Times Change

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

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



This last weekend I chose not to ride.



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

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

Cyclists' Games

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

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

That's Entertainment

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

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

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

Culture Clash

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

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

Momentum and Gravity, not Video

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

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


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

Slightly out of Breath

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

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

This was on the MP3 Player:


I must have been really hammering. Bucephalus was pleased.

Public Service Announcement

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

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

Stolen Identities

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

Even if they didn't know my name:

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

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

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

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

Hello old Friend

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

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

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



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

Spring Preview

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

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

The Waters Of March

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

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

-- Antonio Carlos Jobim

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

"Are you an organ donor?"

Almost. Jerk.

Yeah, you and every one else...

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


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

I should know better

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

When heading out on the bike after the TV weatherman said "The rain in the metro is over for the day" -- I will regret not having a front fender.

Coasting

Temperature at departure = 42° F (6° C)

I have decided
My commute would be better
Downhill all the way


I'll admit, this looks like a very cool way to commute; but I still think riding my bike to work is more fun. I can bicycle to work in Overland Park all year round -- the water slide would freeze up in the winter. Still, it would be nice to have a route that was all down hill...


[I know, I know. This one has been making the rounds in bike blogs quite a bit lately -- but what a fun concept.]

Smokey Seems Sad

Temperature at departure = 36° F (2° C)

As I pulled up to the stop sign behind the Honda with the obvious oil leak, I had an opportunity to pause and read his bumper stickers.

1) Tree hugging dirt worshiper
2) The earth is our mother, treat her with respect

...and then he threw a lit cigarette butt out the window. I had to laugh. I enjoy the irony.

I came up with this later in the trip (Fritz, no need to link):

I'm one of the few
I commute by bicycle
In Overland Park.

Solitude

Temperature at departure = 24° F (-4° C)

It was an uneventful commute into the office this morning. That isn't a bad thing... Still, I'm looking forward to warmer temperatures and some green. The landscape has been the same dull yellow/brown for way too long.

Saturday's ride was a bit strange. The temperature hovered around freezing and since CAT and the kids were all off doing other things, my 6 mile roundtrip ride to the library turned into a 20 mile ride to check out the Leawood side of the Indian Creek Trail.


It was nice to see that they're clearing out a lot of the scrub brush along the creek.


The most surreal part of the trip was my loop around Leawood Park. This place is normally packed with people in nice weather and you would expect to see some people out even when it is cold. There was no one else there. Weird.


Heading back towards home I decided to see how serious they were about the trail being closed the the north of I-435. Yep, they're still serious.

It was nice to have the trail to myself. Spring, with its dog walkers, joggers and other cyclists will come soon enough. Until then I will keep bundling up and blazing trails.

Think PSA

I am a huge fan of Tom Vanderbilt's book, Traffic, and How We Drive blog and am honored that he used one of my posts as an example in one of his recent posts. His latest post (as of a few minutes ago) has a video of a Think UK PSA that is powerfull. After watching, I had to see more so clicked on some of the associated links to find this:



As someone who rides a non-motorized bike, I truely wish that we could get these PSA's run in the states. "Think. Take longer to look for bikes."

Rockin' Robins

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

Well, I made it back. The trip home was uneventful ... which was wonderful. My bag even made it home! In fact, my bag always seems to be one of the last to make it off the plane at the Kansas City airport; this time it was one of the first.

Dinner was waiting for me when I walked in the door. My wife had whipped up some comfort food for me -- Aunt Wilma's Casserole. Perfect.

I'm still trying to get over the jet lag. I've gotten out to ride the last couple of days just to get some sunshine during what my body needs to think of as daytime. Hasn't helped. I figure I've got a couple more days before I'm reoriented.

I was very happy to see flocks and flocks of robins during my ride. Good grief, they're everywhere.



Anyway, it's great to be back home. The days are getting longer and spring isn't too far away. I'm looking forward to seeing some green on the ride into work.

For those of you who've sent me notes of concern about the job situation -- I've got no news. I probably won't know how Google's putting Radio Automation up for sale is going to affect me until someone actually buys us. Until then, I'm doing my best to take a "business as usual" approach to the day.

Intentional Tourist

I awoke Friday morning to some interesting news, prior to my presentation to the Techtel sales folk. I wrapped things up early enough to go see downtown Sydney. Here are some pictures from the last couple days.



The elderly gentleman jaywalked across this busy street during morning rush hour without regard to the on-coming traffic. As a bonus, someone was riding a motorcycle on the sidewalk. Weird.



Same intersection, next day. Seems like every cyclist I see is wearing a backpack.



I finally got a few hours to take in some sights. The rain stopped (for the most part) and I hopped a bus to The Rocks. Above, the Sydney Harbor Bridge.



Proof for my family that I saw something besides the office and motel.



The view from the downtown restaurant where I had lunch. Finally, I got to eat somewhere other than the two places I've had access to. Another cyclist with a backpack.



The risotto was wonderful.

The Prodigal Bag

Three and a half days and four continents later, I opened my motel door this evening and...

They speak English there too...

Well, they found my bag. The following video shows where it is now and where it needs to go.



Yep, for some reason, American Airlines sent my luggage to London's Heathrow airport instead of Sydney Australia. So, I'm hoping that I'll still see it sometime in the next couple of days. As it is, the folks I'm training will see me in the same thing tomorrow as they saw me in today.

It would be nice if there were someplace where I could run out and buy a new shirt, but there are no shops within walking distance. I could get a taxi, but that will add $50 to $100 to the price of the shirt... We'll see.

Walk About

I made it to Sydney after a rather awful trip. Mechanical problems, delayed flights, lost luggage, a 14 hour long flight with no leg room. Ick. I didn't have a good attitude going into the travel part of this trip ... but I'm here.



The first of several lines to get from the plane to the outside of the airport. This is just the area that leads to where you line up for customs.



Couldn't take pictures in Customs, baggage claim, lost baggage window or Exit/Quarantine. This is part of the queue for the taxi stand. 2 hours from plane to taxi.



I'd been up for over 40 hours (lost count) but it is summer and I wasn't tired. There is a reserve within walking distance of my motel so I went on a bushwalk.







Having walked for an hour, it was time to find something to eat. The only place close (that was open on a Sunday afternoon) was a pub that has a GREAT chicken burger.



I sat and watched rugby and cricket for a while. I have no clue what was going on in either game. Every single person I've met has been incredibly nice. I think it will be a good week.