The Maul

It's that time again. Locked up at Oak Park Mall, where you're likely to be mauled by rabid consumers, trampled by moms with strollers, or be subjected to the obdurate moping of emo kids. If you're lucky, you may only get run over by Paul Blart in one of the day-glow-yellow golf carts with doors Smart fortwo coupes.


After the usual first-friday meetings, the guy we'll call "Cog" took the Urbana for a spin. He has a farm a way outside of town, and is looking for a do-all bike for errands around the farm. One of his requirements is that it'll survive the apocalypse. He says "I want one." It was interesting to see a 60-year-old dude ram the bike straight into a curb to get back up onto the sidewalk. I love how the reflective sidewalls turned out in this otherwise horrible photograph.

Half way! 63 miles down.

Obdurate headwinds will finally work in our favor

Long Day

I took the bus in again this morning. Gustav's been kickin' our butts here in the midwest. Yeah, yeah... we ain't got nothing on the coastal communities that get pummeled mercilessly by the full force of these obdurate, sadistic storms... but it truly rained non-stop for more than 24 hours here, all with a crazy cold front.  Any more of that and I'd be looking for gopherwood, start sourcing two of each animal and brush up on my cubits...

Tonight was an important meeting of a new Not-For-Profit I'm trying to help get off the ground.  They just became incorporated as a 501(c)(3) this week, and we're hashing out some of the finer details.  I rode through some mist to get to midtown where the meeting was being held, and then got to ride down Rainbow Blvd on the way home... WHAT A BLAST!

I didn't shove off for home until the sun was setting, though.  As Gustav leaves town, it's making for some magnificent sunsets, though...

Oh yeah. Be seen.  For real.  This might look dorky (hey, it fits my personality, right?) but there's really no such thing as too much lighting or an excess of reflective and brightly-colored material after dark.  I suppose there is, if you're being a real distraction, but when it gets like this, I use at least one flashing rear light to grab peoples' attention, one solid rear light to give motorists something to judge distance by (believe me, it makes a difference) and my reflective vest.  The rain covers for my panniers are bright with reflective piping as well.  I'm starting to see people that seem to be ignoring the fact that it's getting dark earlier. The bike ninjas are out in full force.


This is a long exposure I took of some deer grazing.  In reality, this field was pretty dark and the sky was just as dark as the above photo of me.  It shows up as washed-out white because of the duration of the exposure.

Got home with about 19 miles on the clock for the day. I'm hoping it stays dry for another full round-trip on the bike.

Out by the stadiums...

My wife gets to come home tomorrow! I left work early to go out to the hospital she's been staying at since Thursday (near the Kauffman stadium complex). Looks like the lady who's been biking in took one of her kids' bikes or got an upgrade. This Trek 820 has a lot better components, although the front QR was tightened incorrectly. I fixed it for her, without permission. Hopefully the bike gods forgive me.


I wasn't sure how to get out to the stadiums by bike from downtown KC, so I bussed it with the help of Google Transit.


People in KC know where "The K" is in relationship to Lenexa, where I live. I did have an idea how to get home. Blue Ridge Cutoff connects to 63rd street, which I'm familiar with when I have to ride home from a Data Center that I occasionally have to visit. I wasn't counting on a huge death slog, though. It wasn't so much steep as it was two miles of obdurate 8% climbing.


You just don't take pictures on 63rd street. It was insane, and I usually feel pretty confident in traffic. You also don't take pictures slogging through Swope Park, either. Meyer Blvd, however, is beautiful. I love riding this road. It's one lane that's more than 20 feet wide. Even when I pass parked cars, it's like having my own lane down the center of the road. To make it better, there's a long downhill stretch that's not too hard to climb going the other way, but homeward offers me 20 miles per hour coasting with no hands, just chilling on the bike.


Further along, Meyer becomes Tomahawk and you start to see some pretty nice homes. I can't remember if I took this on Meyer or Tomahawk. It doesn't matter. I was just along for the ride.


With my wife being discharged tomorrow, I'll have to drive to work. This will be my first car commute of 2008 -- my first car commute, in fact, since September 14, 2007. That's okay. This is sooo worth it. Bringing my wife is one of the few things that will make me drive to work. I've missed her greatly these past few days.

Random Tunage:
INOJ - Time After Time
Way Out West - Don't Forget Me

Ow OW. But new toys.

I had a credit for a free Minsky's pizza since the last time I ordered from them they tried to poison me with mushrooms when I didn't ask for them. Before picking up my delectable disc, I swung by River Market Cyclery. There they were: the panniers of my desires. Axiom's Journey Series of bags is not only rugged, but very attractive. I picked up the LaSalle model, which holds nearly twice as much as the Banjo Brothers saddlebags are rated for, while sitting further back on my rack.

Not only that, but they come with rain covers. Here they are. One with and the other without the rain cover installed:



After a few weeks, I'll put a review up. They had no problem hauling my ample load home this evening. In fact, I could have used just one of them.

The triumvirate of callous humidity, baleful headwind and obdurate sun made the ride home even harder this evening. With Chris, Karen and I As a homeward convoy of three, there was a symbolic moment of three-on-three. Us versus the weather. Part way back home, we stopped at the Trek Store for water bottle refills and a break. Chris had a coupon for some free stuff, too. I think that's the real reason we stopped.



A few blocks later, I saw yet another Foo reference. Gotta love Foo, even if The Crumudgeonator himself remains guarded about it. Okay, and there are the (not so?) infrequent trolls and morons there. But really, it's funny to see what cyclists of all walks discuss when they're trying not to talk about bikes.



I rushed home as fast as I could with my noodly legs and evil weather. I got to finally bring my wife home from the hospital, after more than 3 days there. She's feeling better and resting now, but still needs a few days before she even thinks of being mobile.

Random Tunage:
Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles
Daft Punk - Technologic

Miscellaneous schtuph.

First: I know *AHEM* some people like to ride in the rain, but you need to be a really, really sick puppy to like this. Headwinds o'doom, and somehow ice, snow, and rain all at the same time.

This morning, Leg 1 was just chilly. Nothing wrong there. Leg 2, however, brought with it a deluge of rain. 38-degree rain. I was not amused.

The obdurate precipitation continued all day with every kind of wintry-mix element you can imagine. I got out a bit late, and in an "oh crap!" moment realized that the L bus was already several minutes ahead of me when I saw the B pull up. Fortunately, the L bus has a fixed route and schedule. Regardless, it was pretty far into its route, and I had to give it 100% to race it to Union Station. My race was won, but at the sacrifice of every bit of comfort I hold dear. I hadn't the time to don my gloves or balaclava, nor even zip my windbreaker. I arrived to the station soaked, chilly, wind-torn, worn out and with raw lungs from more than a mile of all-out pedal-mashing.

I actually fell asleep on the bus. That never happens. I took it easy for the ride home, and used the pedestrian bridge route.

So, today wasn't miserable, exactly. It just wasn't ideal.

Next: I wrote a little diddy on CommuteByBike about Guaranteed Ride Home programs. For those of us in Kansas City (and surrounding areas), I suggest signing up for MARC's GRH. Even though the cases where I'd be forced to use it are a few and far between, it's nice knowing I have the option if something bad crops up.

Random Tunage:
God Lives Underwater - From Your Mouth
The Postal Service - District Sleeps Alone Tonight

Going to check out the L

After work today, I need to go old apartment to finish loading up any little things that are left, and to start hauling junk out to the dumpster. In the name of having some semblance of energy left when I get home, I'm going to make the ride to Oak Park Mall to check out the L route. There's a huge viaduct that spans Interstate 35. This stretch of road would probably be pretty harsh in rush hour, so we'll see what it's like coming back home.

Last night's group ride got cut a little short because of some computer problems at home that I had to figure out. I still managed to squeeze more than 32 miles out of the day, though. The heat and humidity from yesterday morning were even more pronounced in the evening with ambient temperatures between 85 and 90 degrees and a heat index even higher than that. Don't forget the obdurate sun, relentlessly infusing everything with its scorching rays. Despite wearing sunscreen, my neck still got charbroiled. My arms, ears, and face fared a little better, bronzing nicely since they had already become a little tan from being outside a lot recently.