Misadventures

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

No cyclists, pedestrians or critters were harmed during the following events.

I recently read on Shamus' blog that the detour for the Indian Creek Trail closure around Fox Creek Park was itself closed just west of Mission road due to some post flooding issues. It has been a couple weeks since I've had a chance to check it out and I have a ride with our Boy Scout troop scheduled for the big loop this Saturday.


I left home a few minutes later than usual this morning but figured I'd hit a snag at the detour and have to find an alternate route shortened a bit by riding up Antioch from 137th to 117th. That was my plan.




I was smug and self-assured when I got to the pedestrian bridge which forms part of the detour. At least I wasn't stuck in THAT.




Yep, it's still closed and completely torn up. So, I guess it is time for Plan C. I worked my way up to College Boulevard and worked my way through several parking lots until I made it to Nall and could pick up my alternate route.


I was thinking to myself about how I'd told the boys that one of the things they've got to check on a regular basis is their brakes. Meanwhile, my brakes are shot and I need to get them to the shop tonight if I'm going to have a chance at having this bike available for the Saturday ride. The back brake is adjusted all the way and is pretty much worthless. The front brake is just about gone as well and I could tighten it two more clicks. I decided to take it a bit easy for the rest of the ride.

By the time I turned off Nall at 127th, it was a half hour until I needed to be at my desk and if I tried to ride the rest of my normal route, that would be about 12 miles... I stopped to do some math and to check a map on my blackberry.




I figured out that I would still have to stay on the path until 137th and Antioch, like I figured I would, but could cut up Antioch and shave about 5 miles off my normal route. Off I went.


Riding on Antioch wasn't as bad as I remember -- until I got to the construction at 119th and had to get off the road, try to find the sidewalk (which is mostly missing) and try to work my way through the construction cones, chewed up streets and stressed drivers. I made it to the office about 10 minutes late.


On the way home I had just turned a corner and started down a long down hill portion of the path when the cable for my front brake broke. That's right, I now was headed downhill and had no brakes. I rode off into the grass and walked down the steepest part of the hill and rode home VERY carefully.


I guess I'll bring out the Mendota tomorrow!

Back to Work

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

Another cool thing about cycling -- it's nature's Mucinex.  'Nuf said.

I opted for the 6.7 mile route instead of the 20 this morning.  It's a good thing our KATY Trail campout was rained out; I was sick as a dog and it sounds like portions of the trail have been washed out.  We're going to try to make up for it a bit with a 25 mile ride on the Indian Creek Trail with the scouts this Saturday.  I'm sure I'll be ready to go by then.

Elle Macpherson Topless?

...and by that I mean, not wearing a helmet...  [hmmm, Google Analytics will be interesting tomorrow]

Okay, at least the kid has a helmet on.  The Mirror shows the supermodel out with her five year old riding on the handlebars while she dangles a trash bag in her left hand.  Um, no.

News you can Use

Well, some of you.

I'm sick and also sick of the rain.  Anyway, my Google Reader is overflowing and here are a few things for you to mull over while I mend.

Dallas transit agency to add bike racks to buses.

Dallas busses are FINALLY getting racks.

Bicycle riders get the green light in northern Colorado

I wish they'd redo some of the sensors in my neighborhood.

Bicycle-riding superheros coming to Kirksville to help residents.  Darn. Honey, do you know where I put my cape?

Bike Accidents Decline As Ridership Rises.  Makes perfect sense.

Observations From a Non-Scientific Mind

1) The rain seems heavier when I'm going faster.

2) When I stop pedalling and slow down, the rain lessens as well.

Conclusion: the rain seems to know how fast I'm going.

Thanks Fritz

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

Thanks to Fritz for including me in his alley cat race and for sending me a link pointing to an article about Kelly Benjamin. Kelly is from Overland Park and placed seventh in the Tour of Missouri women’s race on the Country Club Plaza on Monday. Kelly was a bit disappointed, but it was nice to have a local in the race.

Fritz was posting like crazy yesterday and I have yet to get through all that he put up. Thanks again dude. Now, perhaps I missed it while I was out of town, but why the switch to "Yokota Fritz?"

Hitchhikers

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

Once again, it is that time of year. This morning I picked up at least two. The one on my shoulder I flicked off before I even thought about bringing out the camera. Spiders aren't my favorite and I didn't like the way he was crawling towards my neck. This one was about the size of a penny. She was dangling six inches below my right handle grip and climbing towards my hand.



She was returned to the wild speedily.

Reach For It

A failed attempt at camouflaging the bike path adjacent to Nall. Ahead you'll see one of the stupidest crosswalks in Overland Park. The button to activate the cross walk signal is in the middle of the intersection; you have to cross the right turn lane for the 435 ramp. Seriously. The most dangerous part of the crossing is ignored. At least the people heading south to turn left have a stop light.

Stop II

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

Do you get tired of hearing people complain about cyclists not stopping at stop signs? It has been just over a year since I posted the original Stop video. What the heck, the only new movie out this weekend is that thing with Nicholas Cage that looks like it will be horrible. So, for your viewing enjoyment, I present a sequel -- Stop II! Hey, it's short, free and filmed in that shaky hand-held style that is popular these days. With out further adieu, direct from this morning's commute...

How about Riding & Reading

Here is a nice clip from Will Smith and the Kid's Choice Awards where he gives the keys to life: running and reading.  In my mind, I've replaced 'running' with 'riding.'  He makes a couple statements that are short and powerful.  If you've got a couple minutes...

Rain threatened yesterday afternoon, but I still got my ride to Dad's in.  

Sure, I wish they had a bike rack, but locking up to the landscaping wasn't bad.  I know, I know, cable locks aren't that great ... but I hope that using two will provide a little discouragement.

A Seven Mile Ride

I won't bore you with too many details. This weekend was tough. My brother, CAT and I spent Saturday and Monday going through things in my Dad's house getting ready to turn it over to a new owner within the next week or so.

CAT and I took Sunday to clear out space for some of the stuff that we're keeping and when she had to go to a gig later in the afternoon I was emotionally spent. I hopped on Bucephalus and under the pretense of running a book back to the library, I went on a short, seven mile ride. It helped.

It's not a spiritual thing for me. Broken down to it's base components a bike ride is going from point A to point B. I have to focus on the road. I have to focus on traffic. I have to make decisions about which route to take. I have to exert some physical energy. I get to smile as I coast down a tree lined hill at 26 MPH. I have to dodge squirrels every 100 feet or so. I get to wave and say hello to other cyclists and pedestrians. I am an encumbrance to a few drivers. I get to be away from the situations of life for a half hour.

I've got the next two days off and will be heading back over to Dad's in just a bit. I think I'll ride my bike.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present ... Hogie!

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

A few weeks back, my wife and I attended her X year high school reunion. She found out about it just a few days before the event, but the website prompted me to try to find my best bud from college again. Finally, Hogie got himself set up on Facebook. We haven't had a chance to chat for a while and now have gotten to do the e-mail/IM thing a bit. He seems to be doing well (but how he made the jump from TV to ad agency to banker is a story I want to hear when we've got some more time).


I was happy to see that he's into cycling too! In fact, he's just made the leap to bike commuter. Please check out his blog as he chronicles the new commuting adventure.

I took a different route to work today and met 6 kids on bikes on their way to school. They were having a blast. I can tell that they're headed to my kid's former elementary school and it looks like they're sticking to the sidewalks. They'll meet up with Kurt and he'll make sure they are safely across 103rd and on their way. Cool!

Mountain Man

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

I'm glad I was pressed for time yesterday and was unable to write the post which I had intended. What I had in mind was a post about how the number of cyclists I encountered during my morning commute had increased dramatically when gas prices hit 4 dollars per gallon and, now that prices are back down to around 3.60 per gallon, they're still riding their bikes.

Yesterday morning I lost track of the number of other people on bikes on the trail during my 20 mile ride. I'd stopped counting around 20 cyclists. This morning I decided I would keep an exact count to support the post I had in mind. Today I only saw 6 other people on bikes on the same 20 route. There goes that theory.



Now, let's talk about cyclist number 5. I was 12 miles into my ride when I noticed I was gaining on someone. As I got closer the other cyclist turned out to be a guy with a football player's build, probably around 30 years old, riding a mountain bike working

hard to get, probably, 13 MPH out of the thing. I was cruising along at 16 MPH. As I pulled up behind him I rang my bell and said good morning. No response. The guy is taking up the middle of the path so I rang the bell again and said "Coming up on your left." He looked back and then moved over to the left a bit to block me. So, I moved around to the right and off he goes, pedaling for all he's worth ... downhill.

Now, I take it this person has what you might call a bit of a competitive streak. Whatever, I really didn't want to race, I'm just trying to get to work, but I know what's coming up on this part of the trail so why not let him get his momentary lead. He seems to be a man on a mission, zipping around some elderly pedestrians with his only comment to them a brusk "MOVE RIGHT!" I did my normal ding, ding, "good morning" thing and as we rounded the corner I began lowering my gears. Yep, he's been pounding away and didn't bother to drop his gears to try to take on the nice hills. I pass him half way up and tried to be friendly again; "How're you doin'?" I guess that was the wrong thing to say. I coasted down the other side, paid attention to the pedestrians at the bottom of the hill and politely got around them. Hmmmm, I thought I heard some cursing back behind me.

Things kind of flatten out around the Deanna Ross Farmstead and as we approached the golf course I could hear some pretty heavy huffing and puffing coming up behind me. What the heck, I'll give it one more try, "I really hate this next part that's coming up." The only response was an icy stare.

I hope you won't think less of me when I admit that I derived a rather sinister sense of enjoyment knowing that the monster hill on the south side of St. Andrews Golf Club was moments away. I dropped down to the granny ring in front and made it up the hill without much effort. At the top of the hill I glanced back and the competitor was about a fourth of the way up the hill, off his bike, trying to walk up the hill. Never saw him again.

I really don't want to be a jerk about it but this morning's ride, along with that of August 8th, are probably the most fun I've had on a bike in the last three or four months. Sorry, but I guess when I'm provoked I can be a little bit of a jerk too. Yes, it bears repeating, "I ring my tiny bell in celebration!"

I'm Back

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

Well, I'm back from a hectic couple of weeks in Morgantown, WV and Cumberland, MD. The first week we worked 18 to 20 hour days. The second week we kept it down to 12 hour days. I've been trying to catch up on sleep, but our oldest dog, Belle, has developed a condition that causes her to drink gallons of water a day ... meaning we're up every 3 hours to let her outside. Man, I'm tired.

Anyway, it was a really good trip and I'm happy to be home and back in the school year groove. It took me a couple days before I had a chance to get back on the bike, but I'm back in that groove as well. This morning I caught a glimpse of a fox in my neighborhood. It has been a few years since I've seen one of those and I'm hoping they stay away from my yard. I had enough problems when my dogs saw a coyote in our side yard last year.

Speaking of coyotes.



Whenever I see the gas line pipe seen above, I think this:



Happy to be home and keepin' my eye out for Wiley Coyote.

[note: if you got 3 of these posts in your RSS feed, sorry. There is something going on with the latest version of Blogger that scrambled it two times...]

Good News, Bad News

The good news is, management has decided to install a bike rack. This rack will also feature extra security by being completely fenced in.

The bad news...



Greetings from lovely Morgantown, WV. I'm here for another week or so for work and when I saw this bike rack, I had to stop and get a picture. The thing is fenced in with some satellite dishes and locked up solid. Um, yeah.

Good Morning To You

Temperature at departure = 67° F (19° C)

What an absolutely gorgeous morning.  I'm not the kind of guy that spontaneously bursts into song, but here's how I felt during this morning's commute by bike in Overland Park.

To the driver of the white pickup that tried to pass me at the last moment and was left hung out to dry in the left turn lane at 103rd and Lamar: I understand that you probably don't expect cyclists to be riding at or slightly above the posted speed limit and you probably thought you could duck around me and not have to be stuck at the red light behind someone on a bicycle.  I would like to apologize for any inconvenience and stress this may have cau...  HAHAHAHAHAHA.  Who am I kidding?  You got served by a guy in his upper forties on a bicycle.  I ring my tiny bell in celebration.  Ding, ding.

How Dare I?

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

Dave A's wife saw an interesting head stone in Idaho.  If I were Leah, I'd make sure I was off on vacation this December... (look close).

Tip of the helmet to Treadly and Me for the discussion of parents coddling children.  I love the comment "'curling parents' (sweeping obstacles aside for their kids)."

In the post, TnM links to an article from the Daily Telegraph that says:

"The simple joys of childhood such as bike riding, climbing trees and even just crossing the road are basic skills that are in danger of being entirely lost."

This is rather personal since I had a conversation yesterday about my letting my son ride his bike to drum lessons wherein he had to cross a four lane road.  Even after I explained that there is this thing called a crosswalk that he used, an acquaintance was shocked that I'd let a 12.5 year old venture out like that.  By the way, he was fine.

For the record, if I'm not with them, my younger kids stay off the really busy roads.  Much to my chagrin, they will ride sidewalks sometimes.  If they have to cross a busy road, they walk the bikes across in a crosswalk.  I've ridden with them quite a bit and discuss situations we encounter and best practices for riding on streets.  

In my opinion, my kids have a huge jump on other kids when they finally get their learner's permit and start driving.  They know most of the rules of the road.  They know the streets around their neighborhood.  They have an idea of how unpredictable some drivers can be.  No, they're not perfect, there are always some white knuckle moments with any new driver ... but riding bikes puts them ahead of the curve.

Sorry, I really didn't mean to rant like this.

Finally, it has been a while since I baiku'd for Fritz.

Clouds hover above

No one on the path but me

The rain is my friend

Clean up on aisle nine, please.

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

While I was in Dallas last week, it appears we had some really severe rains in OP.  I've been riding the Indian Creek bike/hike trail daily for more than 3 years and this is the worst damage I've seen.  Several places have the top inch or so of pavement just washed to the side as seen below.

Fences tell quite a story as well:

The one seen above is at Deer Creek Golf Club around 130th and Metcalf.  According to Google Earth, this fence was 400' away from the creek.

Close to 135th and US 69 the fence above shows that the water was 10' to 12' above it's normal course.

My favorite little bridge fared a little better in this storm than it has in some.  It only lost one board this time.  Looks like I missed quite a show.

Duck, DUCK!, Goose

Temperature at departure = 82° F (28° C)

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.

Cycling = Better Life

5 ways riding a bicycle makes life better.

Rather than cutting and pasting, I'll just link to the article that the KC Star borrowed from the Dallas Morning News who, in turn, grabbed from Bicycling magazine. Kinda bloggish of them, isn't it?

I'm back from a week of laziness in Dallas and am dreaming up excuses (chores) that can be accomplished on my bike today. I guarantee that there will be another ride to the pool on the beach cruiser.

Rebels

Yep, I too am a rebel.

Want to become a true outlaw? Ride a bicycle.

In Dallas again

I'm going to have to try to talk them into buying a bike for the Dallas office again. For the price they pay for me to rent a car, they could BUY a pretty nice bike and leave it at the office for a couple of us to use when we come down...

Last year they'd agreed to it, but then that manager transferred to another office. I'm buddies with the new manager, so chances are good. In the mean time, I'm having to jump rope to burn calories the way I used to before I started commuting by bike.

Here is another shot of the dam at Lenexa Lake. I may or may not have taken this shot on July 4th, prior to the park being open.

GPCC Tour de Donut 2

Six of us showed up yesterday morning for the second annual Great Plains Community Church Tour de Donut (muffin, pancakes, etc.).



We ride 10 miles round trip, including the big hill on Prairie Star Parkway which is part of the Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride.



We met at the church land and rode to McDonald's for some carb-loading, fun fellowship. It's a fun ride and we're hoping to get more people involved next year.

* * * * *

After the TdD, Peter and I decided to check out the Lenexa Lake Park that I rode through on July 4th. At that time there may have been some signs up saying the trail and park were closed ... I'm trying to remember. No longer true.



Black Hoof Park is now open to the public -- and I wish I would have known this before the TdD.



The park features a spillway that is really pretty. Standing on the top looking down.



From the side.



Top of the spillway.

The park is gorgeous and I guarantee it will be part of next year's TdD.

Cider Mill Century Bike Ride

HERE is a press release from the Johnson County Bike Club, asking for volunteers to help out with the Cider Mill Century bike ride.

I dunno. I remember seeing information on this one a while back, but with the two business trips coming up I wouldn't have been able to go on a ride on August 3rd. Yesterday I was told that my trip for the 4th had been moved. Hmmmm. I've never riden a century ride before.

I'll have to think this one over...

Look out Below

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

Several years ago I fell off the top of a 30' ladder. I was painting the trim on a third story window and the bottom of the ladder kicked out a bit, the ladder dropped a couple feet and stopped suddenly and I hit a rung like it was a diving board. I wasn't injured physically, in fact I held on to the paint brush and bucket all the way down and didn't spill a drop (let's talk about angels some time). My body was fine, but ever since that day I've had an issue with heights.

Once or twice a year I force myself to go off the high dive at the pool so my kids don't think I'm a big chicken.

I used to love roller coasters. Not any more.

So, it shouldn't surprise me that I get a bit of a queasy feeling when I ride the pedestrian bridge that spans I-435 at Roe every morning.



Queue the theme from Vertigo.

It could have been worse

Temperature at departure = 72° F (22° C)

I had it all planned out. Since I'd worked more than an hour past quitting time last night, I figured I'd leave at 07:30, ride the 20 mile loop with one stop at the bank right at 09:00 when they opened. That would put me at the office around 09:15, but like I said, I worked a bit extra last night.

Two miles into the ride, my front tire went flat. I'd encountered a couple bumps that were probably to blame; squared off edges...

I pulled over to a picnic table, took off the backpack and patched the tire. I either messed up the patch or there was another leak because 0.2 miles further on the tire was flat again. So, I turned around and headed home. Every 0.4 miles I had to stop and pump the tire up again. Annoying, but I was glad it happened 2 miles into the ride instead of 10 miles into the ride.

Man, I hated having to drive into work. I'm going to be hard pressed to make my goal of 350 miles this month what with missing out on 16 miles today and being out of town all next week.

Civics Lessons

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

I needed a change of scenery this morning. Not much, just a little time off the beaten path. The construction on the Metcalf corridor continues and part of the Vision Metcalf project between 103rd and 99th is the addition of a bike/hike path that actually runs south from the Metcalf South Shopping Center parking lot (call it 97th Terrace) south to 103rd, connecting to the Indian Creek Bike/Hike Trail. Here is a shot from this morning heading south between 99th and 101st.



Once they finish the part just before the bridge, that will become a regular part of my route. As it is now, you can ride it but you're separated from the north bound Metcalf traffic by traffic cones and, perhaps, three feet. Probably 15 to 20 seconds that are not for the feint of heart.

Looks like there are some nice (proposed) changes to allow more bike traffic. Check page 7 of 11 HERE.

"In order to become a sustainable urban neighborhood, Overland Park must put an even greater reliance on people cycling as a true alternative mode of transportation."

Curtis and I attended the Overland Park City Council meeting last night with our boy scout troop. There were actually two bike trail related issues that were brought up:

1) Contract for needed repairs to the bike/hike trail goes to the lowest bidder -- approved.
2) Much discussion and approval of plans for additional construction at the Douglas L. Smith Middle Basin Treatment Facility (10001 College Blvd.), that is close to the bike trail by Indian Valley Park (116th & Knox).

During the discussion about the waste water treatment plant, they went back over plans to build a large, inflatable dome to collect the gas from the digester tanks and use it to produce electricity to help power the plant. I choose to refer to this dome as the giant gas bag. Anyway, in order to obscure the view of the giant gas bag from the bike trail and the houses close by, they are going to have to plant additional native streamway plants ... and they already have a guy who specializes in that. Imagine, some one has a job that appears to amount to the ability to cultivate weeds.

Taken as a Compliment

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


Last night my 15 year old asked me how long it would take me to ride to Roe Park. I told him it would take 15 minutes.

"So, it's going to take me 30..."

Lighten Up

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

Perhaps I missed it; is today National Humorlessness Day?

1) I took to the streets for the first part of my commute this morning so I could run a couple errands. I was turning off Lowell onto a side street which forced a guy in a double cab pickup to have to wait at his stop sign for an additional 3 seconds. As I rounded the corner he said “Get off the road jackass.” Without thinking about it I just laughed and kept riding.

For the first 17 years we were married my wife and I lived on the Missouri side of the state line, however, we have been back on the Kansas side for 8 years or so. Although I can sometimes be accused of being as stubborn as a Missouri mule, the Kansas state animal is the American Buffalo. I’ll admit I was buffaloed by his comment but perhaps he is from Minnesota (state bird = loon).

2) Back on the bike/hike path I was on a long, open, downhill stretch when I had the following encounter with a woman walking a dog with a retractable leash:

WT’s bell: Ding, ding, ding. (no response)
WT’s bell: Ding, Ding, Ding! (wwdwrl turns head and retracts the dog who sits down next too her)
WT: Good Morning.
WWDWRL: Good boy.
WT: Thank you.

Let’s just say her response was less than polite, but, for the record, I prefer the term “smart-alec.”

Pointman

Temperature at departure = 65° F (18° C)

I'm not sure how any of this is going to fit into the article that I'm piecing together for Commute By Bike, but it sort of goes along with last Thursday's post about Close Encounters.

My youngest son is currently working on a citizenship merit badge. Part of what he is working on is learning what roles our elected officials play. Thus, I thought it might be a good exercise to observe the roles played by two of our nations Governors (one past and one present) along with a former Gubernatorial candidate who is presently a candidate for the U.S. Senate ... so we sat down to watch Predator.

As I rode to work through the woods, I was reminded of some of the scenes where the pointman was carefully making his way through the jungle. As he moved along he would have to keep his eyes open for the enemy, trip wires, natural obstacles and any other surprises that might pop up. It struck me that riding on the MUP through the woods in Leawood and Overland Park is a lot like being on point. Like I said last week, you gotta keep your eyes open.

With that in mind, I had the safest ride to work in recent memory. Sure, there were plenty of pedestrians and cyclists out; but, by harnessing a pointman mentality I avoided several situations that could have led to more close encounters.

For the most part, it is just common sense. If the path is wet and you're riding downhill towards a sharp turn obscured by trees -- slow down. When approaching a series of hairpin turns -- slow down. When a big group of joggers is headed your way, make sure you can get around them.

Some times you can see a good 30 seconds worth of the path.



Some times it's more like 2 seconds.






Can you see the jogger in the picture above? Neither can I, but she's there. Black pants, black shirt, long dark hair, she looked like a young Maria Shriver. Had I been hammering through this series of twists and turns I probably would have been apologizing instead of saying "Good morning."

I've ridden the route enough times that I have a good handle on places where it looks like it would be a blast to go as fast as possible, but the path is actually treacherous. Today, I was on point. Stay frosty. Oh, and "Get to the chopper!"

Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride 2008

Peter and I rode in the Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride again this year -- Sunday morning, midnight.



Some marked differences between this year and last year. It was around 15 degrees or so cooler. Last year when we rode into the caves, the drop in temperature was a nice break from the heat. This year it was cooler above ground than it was below.

Mark from Bike America told me he was going to be there -- and I'm sure he was, I just didn't get to see him. I only got to briefly say "Hi" to Noah before he was called away. As he rode off I tried to get a shot of him ... but my daughter had borrowed my camera and I have no idea what setting she had it on. Sorry dude. Still, it kinda makes it look like you're on fire.



Peter and I were fortunate to only be about four rows back for the beginning of the ride. There were plenty of people stacked up behind us.



Keep in mind, this is a fun ride, not a race. Still, at mile 4 I was in third place and Peter was in fourth (taking it easy on the old man). By mile 6 we had dropped to seventh and eighth, and by the time we hit the caves we were probably around twelfth to fifteenth. After the caves we found ourselves in the middle of the families who were taking the short route so we throttled back a bit. It's not that we were trying to race, we just got started ahead of all the families, groups and people with pets. We made good time and kept the pace at about 17 mph.

Last year it took us 63 minutes to make it to the finish line. This year it only took us 47 minutes. I also think they may have compressed the monster hill from last year. It didn't seem nearly as tough to make it up the hill. Of course, last year I was taking a 7 mile route to work and this year I'm riding 20 miles to work...

Our favorite moment was as Peter and I were headed over to get pancakes. Some guy, all decked out in his racing gear, came across the finish line and felt the need to pump his fists in the air and yell -- just like the winners of a Tour de France stage. As he did so, he hit a bump, faltered a bit and lost his headlight. Seriously folks, rather than pretend you're riding in a real race -- try riding in one.

Just Don't Have the Time?

I read, with interest, the comments to a post from new bike commuter John B. In it, a woman explained that one of the reasons her husband had given up commuting by bike was the time the 20 mile round trip took out of their lives. Now, I don’t know the woman or her husband and I don’t want it to seem like I was dogging on them when I added a comment quoting the often mentioned statistic:

“According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or 2 months of nonstop TV-watching per year).”

The comment I read was close on the tails of a conversation I had with someone the night before, where they told me they would never have the extra time to ride on errands rather than drive. That person then turned to talk to another parent about several reality shows that she’s following.

Um, yeah.

Disclosure: I too have wasted time watching TV recently. After a long day, it feels good to just plop down and zone out. As I turn the darned thing off I regret that I wasted that precious time and promise myself that I’ll not do it again … but, it’s a hard habit to break.

I should know better; my degree is in radio and television and to this day (what, 28 years later?) I remember a lecture, and the chapter it was based on, discussing the concept of L.O.P. We don’t watch programs, we watch television. When the box gets turned on we scan around for the Least Objectionable Program and stay with it until it becomes boring or objectionable and then we scan again.

I’ll try to do better.

Wow, I got off track. My point was, if the average person watches TV for 4 hours a day, they can afford to drop one of those hours in favor of the increased time riding a bike would take.

One last point, a year ago on the Presentation Zen blog, the author had a picture of his hotel room. He was working on a book at the time and one of the things I noticed in the picture was the hand printed sign he had taped over the TV screen: “TV SUCKS.” Agreed.

Okay, I lied – this is my last point … I’m reading another book by Steve Allen and am reminded of a story that came over the AP News Wire at a radio station I was working at in the mid 90’s. I was so impressed with the story that I made note of it in my Franklin Planner and still have it:

(AP News story) Steve Allen says he can write books and do TV shows and get all his shopping done and still have time to do volunteer work, because he doesn't waste time. Allen says he "gets a fresh delivery of 24 hours every morning," and by not wasting time, he has three or four extra hours to work.

Hmmm, three or four extra hours…

Close Encounters

On my ride in this morning, I had just crossed a bridge on the Tomahawk Creek Bike/Hike Trail when I was almost taken out by another cyclist coming from the other direction. I was as far right as was safe to ride (the side of the path at that point is large rocks) when this guy on his road bike, in full cycling kit, came blowing around a blind curve to his right … all the way over on my side of the path. He slammed on his breaks, we brushed shoulders and I continued on my way.

Every July, for about three weeks during the Tour de France, I see more guys decked out in racing spandex out riding on road bikes. The guy this morning had “I’m playing Tour de France” written all over him. Idiot.

Flash back 10 minutes; I was riding south on the MUP that runs parallel to Nall this morning to get a change of scenery. Taking Nall from 103 to 127th cut 3 miles off my normal ride, but it’s just been way too routine the last few days. I had stopped and gotten off my bike at the entrance to the Sprint campus. Having pushed the crosswalk button, I waited for the crosswalk light while the cars in the right turn lane took their chances turning on the red in front of me. As the traffic light and crosswalk light both turned green I started across as a guy in a red SUV decided not to yield to the pedestrian in the crosswalk. I stopped. He stopped in front of me. I started to walk. He started to drive. I stopped. He stopped … and threw his hands up in frustration. I’m not a fan of crosswalks.

Every other cyclist and pedestrian I encountered this morning was cheerful and polite. Had it not been for all of those people, I might have regretted riding my bike today. You see, yesterday morning’s ride was fraught with peril as well. There were four thundering herds of teenage girls out on a training run more interested in chatting amongst themselves than they are of the cyclist heading their direction ringing his bell and calling out “GOOD MORNING!!!” There were two thundering herds of teenage boys out on their training runs trying to act cool and like they own and are blockading the path. I couldn’t for the life of me get the attention of the two gals jogging in place talking to each other. I saw several folk who were new to cycling and were having a lot of difficulties focusing on trying to stay upright and completely ignoring my bell and voice. Perhaps the closest call yesterday came as I was riding down the path next to Quivera where I normally reach 36 MPH. I had already had to pull off into the grass to avoid three golf carts that were coming towards me, when I saw the crew working with weed eaters. One guy had moved from the curb and was walking onto the path while facing away from me. The guy never looked around and I’d run my bell and shouted “HEADS UP!” at the top of my voice twice. Finally, as I was almost on top of him, he starts to turn to look … so, of course, the business end of the weed eater is now swinging into what little room there was left of the path. Made it past with no ill effects, although I’m not quite sure how.

Most of these near misses have had one thing in common, these folk weren’t watching where they were going, they were focused on where they were at. That is not a good idea. I’m tossing around an idea for an article on “Target Fixation” for CommuteByBike wherein I’ll expound on that a bit. It all boils down to the need to keep looking ahead while you’re riding… Now, where’s my coffee?

TdCC

Temperature at departure = 78° F (26° C)

It's the time of year when every bike ride is named Tour de (something). My morning commute will hence be known as the Tour de Creepy Crawlers. Along with the normal wildlife I would expect to encounter while riding the trail in Overland Park (deer, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks and birds galore) this morning, for some reason, had all the elements of a bad horror flick. In order of appearance:

• I had to dodge a very lively snake.
• I rode trough an active spider web and had to remove it's angry resident.
• I almost ran over a dead bat.
• A wasp hit me in the face.
• A bee landed on my shirt.

Oh, and as I was zooming down Quivera at 36.1 MPH there was a Thwack! and I ended up with this bug splatter on my glasses.



Weird.

Gearing up for the TdF

Last year my youngest son watched a good deal of the Tour de France with me. I wonder if he'll be as willing this year...

Google Maps has a special Street View set-up for this year's TdF. Check it out HERE.

"Experience the famous French race like never before. Le Tour de France and Google Maps invite you to ride the 2008 route using Street View. Now, you can feel like part of the race, no matter where you are."

You can "ride" through each one of the stages. Interesting.

Further Evidence

...that I'm giving in to the dark side.


I won these cycling socks by participating in Bike to Work Week. I never understood the need for cycling SOCKS. Having tried them, I like them well enough. They're much lighter than the cotton socks I normally wear.

Prior to scout camp I bought some more socks that were billed as "breathable" and seem to be made of the same fabric. I'm not giving up the short cotton socks, but the new socks (cycle-specific or not) are a welcome addition.

But wait, there's more evidence that I'm becoming less "Fred" to come.

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

Still, I felt like a jerk...

Rain today, so I drove. The last two days I've taken the long way and tested out a couple Father's Day presents. First, a pair of Pearl iZumi Slice Gloves to replace my old Wal-Mart weightlifting gloves. I like the padding. You know, there is something to this wearing of bike specific gear...

• They're nice and snug, but not too tight.
• My hands aren't all sweaty when I finish the ride [I've hated the slimy feel the old gloves were taking on].
• Like I said before, the padding helps keep a good grip on the handle bars.

It is a very rare occasion for me to overtake and pass another cyclist on my morning ride. Over the last few years other riders were pretty rare at that time of the morning on a weekday. I passed four riders yesterday. Granted, they appeared to all be recreational cyclists and I was a man on a mission -- but I felt kind of bad about it and none of them really knew how to react to someone else on a bike passing them.

Back From Camp

That was my home away from home last Sunday through Saturday. Loved it! We had rain three days, but it wasn't ever much of an inconvenience. Actually, the rain came mostly overnight and cooled things down.

I didn't get to nap and read as much as I'd hoped because I signed up for Conquer the Kaw where I hiked 11 miles and biked 20. We didn't get to canoe on the Kaw because it is too high and fast at the moment.



Here is a shot of our hike on the Camp Naish Rimrock Trail.



And this was taken during our ride.

Those of you who are familiar with Boy Scouts may understand the significance of Curtis and I going through the Ordeal for the Order of the Arrow. We made it.

Great time -- except for that one trip to the ER...