So, this is a first...

When I pulled up to the bike rack yesterday, I saw something new: an unfamiliar lock and chain that appeared to be well-used. I thought that it perhaps belonged to my co-worker, who took the whole team along bike shopping over lunch earlier this week. He ended up with a fine, barely-ridden Trek 4500, which appears to be of a 2006 vintage:



It ended up being for someone else's bike, which I saw later in the day:


So it's official. It took almost two years, but someone else is finally riding their bike here.

I made the mistake of attempting to forge onward through the Indian Creek Trail construction yesterday. I made it, but let's say I won't be doing it again until the trail opens. Bike/Ped-friendly options for getting from one side of US-69 to the other through central Johnson County are few and far between. If you find yourself near Corporate woods, you'll be stuck braving 119th, College Blvd or 103rd street. I've stated previously that Johnson County is split into islands by highways. Within each island, it's pretty easy to get around using residential roads. To jump from one to another is often a frustrating affair.

I'm experimenting with a GPS transponder I built (think of it as kind of like a poor-man's "SPOT" tracker). It fits nicely in the pannier zipper pocket. I'm sure if I parked my bike somewhere with this thing attached, it'd get called in as a "suspicious device" and the bomb squad would get called in.


Inside, there's a waterproof box containing a few gadgets including a small radio transceiver, GPS, a battery pack and some other stuff that's needed to make it all play together nicely.


It's far from perfect. I'm still kind of working on it. I tested it yesterday while riding between home, the office and the hospital. It worked only part of the time. It transmits its location every time you make a significant change in heading (at every turn, basically) and about every 20 minutes when stationary. The problem is that it's largely a one-way operation so the rig doesn't know if the message actually got through, and I'm using a very low power transmitter. There are ways to fix both problems at the cost of increased power consumption and/or more expensive radio equipment inside the box. The map below is missing a significant number of turns, especially through residential and trail areas.


I will experiment with it some more as time goes on. I know there are smartphone applications that can upload your position and track your rides for you. I was looking to build something that operates without relying on the Internet. The above map was drawn using data gathered from a mesh network of amateur radio digital repeaters and internet-connected gateways.

Anyhow, I'm still here. I'm still riding for work and errands when I can. I'm still a nerd. You can call me Captain Dashboard. I don't mind.

Random Tunage:
Plaid - Assault on Precinct Zero
Elite Force - Cross The Line

Quote of the month, if not the year.

commuterDude (muttered elsewhere on the Internets):

My daily scan of regional Craiglist feed, looking for touring/rando frames, came across advert from a college town which begins with "need to sell bike for gas money..." Um, dude...why don't you sell the CAR for bike spares, and ride it???

The man has a point. It feels like March outside right now. We've had perhaps two days that actually felt like winter this season.

I'm still alive. No, I haven't ridden more than a handful of times in the past month. It's complicated. I wish I could take 'dude's advice. Having a wife that practically lives in a hospital and/or requires constant care at the drop of a hat (up to and including zipping home over the lunch break a few times per week) is putting a serious damper on bike commuting. Like I said, the weather's been perfect for it. Grumble.

But hey! I got to meet A Midnight Rider face to face over some coffee 2 weeks ago.

Bike Ninja

A ratcheting whirr
A cyclist's faint silhouette
It's a bike ninja!

See him up there? Yeah, neither do I. There are two other stragglers who refuse to put their bikes away. One's a well-lit, pannier-toting guy who goes eastbound then south. Then there's this guy who travels west. Black bike, dark clothes, mammoth backpack and either a hipster cyst (knog frog) or a similarly dim, useless single white LED thing on his handlebars.

(It feels like) winter is on!

I think this morning was the first ride of the season where the temperature was in the teens. Most of you know how I handle the cold-weather season by now. I know what works, clothing-wise because I've kept track of it since my first winter. I'm seeing the usual cadre of local cold-weather bike commuters as they ramp up for the chilly season, but I'm also seeing a bunch of my other cycling friends take a stab at it this winter. That's cool, literally!

As usual, I'm interested in all the different ways my fellow cyclists solve their problems. It sounds like some of them are opting to give pogies (or bar mitts) a try. I don't think they'd work well for me, since I have to leave my bike out in the cold.

Since this is my first winter at the new job, people are already in full-on quiz mode. The truth is that I might revert to the car a few times this coming winter. At my last job, I had the option to take any of four different bus routes when the going got tough. These buses would drop me off anywhere from 300 yards to 3 miles from my place. Now, there's no way to get home by bus, and the roads I have to take to get to and from work are likely going to be treacherous at least a few times over the winter. I'm definitely not shooting for the "more hardcore than you" badge.  I'll leave that to folks like Doug, who was and continues to be an inspiration for my winter cycling habits.

Of course, I plan on riding when ever possible. I'll probably be picking up The Mesa next week, and I'll start outfitting it for winter commuting.  I'll need a few things to round it out (see the Wish List, which contains other stuff I've been saving up for, too) but as far as I'm concerned, winter is on! Who's with me?

July DSR - Unofficial Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride alternative

I opted for a smaller group this time, as you can tell. Almost half of the people who had initially said "Yes" to the ride bailed out yesterday (for completely legitimate reasons), leaving eight intrepid souls to take the ride. I'm bad with names, so I can't remember Drew's guests names, but there was also Badger, Darius, Eric, Ben and myself.


Eric was rocking his brand new Surly LHT, which he's just picked up. I'm jealous. More and more of my serious commuting friends have some kind of nice steel touring bike.

I met Ben on the bus last year. He normally rides the whole way (College and Quivira-ish to Downtown) but had gotten a flat and retreated to the B bus, which I happened to be riding. It wasn't even my normal route. He brought this fixed gear bike out for the ride. I noticed that it wasn't just painted white, but it's almost completely covered in reflective material:


Outside the cave entrance.


Ben, Eric and I hit IHOP afterward, then parted ways. It was a really late night.

Also: Substation with a half-moon over it.

Grinder at Grinders!

Jon Grinder comes through Kansas City a few times per year when he visits his family out east. Usually, he blazes through KC and stops in one of the eastern suburbs for the night before pressing onward for the rest of the trip in the morning.

A few months ago, we'd arranged to meet up next time he came through town. That was today. He jokes that all of his pictures look the same, so here he strikes his usual pose.


I decided it would be cool to meet at Grinder's. Not only because it's Jon's last name, but because it's not too far off his route, and the food is good. If you like dive bars with art culture and good music, Grinder's is your spot. Last time I was here, I had their "insane" wings, and they were kind of weak, but tasty. They're billed as "effing HOT!" so I was a bit disappointed. This time, though, they delivered a mainline of pain!


We shot the breeze for an hour or so while my wife tried not to get too bored listening to gearhead-speak. I've been reading Jon's stuff longer than I've been posting here... almost as long as I've been bike commuting. It was cool to finally catch up with him in person!

Jon's Suzuki is great for touring. Boy, was it loaded!

Operation: Squall Line

At quittin' time, the radar looked something like this:


Operation: Squall Line was in full effect. I put the raincover on my lone pannier and hit the road, hoping -- no, knowing -- I could beat it. I darted up Renner, slogged the rolling hills of 113th street, and started northeast on Santa Fe Trail Drive with a strong sidewind and storms approaching from the west. Immediately ahead of me, a cyclist I hadn't seen before. Just pulling out of Southlake business park a few blocks to the north, I saw Jim's retina-searing jacket.

It didn't take me long to blow past both of them. Not that I was being a dick about it. I greeted them both upon passing. I don't usually ride hard, but this was personal. This was a race. Me against the dark, growling beast. Keep in mind that my skinny tires, tall gears, and drop bars gave me an advantage. In reality, I wasn't going that fast. This is me we're talking about.

About 2 minutes after I took this, the downpour started.


Random Tunage:
The Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar
Underworld - Born Slippy (Original)

Everyone!

This morning, I ran across almost every cyclist I've seen to date on my new route, except for Terry. Brian was rolling out of my apartment complex at the same time as me. Coming up to 95th St, The Silent Roadie and I were stopped next to one another. I didn't have time to catch his name, but we talked for a second. He rides from 75th and Metcalf down to 151st St. That's a decent ride. Then, I got passed by someone I haven't seen before, commuting on a triathlon bike and apparently trying to catch up with the roadie. We exchanged "good mornings" and little else. Finally, I saw the daily northbound guy south of 95th.

And how could I blame them? It was a beautiful morning for a ride!

I got tired of staring at the eight un-labeled and functionless buttons on my office phone. Over lunch, I added some new labels to them. Tip of the hat to my friend Ben, who kind of inspired me to do this by sending me a link to a photo where someone had done something similar. I wish I could claim it was original. It is, however, fun to look at.

Kicking off Memorial Weekend with a DSR

Keith goes over the basics and what to expect on the route.


Then, we're off.


We always tend to plan these things near a full moon. This is somewhat intentional, I think.


Parked at the rest stop about halfway through the ride.


Darius From Above. Accomplished with a 10-second timer and waving my tripod high above my head.


Obligatory group photo.


"Only" two mechanical failures. Dave flatted (easily fixed). Nan's stem stripped out during a hard climb, and the stem cap bolt just wouldn't bite. Handlebars flopping up and down? Deal-breaker. My own stem cap was held in with much longer bolts, so I swapped one of mine for one of hers. My stem bolt was able to hold things together, fortunately. Her bolt was long enough that it worked fine in my stem. I have spares for it back at home.


One of my favorite parts of the ride is where everyone cranked up the tunes on their phones as we split up into smaller groups. Tinny music of all kinds emanated from tin-can speakers in handlebar bags and jersey pockets.

I had to swing by the pharmacy on the way home, and snapped this. I ended up with just a little over 60 miles today by the time I finished up. By the time the night was over, I was limping home on my blackburn flea blinking very dimly, and my Mini-Mag providing just enough light to spot pot-holes ahead of me at 12 MPH.


More homeward commute railway hotness.


Random Tunage:
Burn In Noise - Raca
Robert Miles - Children (Inpetto Remix)

Bike Week Wednesday: OP City Hall, Rainy Errands

I went to Overland Park City Hall this morning for their Wednesday BTWW Breakfast, since it's not too far from home. I ran into lots of friends. Myself, Warren, and Mark cheese for the camera. Good lord, I'm fat. Still a lot less than I was when I started riding, but I can see this is going to be an ongoing battle.


Warren (with coffee) and Bucephalus, his trusty steed.


John Schnake showed up a few minutes later. He lives just a few blocks away.


Not sure whose Schwinn cruiser this is. I think one of the volunteers rode it to city hall.


Remember the tire with 8,500+ miles on it? Well, today, I couldn't put it off any longer.


That meant a few things. First off, it meant I got to rack up some "errand" miles with a trip to the bike store to buy a new tire. But, as predicted, it was raining cats and dogs all day long, and into the evening. More than 20 miles were ridden in a torrential downpour. Therefore, it also meant I got to put my waterproof backpack to the ultimate test, whether I liked it or not.


More than 90 minutes in the rain, and everything was perfectly dry and safe inside. And the backpack? Well, I rode more than 35 miles with it today. As far as backpacks go, it wasn't too bad. Waterproof panniers would have been appreciated, but the backpack was pretty cheap. Expect a full review on BikeCommuters.com later.

KC Bike Week: OP Breakfast Stop

Due to a bit of miscalculation, I showed up to the Overland Park Breakfast stop about 15 minutes before it was scheduled to open. I had figured that there would be some set-up going on already. I had figured wrong. But, at about 6:25, a public works truck showed up and set up shop.


Bananas, OJ, Coffee, granola bars and plenty of give-aways were ripe for the picking. Be sure to sign the rosters at the various events you go to this week. They're being counted and will be used for advocacy purposes.


commuderDude, myself, and Shawn quaffed our beverages, noshed on breakfasty goodness, and conversed with the volunteers for a while before parting ways a bit before 7:00.


My score from the booth: A reflecto-slow-moving-vehicle sign.


Getting from southern Overland Park to my new office near 119th and Renner was an interesting adventure in wayfinding. 127th Street is the preferred method of crossing I-35, but parts of 127th are completely torn out for the "Improve 127th" project. At 7:00 AM, rush hour traffic is picking up in Johnson County, but people were pleasant on the arterial roads. Years of commuting through cul-de-sac-ridden suburbia has given me a certain intuition about finding a clear path. I had no problem carving an efficient residential detour around the construction between Black Bob and Mur-Len.

Side note: Read this great article on the effect of cul-de-sacs on a community's transportation habits.

Random Tunage:
Brian Eno - An Ending (Ascent) (Leama and Moor Remix)
Fluke - Atom Bomb

Paint

I woke up at 5-something this morning. That used to be part of my routine, but it's highly unusual these days. Eggs, an apple and a few slices of turkey bacon for breakfast. Filled the water bottle. Go through the old routine, kind of like waking up to do my old commute. I got out a few minutes after 6 and rode to the corner. I waited, eying the southern horizon at daybreak. A few minutes later, the familiar, conspicuous flashing pattern of a DiNotte headlight crested the viaduct, quickly distinguishing a distant bicycle from within a small swarm of silhouetted motor vehicles.

I rolled out, and a minute or so later, Chris pulled up alongside me on the very same bike he'd flogged when we hit the singletrack at Shawnee Mission Park last weekend. I still have a really soft spot in my heart for the Long Haul Trucker. Or at least the frame. Chris' Ultegra Hollowtech triple crank is a drool-worthy piece of flair as well. I'm not sure I'd ever get used to bar-ends. I'm in love with my brifters, thank you very much.

For those who don't know, Chris is returning to full-route bike commuting, at least some days. I told him that this route is his baby now, and let him blaze the trail. We headed out, mostly the old route I used to take every day, except we stayed on Quivira all the way to 67th. The last time I rode that way, I was en-route to the Cave Ride.

I didn't bother to check my pace at all, but I felt like I was slower than normal, and I know I was lagging behind a bit. I really need to get out and ride more, although part of it was that I was still feeling yesterday's surprise mile-fest as well.

I got to hang out with Lorin and JR over coffee, then rode around KCMO waiting until 9 to take care of some paper work, and then it was slow going homeward bound into a stiff and gusty headwind. All in all, another beautiful day for a ride.

Directly adjacent to where I took the picture above, I saw something else that made me chuckle just a little.


Random Tunage:
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
Green Day - Longview

Fools' errands

I had some errands to run today. I had an appointment with someone at the library. I showed up right as they opened and there were no other bikes on the rack. Just an old razor scooter that looks like it's been locked up and forgotten for the past 5 years. It turns out my appointment wouldn't likely be until after noon, so I snagged a bite to eat on the ride home.

I went back around noon, only to be told that I needed some paperwork from home. It'd have been nice if I'd been told this the first time. I went home. I couldn't find some of the paperwork I needed. So I rode to a government office to get that paperwork, which involved a half-hour wait, not too bad. Then, I finally got back to the library, confident I had everything I needed, at around 2:00 PM. And there were STILL 4 people ahead of me. So I renewed my library card, poked around a bit, and waited for my appointment. But hey, I got good news out of the deal. Still, it felt like I was being sent on a wild goose chase for a while.

Most of the bikes I was locked up with were of the toy-store variety. The "nicest" bike aside from my Trek 1200 was an e-Zip battery assisted bike. Still, all of them looked like they were well used for getting around town, including decent locks and a few equipped with headlights. On my way to the government office, I ran across an older gentleman who also seemed to be getting around town more than just out for a ride, as well as a recumbent rider. Who could blame anyone for riding on a beautiful day like this?!




Tomorrow, it sounds like my buddy Chris is going to start biking the whole way in to work (downtown) again, so I'll probably join him in the morning, with whomever else he decides to rally for the convoy. I have some paperwork to drop off downtown in the next few days, anyway. I mean, I could fax or snail-mail it, but why bother, when it'll be a great morning for a 30 or 40 mile ride?

Random Tunage:
Sixpence None The Richer - Breathe
Jimmy Eat World - The Middle

Banquet

My wife and I had a great time at the JCBC Banquet last night. The food was good, the company was excellent, and it was cool to catch up with so many cyclists I've met over the last 3+ years. Voting in new officers, recollection of the past year of events and bloopers, and some raffle winnage. My wife landed us a gift card for a local restaurant and I won a random bottle of wine that happened to have a bicycle on its label. Not unlike the labels of these tasty New Belgium Fat Tires. Photo snipe: the 'Dude in his natural habitat.


Even though it was snowing lightly, I decided I'd be clever and ride my bike to and from the banquet. After all, cDude and I were going to be talking about year-round riding for transportation. It'd only be right. Never mind the fact that even WITH my choice to take the long, back way to the banquet, I only rode a grand total of 6 miles in the snow yesterday round trip.



Thanks to everyone who showed up, didn't fall asleep during our talk, and brought interesting questions for us to answer! It was good to see you all! Maybe I'll make it out to more recreation rides in 2010.

Also: Last night, Tim, c'Dude and myself were talking about doing another S24O Bike Camping adventure at Hillsdale this spring. I think we'll probably do two group S240's this year. We lucked out doing one in August. I'm thinking May/June and September.

Random Tunage:
Dynamix II - Machine Language
Fischer Spooner - Emerge

Schnake

At a recent interview, I saw Schnake's bike. I'd bet he had a fun ride home in the snow!


I instantly recognized his rig. I met John on the first night-ride I went on with the Dark-Side-Rides crew, back in '07. His bike is a specialized hard-rock (I think?) equipped with drop bars, fenders, a rack. I thought he was running an internal gear hub, but this looks like a 1x8 or 1x9 setup. Notice the twist-grip shifter. He fabricated a custom mount for the bar-end. It's kind of a slick setup for a commuter.

Velomobile

I had to take a bus downtown to drop some stuff off. While there, I had one last coffee with JR, Lorin, and Bob, or at least the last one for quite a while. I've got a whole batch of interviews lined up this week, but no serious leads on work downtown.

On my way back home this morning, I saw the Velomobile locked up at the bus depot in Shawnee. Sorry, all I have is my OLD phone's camera with me, and I had to take the picture through a grimy and perf-wrapped window.


A much better photo of the Velomobile in question was taken by me on a Monday ride in '08.

Most difficult commute

-- or --
The Swobo Baxter only "kind of enjoys" this stuff.

Yesterday, I took the bus that drops me off at The Maul. Kind of a misake: Quivira was trashed. There was one and a half usable lanes, and cars were still treating it like two whole ones, even with me on the road. That meant I was getting buzzed. A LOT. And even taking what remained of the outside lane, people were still cutting too close for my comfort if it was dry out, much less with snow still adorning the roadway. I wasn't going to risk that again. The sidewalks were unusable, as well. Quivira's a no-go.

So I was betting on 87th street to at least have sidewalks that'd been smoothed over and trampled down by people. The sidewalks on 87th are generally ridable after a good snow-storm. The street itself was NOT going to be ridden on with the fresh snow we got today. Vehicular Psychlists and you Followers of Forrester: just shut up right freaking now, unless you tried riding 87th Street over I-35 today. Usually, I agree with you guys on the VC thing. Not today.

Having set my mind on 85th/87th, I decided to take the Antioch bus to get closer to home today. It was running a bit behind schedule, so I took some pics.






The reflective sidewalls still get me every time. I love that feature.


The bus ended up getting me to my usual stop at 85th about an hour behind schedule. That's okay. I have lights. 85th was fine. Snowpacked, but okay. So was Goddard. Then, I got to 87th. Packed with cars honking at one another, my decision to stay off the road itself was quickly reinforced. That's when the Baxter decided to not move. And who could blame it. The snow was knee deep in places, hip-deep in others, and right there at the BP Gas Station, it was almost enough to bury half the wheel.


So, I hiked. It was 2 miles of walking through all kinds of snow, plow boulders, and crap. All while hauling my backpack and pushing a bike through the stuff. When I got to the 87th street and I-35 overpass, I took a quick break. Just to catch my breath. Okay, maybe it was just a photo-op. But I laid there for a minute or two anyways, allowing my heart rate to settle down a bit.


When I got to the bank parking lot at 87th and Quivira, I was finally home free, on plowed residential thoroughfares and parking lots.


All told, my commute home took three hours, but a good chunk of that 3 hours was spent waiting for and riding on the bus. The last 3 miles (one on the bike, two on foot) took a little under an hour.

This was by far the most tedious commute to date, but I was mostly dressed for the occasion, and I got a good workout from the whole ordeal.

It is interesting that in 2 miles spent hiking through the snow along 87th street, there was not one single passerby who paid me any attention at all. No honks. No "are you alright?" No anything. Not that I needed or wanted any help (I could've summoned help easily had I felt life or limb to be in danger) but I really thought that mankind was just a bit more decent than that.