrid for so long. I'm going to have to get the spokes fixed first thing Saturday morning so I can ride some extra miles this weekend.

Bikes + Art = Bart?

Temperature at departure = 46° F (8° C)


I mentioned yesterday that I have been wanting a picture of this for a long time. I first noticed the bikes around 4 years ago when there were only two bikes. I believe they add something each year -- this year's addition is the wagon. These bikes make me smile everytime I see them. If you're in the Prairie Village, KS area -- you'll find them at the corner of 71st and Tomahawk; Tomahawk is a VERY popular road for cyclists in the area.

[You can see the full size shot by clicking on the image above or clicking on the marker and following the link on the map.]

The Boys Are Back

Temperature at departure = 54° F (12° C)


Actually they never went far ... just a little deeper in the woods, but our herd is back. There are several young bucks that come up to the office to feed for a bit (the shot above is from yesterday afternoon) and then hang out around the bike path during my trip home in the evening.

Here is your WT Fun Fact of the Day ... some small winged insects have a nutty flavor.

I am going to try to remember my camera tonight; there is a house with a sculpture that I've wanted a picture of for a long time and since it is right next to where JLT has his trumpet lesson, I want to grab a shot of it to share. Have a great day!

Now That Is What I'm Talkin' About

Temperature at departure = 51° F (11° C)

This morning's ride was the best solo ride this year. Why:

• Beautiful blue skies and 51 degrees
• No wind
• I was making great time with, what seemed like, little effort
• I got to the part of the path that I showed yesterday and there were zero trucks parked along the detour. ZERO!
• Great music on the MP3 player (which I only listen to when I'm on the path); favorite track this morning was Al Jarreau's "Mornin'"
• Everyone I met had a big smile and we all said "Good morning" to each other
• My average MPH was up to 15.0 over the 6.083 miles I rode. I wasn't even trying to push it this morning
• Tons of cardinals were out this morning

So, here is your WT Fun Fact of the Day -- When persued by someone on a bicycle, the average male cardinal flies ~17 MPH.

Thanks to Anthonut for the use the image.

Have a great day -- I know I'm going to. Here, maybe THIS will help...

Quick Response

Thanks to the guys at KDOT; that was pretty quick. Got the following reply:

From: Burt (clip)
Sent: Monday, April 16, 2007 2:38 PM
To: wt(clip)
Subject: FW: Your trucks blocking bike path detour

Mr. T(clip),

I appreciate your concern. I have instructed our inspectors to attempt to find a parking place that does not block the detour. If you should have further comments or questions please contact me.

Burt (clip)

Detour for the Detour

Temperature at departure = 46° F (8° C)

I wasn't going to bring this up -- but it is getting a bit ridiculous.



The detour for the bike path that we waited for for so long still needs a little help. They've temporarily filled some gaps with gravel which hasn't bothered me too much. For the last couple weeks pickup trucks from the construction workers or, in the example seen here this morning, the Kansas DOT have been parking smack dab on top of the temporary path. I'm going to try e-mailing KDOT and see if they can put an end to this; cutting into traffic at this point, between pickups, is awkward at best. Again, not a huge issue in the greater scheme of things but it puts a bit of a damper on the morning ride.

The good news is that the trucks are always gone for my ride home and we should have temperatures around 72° this evening. Now, back to work.

Beautiful Sunday

Temperature at departure = 62° F (17° C)

At last, some nice weather. Got home from church and fired up the grill to do some chicken. As I'm grilling, Belle talks to me while Maggie hunts bumble bees.



It was such nice weather that I stretched out my weekly ride to my Dad's house an extra 3.5 miles. I just wish the recent cold weather wouldn't have done so much harm to the flowers and trees; it would have been nice to see a little more green.

To follow up on the time travel thing -- the warning didn't work as the kids were finished with chores around noon yesterday and wasted no time firing up Monster Hunter. Oh well, they'll never know what they missed...

Back

Okay, that was weird. I don’t know how much time I have before the next rift in the space – time continuum, so kids, this is VERY important, do NOT play video games tomorrow. That is all I have time to sa

Flux Capacitor

They'll never believe me. After years of secret work, as incredible as it may sound, I've mastered time trav

Big Yellow Round Thing

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

What IS that big bright thing in the sky? It hurts my eyes to look at it.

I am so tired of all the April showers we've been having lately. The rain combined with the cold temperatures just isn't a good match for riding the bike. Oh, I've been doing it, but it does take some of the fun out of the experience. So, I just looked out my office window and it is SUNNY! Looks like it will be a nice ride home as the winds die down a bit as well.

Last night I surprised some deer on path. I know they were surprised because they dropped some little presents on the path for me to dodge...

Caved

I thought we had made it through the day without any problems regarding the lack of an egg hunt on Sunday. My dad and my mother-in-law had been over for a nice ham dinner, the dishes were done and our guests had left; then, around 5:30 in the afternoon, Curtis asked about the egg hunt. He volunteered to stuff the plastic eggs and hide them -- so we got the baskets and plastic eggs out of the attic and away we went. We got the candy in the eggs and then Curtis headed out to hide them. He did a pretty good job.


Peter had already headed back to school and Trevor was at work so Katie, Jonathan and Curtis were the only ones to enjoy the hunt, although it didn't look like Katie was enjoying it that much.
So, I think the stage has been set for no hunt next year, although you never know...

Ironic

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

I'd turned on the radio in the kitchen this morning so I could catch the forecast while I was making the boy's lunches and my daily mocha latte. I caught the lead story; something about Sheryl Crow going on tour in a biodiesel car to warn college students about global warming. I had to chuckle as the first sentence of the next story went like this: "Mom is going to have to trade in her Easter bonnet for a fur-lined hat this Sunday as we are expecting a record low temperature."

Circumstances conspired to make my departure a tad late this morning. I debated whether or not I should take the extra 2.5 mile loop. I thought I should try to bump up my speed to just get in early and try to re-re-adjust my attitude this morning. So, what did I do? I decided to not even look at the computer while I was riding and just take a leisurely ride in, for once. It helped the attitude (a little) and, really, I only dropped 0.6 MPH on my average and added an extra one minute and 20 seconds of time to reflect on the day. It is Good Friday, after all, and a great day to reflect.

New Toy - Part 1

Temperature at departure = 29° F (-2° C)

Uneventful ride in. I took the extra 2.5 mile loop just to get some more exercise this morning; that bumped up my average MPH for the morning commute to 14.5. Not bad, for me.

Well, Google Maps has a new feature this morning called My Maps. It allows you to create and share personalized maps. You can even draw on them, add photos and videos. I think this will be pretty fun. Lots of uses for the family too. I'm going to go play now.

If You Don't Like The Weather...

...just wait a few minutes; so the saying goes.

Temperature at departure = 28° F (-2° C)

I had to dig my Winter gear out for this morning's ride. High temperatures in the 80's Monday and the rest of the week the forecast high is in the mid 40's. This is normally the weather we have the last week of March; so we're only off one week. On the plus side, I probably won't have to deal with many pedestrians on the way home.

Starting to make my Sunday plans. I am trying to justify hiding eggs again this year. My youngest is 11 now and although everyone still likes candy -- I'm not sure they want to be seen running around the yard with an Easter basket. Still, the dogs might miss it ... or not.

Music Hath Charms...

...to soothe the savage cyclist.

After a delayed start this morning and a rather chilly commute home it struck me: I'm using the MP3 player again and my average MPH changes, as does my attitude, as the tunes I'm listening too change.

Linger - The Cranberries - It was a nice way to ease into the ride.
Vogue - Madonna - MPH climbs significantly. Attitude changes to superiority.
Pride and Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughn - MPH dropped a bit but the attitude remained, although now I'm just feeling cool as opposed to superior.
Love You - The Free Design - MPH drops again as I'm reminded that cycling is fun. Attitude is now child-like.
End Credits from The Kingdom of Heaven - MPH rises as I slip into battle mode. Pedaling with purpose now:

Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong. That is your oath.

Overjoyed - Stevie Wonder - MPH dropped again; nice way to cool down.

I didn't take any time worrying about what I had lined up, just threw some stuff on the Rio and headed out. Fun.

Spirits Not Dampened

Temperature at departure = 56° F (13° C)

Well, we survived. The rain Friday night was sometimes in-tents ... [insert mental rim shot now]. I could have sworn that at one point around 2 a.m. that a couple of fire hoses had been pointed at my tent and opened up full blast. In February the troop doubled in size when it added 10 new scouts (one of them being my youngest). 9 of these new scouts were on the trip, so I was expecting several cases of home-sickness. I guess the good thing about torrential rains in the middle of the night is no one wants to get out of their tent to come over to tell you they want to go home.

Saturday morning the skies cleared off as a cold front blew in. Winds gusting to 50 mph sometimes dried things out quickly but made it a bit chilly. Another dad and I went with 5 of the older scouts on a 5.5 mile hike on the Rimrock Trail at Camp Naish , voted the best kick-your-(rear)-Hike in Kansas City. A mile and a half in I knew my boots were going to be an issue. Ended up with a pretty nasty sore spot on one heel but it was a beautiful time of year to hike the trail; just enough green on the trees to make it pretty but not enough to obstruct the view.

All in all it was a great time. I've said it before, you usually remember the campouts that you had to suffer through some adversity. No one sits around a campfire and talks about the time they had beautiful weather...

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Lots of rain overnight and it looks like we’ll have plenty more tonight with severe thunderstorms forecast. Perfect for the Boy Scout campout my two youngest and I are going on… I keep telling myself that “it builds character.” Actually, we’ve been through it all before and even though it is not necessarily much fun at the time, it makes for great stories and great memories later on.

So, I drove today because I need to leave early and get packed up, etc. I found out it only takes me 6 more minutes to ride my bike than it does to drive. I also saw a squirrel cross the road staying inside the lines of a crosswalk all the way across the two lanes. Eh, made me chuckle.

Have a great weekend, I’m looking forward to what a bunch of pre-teen and early teenaged boys are going to come up with for the adults for April Fool’s Day on Sunday.

Weekend Plans

Temperature at departure = 56° F (13° C)

10 miles of hiking, biking and running trails may soon be added to the land adjacent to Shawnee Mission Park. The hearing is tonight. Thanks to my buddy John L for the link to this article.

A boy scout campout is going to prevent me from the 56 mile ride in Wamego ... so I'm going to map out a longer ride in town which will run through Shawnee Mission Park and hooking up with the Gary L. Haller Trail. I've heard it is a beautiful trail. The more I think about it, why drive 5 hours roundtrip to ride my bike? Rationalizing, I know, but it helps ease the pain of what looks to be a rainy campout.

Hi Ho

Temperature at departure = 60° F (16° C)

Spring Break is over and it's back to work. I wish we would have had nicer weather but we had some really nice moments over the last week or so; I even got a few bike rides in with the boys.

I almost wimped out Sunday because the winds were gusting to 35 MPH. On the way home from church I saw some other people out on bikes so I was kind of taunted into riding to my Dad's house. After I got home I was still in the mood to ride so I talked one of my sons into riding another 6 miles with me making the total 20 miles - not bad for a day I almost skipped riding...

The wind was bad a few places on the way home, but on the way to my Dad's house I could take advantage of the tail wind. So, I've been driving a car for just over 30 years and have never gotten a speeding ticket, haven't even gotten a warning. As I'm coasting down 67th street, where the speed limit is 25 mph, I noticed a police officer with a radar gun in the church parking lot at the bottom of the hill. I looked down at my computer and noticed I was doing 31.7 mph... The officer just smiled and waved, thankfully. I had a nice laugh with my Dad about that one, wouldn't it have been ironic to have gotten my first speeding ticket while riding my bike.

Delayed Gratification

It has been a rainy Spring Break. I managed to get the kids out of the house yesterday and we all went to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit now on display at Kansas City's Union Station.


I'm sure CAT and I enjoyed the tour more than the younger kids. Most of the post-tour comments we saw seemed to have been made by early teens or youger and could be summed up with one word: boring. What they don't understand is the, perhaps, once-in-a-lifetime chance to see history. I hope that later in life they'll look back on this outing and remember it that way.

There is a precedent; I'm reminded of the volksmarch we took at the Crazy Horse monument several years ago. My daughter, in particular, was in no mood for the 6 mile round trip hike up a mountain. The hike ends up on top of the arm of the memorial and I kept trying to explain that in years to come she would be able to tell her kids that she'd stood up next to the face of the memorial (some day that will no longer be possible). I still bring that trip up, occasionally, and she still rolls her eyes - but I know she'll remember it fondly. I've got the picture waiting for her whenever she is ready...

Kids Gone Wild

Spring Break and I've decided to take the week off since my kids are all out of school this week. I was hoping we would have some of the gorgeous weather of the last couple of weeks so we could go to the zoo, take some bike hikes, hang out at the park, etc. Well, here is the forecast:


So, looks like I'll get to spend some time listening to how bored the kids are. There are a few indoors activities I had planned so the week won't be wash.

I wanted to go to the Liberty Memorial, the only museum dedicated solely to World War I. It was recently reopened and is said to be a wonderful experience for all ages. The people that I know who have been say it is extremely cool.

Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. Carolyn has done some of the lighting for the exhibit and says that it could have been called the Dead Sea Post-it Notes exhibit as the fragments on display are about that size. I still want to see them and don't want the kids to miss out on the opportunity to say they've seen them as well.

I'm not going to get too discouraged; the forecast is really only accurate about 4 hours out. I hope, I hope, I hope.

Full Force

Here is a little biku for Fritz

Retractable leash
Dog and owner, far apart
STOP BLOCKING THE PATH!

Good news and bad news: The weather is so nice, there were tons of people out on the path for tonight's ride home.

You know, after around 5 months of having the thing pretty much all to myself, I miss the solitude.

Happy Pi Day

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

I was shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, to discover that my children have been laundering money.


Happy Pi Day! In honor of 3.14, make sure you have at least one slice of pie today; just make sure you calculate the circumference by slicing all the way across, measuring the cut (diameter) and multiply by 3.14.

...oh, and ride a bike -- the wheels are circles and ... you get the idea. It was so beautiful out this morning that I extended my morning commute by 4 miles just to run an errand and ride around the park for a bit. Tomorrow is supposed to be back to normal ~20+ degrees cooler.

Flash Back

Temperature at departure = 51° F (11° C)

What a beautiful morning; the weather was nice enough I could ditch the workout pants and put on shorts. [Didn't want anything rubbing on the band-aids on the knee] It was nice to see 5 bikes in the elementary school rack yesterday -- that means we're up to 1.8% of the students who don't ride the bus, riding their bikes to school.


As promised, here is a shot of Peter coming out of Starbuck's with our bikes chained out front. We hung out for a while at the table on the left. My planned route of 14.1 miles was stretched to 17.7 with some extra miles in and around Leawood Park to look at the soccer fields that Peter used to play on. Had a great time reminiscing. The route was also a little hillier (hilly-er, hillish, ???) than expected. All in all a nice trip with good conversation and a peppermint mocha at just the right time! Sunday's ride to my Dad's is the first I've made since I got the bike computer. I had thought the trip was 14 miles on the nose -- close, it ended up being 13.5. It was a solo ride so I tried to push it a bit harder and averaged 14.4 MPH. Wasn't too winded; need to take some longer trips in the weekend ahead to get ready for THIS 52 miler.

End of Debate

Temperature at departure = 49° F (9° C)

I know, I know, I haven't posted since Wednesday. Sorry, my family has had a lot going on. Anyway, I intended to write about what a wonderful weekend it was (another great ride with Peter on Saturday - nice ride to my Dad's yesterday) but then - this morning. I'll write about the weekend tonight or tomorrow.

So, I've read a lot of different opinions about whether or not to wear a bike helmet. I've worn one since my children started riding bikes, to be a good example. Now, wearing a helmet is a habit. There was one time last fall that I didn't put one on when I left home and I felt so weird riding without it that, a half mile from home, I had to turn around and go get it. Well, in my opinion, the debate is over.

It was a beautiful morning. The pavement was a little damp from a very light, short rain last night. The ride had gone well, I even came across two other bike commuters that I've never seen before. When I got to Founder's Park at Corporate Woods, the loop back towards the creek was a little muddy. Slick mud, not the big piles of mud from the previous week. I really should have gone with my gut reaction and just headed into the office -- but I decided to take the extra 3 mile loop. When I approached the next bridge I started regretting my decision; a long patch of the slick muck. I made it past that to the dry pavement beneath the bridge. Before reaching the other end of the bridge I rang my bell a few times, just in case someone was approaching from the other side; the other end has a sharp, blind turn and short, steep hill. I'm not sure how it happened but I hit another patch of mud and down I went. Smack! I felt my head hit the pavement hard - but, thankfully, the helmet took the whole force of the impact. I also had put on my fingerless gloves for the second time since I've had them. It wasn't cold enough for my big gloves and I just decided the day before to wear these when it was warmer. Glad I did, my palms would have gotten pretty torn up.

So, the entire damage to me seems to be a scraped left knee and a nasty looking knot on my right thigh where I must have landed on a rock, bolt, pedal, something.

Oh, just noticed my jaw. Well, we'll see how it goes. Please, please, please, always wear your helmet. If I hadn't today, I would have been passed out on a blind curve on the path or in the emergency room...

p.s. I'll be fine. I'll post the picture of Peter and I at Starbuck's later.

Emerging

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

It appears I spoke too soon about the increase of the number of bikes in the bike rack. Yesterday afternoon, 66° and my son's bike was the only one at school. There were encouraging signs this morning though; second day in a row that I've been passed by a guy with a recumbant in the bed of his pickup. I think he is headed to the bike path trailhead that is around a mile from our neighborhood -- he could park the truck there and take the path on his bike. That is my theory, anyway. Later, when I was taking the extended route to get a few more miles in this morning I passed a guy going the other direction. He was pretty spandex'd out, but I won't hold that against him. On the way back to the office after the extended loop I saw two other cyclists. Not bad for temperatures hovering around freezing.

Yesterday turned out to be a great day. I achieved all but one of my goals for the day. I've taken the goals I worked on last Friday and modified Ben Franklin's 13 virtues sheet to plug in the "virtues" or goals that I want to make sure I work on daily. Nice article here on how to do it...

Bridge to Terabi... oh. Hmmm

Temperature at departure = 32° F (0° C)

The folks in Disney's promtions department did a fine job of selling Bridge to Terabithia to my ten year old. For a couple weeks he had been asking me, no, begging me to go see it when it came out. I checked IMDB and it looked like it was going to be a nice fantasy movie. Based on the trailers he had seen, he was expecting The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; instead, he got [Spoiler] - kinda. Don't get me wrong, it was a VERY good movie, but when asked if it was what he was expecting, C replied "not at all."

So, a word of warning: if your child wants to go to see a bunch of special effects creatures, etc. - they will be disappointed.

Anyway, it looks like it is going to be a beautiful day again. Afternoon temperatures up in the 60's. I was happy to see 3 bikes in the bike rack at the elementary school and hope to see more today.

Hello Mudder

Temperature at departure = 40° F (4° C)

I took the day off on Friday and took advantage of a quiet, empty house and reworked some of my goals and objectives. Exciting stuff? For me it is, I like to get things down on paper and set up some way of keeping record of how I'm doing. So, I spent some time jotting down ideas and creating some more spreadsheets. I know, geek. I then got to go over to the Sprint campus and have lunch with my buddy John. Great turkey burger!

I haven't been out riding since Wednesday. I figured that the majority of the mess from Wednesday night's storm would have been taken care of. I took part of Friday to scrub my bike down, give it's teeth a good flossing and re-lube the chain. As I rode down the short hill with the sharp turn under the bridge, I found out how wrong I was regarding the post-storm mess. This part of the path is low (I did mention it takes you under a bridge) and runs next to the creek; I saw the mud about 6 feet before I hit it. I didn't have time to stop until my front tire (tyre for Kimbo) was stuck in 8 inches (20 cm) of glop. I hopped off into about 4 inches of mud and backtracked up the path to the road. There were a few other places where mud was still on the path next to the creek, but all of those had a way through without getting into the muck. So much for my pretty, clean bike...


So, it's back to work -- and I swapped the yellow reflective jacket for a grey hooded sweat shirt. See previous posts about my reasoning for that.

Catch 22

We were pounded last night! At 5 p.m. it was sunny and 70° F (21° C). At 6 p.m. half the sky was covered in ominous clouds with occiasional horizontal lightning. At 6:30 p.m. heavy rain and marble sized hail started up and the temperature dropped 15 degrees. Heavy thunderstorms continued until about 1 a.m. Light snow in the forecast this morning so with all the storm debris and chance of snow, I drove the kids to school and myself to work. I’m glad I did, there were several portions of the bike path that were still covered in standing water and I’m sure the parts that are close to the creek are covered in tree limbs and mud. Here is a shot of some of the hail that still remains this morning.


In a continuation of yesterday's post, I spoke with one of the crossing guards and with the school principal yesterday regarding the number of children who walk to school. The guard (who is stationed about a half mile away from school) says he gets about 8 to 10 kids a day. The principal said that there are a few more that walk the other direction, but not many more. She thinks that on nice days they'll get 20 -25. She then told me that we are fortunate to have the ones that we do as the city requires 15 children to warrant a crossing guard. She had to push hard to get the guy .5 miles away - but that is a very busy intersection and the city, rightfully, agreed to the guard. Fortunately, once a guard is in place it is very difficult for the city to pull them off that site.

So, most parents aren't letting their kids walk because of perceived safety issues. Additional crossing guards would, most likely, increase the number of people walking -- but, we can't get more guards until we get more people walking... Arrrrgh.

Thankfully, there are organizations like Safe Routes to School. I'm going to be contacting them to discuss our area. [I can't believe I'm turning into an activist.]

Now, for some good news -- I think my waiting by the bike rack for my son every afternoon is starting to pay off. Yesterday I heard a little girl ask her mom if they could ride their bikes to school. The mom said "Honey, I'd have to get Daddy's bike down to do that." So, I think I'll keep showing up to ride home with my boy. I do think I'm going to ditch the bright yellow jacket with the reflective tape and just wear a sweat shirt or tee shirt, just to make sure the "I don't want to have to buy all that stuff" excuse can't be used.