Oontz.

It's no secret that I really like electronic music. Last night, The Crystal Method came to town to throw down a 5-hour-long DJ set at Lucky Strike Lanes. I had to go, and I dragged commuterDude with me. We carpooled.





Even though Lucky Strike Lanes is a bit of an upscale venue, it didn't stop the ravers from coming out to play.





And maybe cDude got into it a little, too...


It was a great show and of course they threw down some TCM originals mixed in with a lot of other stuff, like only they could.

Perimeter Lighting

While I'm going on about things that have been annoying me lately, let me talk about one of the most sinister automobile features ever: Perimeter lighting.

That's the name for the feature that turns on a car's headlights, tail lights, park lights, and (most horrifyingly) reverse lights when the owner unlocks the car with the remote key fob. That means when I'm leaving my own apartment at about the same time as everyone else in the morning, I get about 5 or 6 cars that suddenly appear to be applying the brake and shifting into reverse. Thanks to dense parking and dark tinted windows, there's often no real way to tell which of them will back out in front of me or if there even any drivers in the cars to begin with.

If it wasn't for the reverse lights, I might not be quite so annoyed. I'm convinced that there's a front row seat in hell reserved for the person who thought it was a good idea to engage the reverse lights when the car isn't actually in reverse.

Have a better idea?

I've written much on the state of the horrible railroad crossings on my new commute route. This is my usual approach to crossing them:


When I see a break in traffic, I creep out toward the center line to make it abundantly clear that I absolutely need the whole width of the lane. As I approach the crossing, I pull a zig-zag maneuver that lets me cross the rails more or less perpendicular. If I don't do the first step, I get cars that give me barely enough room to cross them in the direction of the road, much less the ability to cross the rails safely.

Have any better ideas? This trick earned my my first angry honk this morning. I suppose it's not bad for having to do this twelve times per day, five days per week for the past 2 and a half months.

18.3 MPH Average

... On the fixie. According to the little top speed calculator thingy I made, that means I had an average cadence of about 94 RPM. I plugged in the specs for the Wabi Special: 2090mm tire circumference, 46T chainring and 18t cog, and played with cadence until I got it right.

I was probably hitting 130 in some spots, and holding over 100 RPM for most of the way, dropping down to climb the three bigger hills on my homeward trip, which took about 5 minutes less than usual. This is a quick pace for me even when I'm on the road bike, where I can sustain 25 MPH for a good part of my trip if I feel like hammering it.

About a week ago, I got tired of the platform pedals and the ass-hatchet of a saddle. I swapped my SPDs and Bontrager saddle over from The Twelve. Those changes made the Wabi Special even more enjoyable to ride than before. The OEM saddle doesn't get along with me at all, and clipless pedals or rat traps go a long way on fixed gear. Without some kind of attachment system, high cadence spinning seems both disconcerting and dangerous. With clipless, I felt much more in control and more in touch with the pavement than before.

I'm probably going to be finished reviewing this bike at the end of this week. There will be a fixie-shaped hole in my life when I send this beauty back home to Los Angeles.

Fear.

I like storms. I even like riding in storms. It's not often that I fear the weather; Your chances of getting sucked up into a Swirling Vortex of Doom or getting struck by lightning are pretty slim.

Last night, I got scared.

The skies were ominous when I left, and there was a strong wind out of the north. I didn't have my waterproof backpack with me, so I'd wrapped my phone up in a plastic bag. I was ready for rain and headwind. Some co-workers offered me a ride home, but their sedans wouldn't accommodate my bike, and I didn't feel like messing with the bolted front axle to remove the wheel so it'd fit in a trunk. They wished me good luck. That made my day, at least.

Riding across 113th, there were a few times I was nearly blown straight off the road by crosswind. Once I got myself into a headwind situation on Santa Fe Trail Drive, I was okay. I had to put my sunglasses on because the wind was blowing debris at me with stinging force. Then came the first few sprinkles and even more wind, clawing at my forearms and calves. All while trying to hold a straight, assertive line on the road. A kind man in a pickup drove next to me for a while and asked if I needed a ride. I thanked him and waved him on. I'd later regret that.

After a few miles, the deluge set in, and it was like riding into a sandblaster nozzle. There was zero visibility and the driving rain caused burning pain on all my exposed skin, even my scalp as it drove its way through the vents in my helmet. Lightning strikes were landing way too close for comfort and finally drove me to find the nearest overpass to wait under for a while. It's easy to write off a lightning strike as a one-in-a-million probability until you've heard the sharp sound of arcing electricity right before you feel the thunder a few times in a row.

Shortly after getting back out on the road, I would find myself being passed far-too-closely by a lane-straddling semi as I tried to go over one of the gnarlier railroad crossings. Despite my assertive lane position, I didn't get nearly enough room, and I couldn't make a perpendicular cross like I usually do. The rear tire hit the second rail, lost traction, and tried sliding right out from under me. I managed to stay shiny side up without stopping, thanks to fixed gears' natural tendency to be easier to control in low-traction conditions. I would have looked for the plate number of the truck, but it had stopped to wait for a left turn and I didn't feel like waiting around.

The rest of the trip was uneventful as can be when you're dealing with storms. At least I felt refreshed when I got home, even if I did have to wring three gallons of water out of my backpack, clothes and shoes.

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.

Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride

The Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride changed its route again. It's coming up this Saturday night.

There are rumors (started by me, of course) that there will be an alternative to this ride that promises to be more fun for experienced cyclists who like riding at night. This is the official Dark Side Ride for July. This is the closest I'm going to get to announcing it publicly. Contact me via email for details. I will not respond to in-blog comments about this ride.

Just take the lane.

A few things combined prompted this.

1. Dave Moulton had a nice rant.
2. St. Charles county wants to ban bicycles on certain roads.
3. People want to debate about bikes on roads and where they should ride.
4. I posted about "Gutter Bunnies" on BikeCommuters.com
   
5. Someone in Johnson County got injured badly by riding into an under-construction gutter seam.
6. Eric points out this awesome animation about the perils of a shy, cowardly curb-hugger vs. a savvy, confident cyclist.

Click the links. I don't have a lot to add here, other than to say that I generally ride my bike about where a car's right wheel normally sits in the lane, or 18-24" out from the gutter seam or fog line most of the time. I rarely have any problems riding here, and in the past few years of riding like this, I can count on one hand the number of times it's actually resulting in someone honking at me from behind in anger.

Early commute

Server maintenance this morning. Wet roads. Took The Twelve.


Random Tunage:
Energy 52 - Cafe del Mar (Kenny Hayes Remix)
Coldplay - Talk (Junkie XL Remix)

Weather Rage

Back in late July 2008, I rode home from downtown KC to Lenexa with an ambient temperature of 101°F, relative humidity of 37% and a heat index of 108*F. That was my hottest day on the bike of all time.

Today's ambient temperature wasn't nearly as hot, but at nearly 60% relative humidity, the heat index blew my previous record out of the water.

Let's ask Rage Guy what he has to say about this.

Rage Guy?


Yeah. That's about how I feel, too.

Random Tunage:
Orbital - Desert Storm
Libra - Anomaly

Behold, the watt.

"In terms of Classical mechanics, one watt is the rate at which work is done when an object's velocity is held constant at one meter per second against constant opposing force of one newton."

Blah, blah, blah. What the hell is a newton anyway?

Just kidding. I'm a nerd. I know what all of this means. Basically, a watt is a way to express the rate at which work is being done. When you're dealing with electricity, volts x amperes = watts. I actually think that transposes to mechanics easier than the crazy jibberish above.

The weight you apply to the pedals is like Volts. The speed you're cranking on them is like amperes. The combined work being done can, in fact, be expressed in watts.

I mentioned this a few days ago: fixed gear doesn't seem to have slowed me down at all. When I first hopped on the Wabi Special, I gave myself twice the time to get to work, just in case. I figured that I'd have a hard time climbing hills. I also figured I'd have to take it slow going downhill. To me, this whole thing sounded like a recipe for a slower commute. I got to work as fast as usual. Maybe faster. I didn't have a cyclometer, but total elapsed time with stops was 25 minutes, which is par for the course. This has been puzzling me for a few days. I keep leaving a little early. I keep thinking maybe I'm just hammering it harder than usual to make up for the time. I keep getting to work in 25 minutes. The return trip home is also about the same. What's going on?

When I'm riding on my own, I tend to fall into this pace. It's not particularly fast, but it's not very slow, either. I always thought this had something to do with my pedaling cadence. I'd adjust my gearing to keep my cadence somewhat stable.

Riding fixed gear, though, I've found out that I have settled into roughly the same pace, even though my cadence is all over the place. I'm now starting to understand how this all works. It's not about cadence, it's about watts. Without being able to trade-off effort for crank revolutions with dozens of gearing combinations, I still exert roughly the same amount of energy per minute regardless which bike I'm on. I just push harder on the uphills than I normally would, and spin faster than usual on flat land. The same amount of energy exerted moves the bike roughly the same speed on average.

Bonus: the fixed-gear drivetrain is actually more efficient and feels more connected to the road. You'd have to try it to know what I mean. The end-result is a remarkably simple, efficient and fun way to get around, so long as you don't have many steep hills around.

Mystery solved.

Danger Panda

This shot from a few weeks ago got me a finalist spot in a photo contest on Brightkite, a service I use to help me blast my pictures, announcements and whatnot onto various social media platforms. The prize? A Brightkite T-Shirt.

Danger Panda time.

Remember the burn?

Those of you who started riding a bike in the last 5 years or so will probably remember with a certain fondness how badly the muscles in your legs hurt the morning after your first ride. My first few times riding 2 miles each way to the bus stop felt like huge journeys. When I woke up in the morning, my feet would ache. My quads and calves would burn.

For me, riding 6.2 miles each way now feels like a short and easy trip. It's highly enjoyable. When I wake up these days, I feel refreshed. Bike commuting does that to you. It gets you into better shape and changes your mood. And if you ride every day at a pace you enjoy, you really won't tone your muscles any more. They'll get used to it.

Yesterday, I rode 13 miles on the Fixed-Gear Wabi Special. It took me about a mile to get used to riding fixed gear Wednesday night. Yesterday's commute went great. Fixed gear is fun! Although I had to hop out of the saddle for some of the hills, It's really no more total work to get around on a fixie than it is with any other bike. Gears just trade effort for time and distance. You don't need to mash as hard on the pedals to climb in a lower gear, but you have to turn the cranks more times to get to the top. Total work done to climb a hill is roughly the same either way you do it.

One thing I noticed, though, is that fixed gear forces you to use a bunch of muscle groups that, as far as I can tell, most normal cyclists don't use too often. I could tell yesterday that some new muscles were being worked. This morning, I hurt in almost the exact same way I used to hurt when I first started riding. At least this time I know that this phase only lasts a few days.

The Trains of Santa Fe Trail Drive

I go over six distinct railroad crossings each way on my commute. That's twelve per day. Lenexa doesn't really know how to maintain these crossings, as most of them are rough to ride across. This is amplified by the fact that these are local spurs with a very odd angle-of-attack, leading off the siding next to the mainline and into small yards where only a few cars at a time get dropped off to local businesses across the street.

Some people believe these crossings are vestigial rails, no longer used. Two of the six crossings have derails off the siding track. They are smooth and easy to cross because asphalt is butted up directly against the rails. Every so often, though, I see something like this on one of the remaining four spurs:

Hey, look! A caboose!

Cabooses are still often used on local deliveries such as this one, frequently book-ending the train with the engine somewhere in the middle. A conductor acts as the eyes and ears for the engineer. The caboose also contains a gauge showing brake line air pressure and enables the conductor to initiate emergency braking for the entire train.

In case you wondered, the little blinking red light (FRED, or Flashing Rear End Device) at the trailing end of most freight trains is a computerized device that provides roughly the same function as a conductor in a caboose. It monitors brake pressure through to the back of the train and has a blow-off valve to allow the engineer to expedite emergency braking from both ends of the air hose.

At any rate, I really wish someone would do something about these horrible crossings. The angle of these crossings plus the general blighted condition of the roadway near them often makes it uncomfortable for everyone. Cyclists have to find (and memorize) a safe line through each crossing, and motorists have to be patient, as it's one big no-passing zone. Santa Fe Trail Drive isn't terribly wide, but motorists and cyclists get along quite well. I've only been honked at one time and it was friendly (meep meep!) The right part of the road is in great shape with ample room for the Kansas-mandated 4-foot passing law, except at these crossings. There, I just take the whole darn lane as needed, but many cyclists are far too sheepish to do that.

Lenexa keeps piling asphalt into these crossings, but the locomotives keep rolling through, crushing and distorting it. I'm pretty sure Lenexa's doing it wrong, and I don't think it's anyone else's responsibility (e.g., land owners, railroad companies, etc...)

On a side note, today was my first commute on the fixie. I went on a little 3-mile jaunt last night, making a mock trip to the grocery store using small residential roads and mostly-empty parking lots to get myself familiarized with fixed-gear riding. Once I broke myself of my coasting habit, everything else fell neatly into place. It was an enjoyable ride to work this morning, and it didn't really take me any longer to get here.

Update: dvicci just linked me to this gem on Dave Moulton's blog via Google Reader. How timely!

Teaser: Wherein Fixed-Gear Apocalypse Draws Near

Test Mule 0x02.

I thought monsoon season was over...

I shoe-horned this 32mm tire onto my rear wheel last week (Thanks, Karen!) but I had to ditch the fender on the back. It just wasn't going to fit.




It'll be nice to get a front fork that can take something wider than 28mm, too. Next thing you know, I'll be year-rounding this bike with cyclocross tires. Of course, just as soon as I got rid of my rear fender, the rain picks up again. I rigged up my mountain bike's old mudflap a different way this time. Photos coming soon. It keeps the road grime off my back, but does very little to keep the backsplash off of my calves. I do like the way the wider rear tire rides, though.

Oh bollocks!

3,100 miles. Looks like that pre-deer skid killed my tire, too.

Crazy week. Only Tuesday.

It's been a crazy week already, and it's barely Tuesday. In fact, I haven't even left home yet. That means Sunday and Monday have been real whoppers. Lots of riding.

I saw this on the side of the road yesterday after work. It's the eccentric bolt that allows a car's alignment to be adjusted by professional mechanics. The fact that it's not attached to a car means that someone's suspension is about to shuffle off this mortal coil. It'll probably take one of the car's wheels along for the ride. It will not end well.


Lots of riding in the dark these past few days, through the aromatic byways of Johnson County. Without being able to see much aside from what's illuminated directly ahead of my bike, I've noticed my sense of smell gives me some entertainment. The perfume of flower gardens, blooming trees and fresh-cut grass fills my nostrils.


The last two nights in a row, I've passed CenturyLink on my way home. I was pretty close to landing a job here, so I've had a lot of practice with what would have been my commute route. It would have been about a mile longer than my current route, with more hills.

A few rides later, feeling alright.

Most of the road rash is healing nicely, but a huge football-sized bruise manifested itself on my left thigh on Thursday. I'd call it a Mystery Bruise, but its origin is no mystery. Again, I'll spare you the photos of that mess. I'm still a bit sore, especially on my deeper scrapes, but they will go away soon... I hope.

A good friend of mine donated a helmet to the cause. It's a typical recreation helmet, but every bit as comfy as the Bell Solar I had before. Anything with a CPSC sticker is fine in my book! It has a detachable visor. I'm usually not a fan of those, but it holds my Take-A-Look mirror better than the helmet tab I was using before, so it may stick around.

I actually got back on the bike on Friday with a round-trip commute. I got about 20 miles in over the weekend, and had a nice ride to work this morning as well.

As far as the bike goes, everything looks to be in good shape. I found a few deer hairs in the steerer crown and fender when I removed the fork to examine it closely. The carbon fork appears to be un-damaged. I'm not sure I trust it, though. When carbon fails, it fails spectacularly!

So, I'm on the prowl for a caliper-compatible steel or aluminum road touring fork with front-rack eyelets. It would pretty much complete my bike as a do-all tourer/commuter. It looks like Surly's Long Haul Trucker fork would work. I wonder if those Cantilever bosses are removable...

Bike Camping: Canceled.

Okay... This has been a craptastic week for me... well, for a lot of us. Several people who originally answered "yes" or "maybe" have bailed. I'm calling it off. Sorry, folks. I may try to throw together something like this in July.

I'm not even sure I could ride to Hillsdale lake in the condition I'm in, much less enjoy my stay there and the ride back. Plus, it's looking like it was going to be only Josh and his son (on/in a flipping sweet Madsen, by the way!) with myself, even if I wasn't injured. While I'd be totally down for camping with a group of any size -- even solo -- I just don't have it in me this week.

Argh. I've had the camping bug for months.

Details

I was on my way to work, into a mild headwind. I was taking it very, very easy. Then, I got to the funner, hilly section. I tucked and coasted, picking up some good downhill speed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a deer ahead of me, leaving some taller grass and running for the road. I eased into my brakes at first, but I was on a collision course. I tried to swerve away as best I could while braking hard with the front, sitting up and back to get some more traction to the rear tire, which I kept locking up. I got slowed down before impact, but I don't know by how much. The rest happened in slow motion.

The deer's hooves were on the asphalt, and I could hear it clopping. It was leaning away from me, and slipping. It looked me in the eye. Its tongue was out, too. Not sure what's up with that. My front tire hit the deer right in the ribs. According to the motorist behind me, I knocked it over, then it righted itself and took off.

My left shoe came off, and I landed first on my right shoulder and on the right-rear part of my helmet-covered head. My bike flipped over the deer and landed on me. I rolled over and skidded a while on my left lumbar, foot, knee and left elbow. I kept rolling, coming to rest on my knees, elbows and wrists, all of which took substantial damage.

A motorist called 911 and the paramedics arrived promptly. I was assessed and taken to OP Regional for X-rays and a trauma work-up.



Deer: unharmed.
Helmet: Shattered
Bike: Stem rotated 20* on steerer, easily fixed.
Me: Shallow but wide-covered road rash on right shoulder blade and left lumbar, deep abrasions on both knees, both wrists and on my left pinkie toe, Shattered left thumbnail, and two almost-bone-depth abrasions on my left elbow. I also have a really long shallow gash that runs the entire back of my right hand. No clue where that came from.

Cyclist vs. Deer. Helmet Loses.

Ambulance ride. I feel okay. Mostly road rash, I think...

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)

Muggy commute

Humidity defined:

As I wheeled my Trek 1200 out the front door of my apartment, I got hit with air that was at first blush cooler than the air inside, but gooey with moisture. I carried my bike down the stairs, straddled it, and glanced down at the clock on my cyclometer, already beginning to fog up. I looked around: drops of dew were glistening in the trees and creeping down the sides of parked cars. The recently-sealed pavement was sweating, with tracks of recently-departed vehicles laid all over the parking lot. As I pedaled through the still morning air, dew was forming on the tips of the hairs on my forearms and creating a frosty-looking haze on the smooth, painted surfaces of my bike.

Welcome to early summer in the Midwest.

Lunch with Jim

I cornered Jim a few years ago when I saw him on Pflumm at Santa Fe Trail Drive. I see him around every once in a while, but never really caught up with him. My new job has me working pretty close to him, so we finally got around to meeting for lunch at Chipotle. Jim has a commute that is even closer than mine, and he is a serious year-round rider. It was nice to finally catch up with Jim. I found out he knows a lot of the same people I ride with. While eating, I saw at least 3 roadies come and go. Unsurprisingly, they were all wearing "Team Garmin" kits.

Weekend

No bikey stuff this weekend, aside from some errands.

I'm slowly but surely getting back into nerdy things outside of work again. A friend of mine brought a pair of these systems to CCCKC last week. AT&T marketed a few different computers in the 1980s. This particular model, the 3B1/7300, was designed and manufactured by Convergent Technologies in 1985. It runs genuine AT&T System Five (SysV) UNIX, one of the operating systems I cut my teeth on as a kid. I haven't used it in well over a decade, but I love its descendands (Solaris, AIX, Linux and other "unix" variants) and still use them on a daily basis.


Today: Fishing.


And not 10 minutes after casting, I got my first catch of the season, a nice-looking if somewhat young channel catfish.


I caught more, too. In fact, enough to feed my wife and I, my sister-in-law and her two daughters. My niece was using the compact fishing rig I built almost exactly a year ago. It would have been nice to see how it held up against the fish I caught today. I was using a hand-me-down rod and spinning reel that my dad gave me ages ago.

I usually catch-and-release, or simply end up feeding the fish as they steal bait from me. My wife has this awesome recipe for fried catfish, though. I much prefer bass, trout, or, if I can catch it in significant quantity, panfish such as bluegill. I'm not a huge fan of catfish, but this stuff was fresh... and goooooood!

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.

Sunrise from an early commute

Johnson County cyclists: suggestions wanted

Below: a rectangle that contains some of the gnarliest highway interchanges in our community.


To me, these represent serious barriers to alternative transportation use. There are five "islands" in that diminutive 12 square mile chunk represented above. Getting from one island to another is often a daunting task. There are only a few roads that cut through without forcing cyclists and pedestrians to "share the road" with a 3 or 4 lane interchange riddled with on-ramps and off-ramps and often no sidewalks, wide lanes, or even shoulders to work with.

This is my neighborhood, folks. I don't live in this rectangle, but I'm just north of it and I do a good chunk of my riding in this area. My job is in this rectangle. I may be participating in a focus group for the Johnson County Gateway Corridor project. While I certainly have my own opinions and thoughts on what could be done to improve the accessibility of this area, I wouldn't mind some opinions from my peers. I see a lot of people riding these streets. Speak up!

What are your suggestions for making things better for alternative transportation, if you had to focus your effort on this little slice of our community?

Deluge!

When I got out today, it was still raining hard as ever -- in fact, probably harder than anything I've ridden in before. I rode to my sister-in-law's place to meet my wife. Once again, I was totally drenched, but the stuff in my waterproof backpack was dry as a bone. In fact, the water droplets I've noticed before (which I attributed to opening the bag in the rain) weren't present.

Here are some cameraphone pics of my nieces at Chatlain Park a few weeks ago. I just stumbled across them when clearing out my memory card. My sister in law and her daughters stayed with us for a couple of weeks in May while they transitioned to her new apartment (which I'm writing this from)

Here comes the bus!

Without a bike rack, I had to leave The Twelve at the office when my wife picked me up to run some errands after work. I probably would not have truly enjoyed the rainy commute this morning anyway...

The other F word.

I was asking for it a few weeks ago. It caught up with me.

Terry

Terry lives near KU Med and works just across the street from my new job. He showed me a way to avoid the gnarliest intersection of my route. Thanks, Terry! See ya on the road!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Indian Creek Trail near 135th St.

Isaac

Meet Isaac. He's a retired LifeFlight paramedic riding from Chicago to Texas. Where in Texas? He doesn't even know. Sorry for the crappy pics, all I had on me this evening was my phone.



I came across Isaac on my way home from the hospital tonight (my wife is back in, getting some medications adjusted) and he was wrenching on his trailer and Mongoose mountain bike. I offered to true his rear wheel up. It was really, really bad. I couldn't get it perfect, but he'll have a lot better luck getting around now that his brakes aren't scraping the rim for half a wheel rotation.



He was intrigued by the reflective SMV sign hanging from my cargo rack.


In exchange for my SMV sign and the repair work, he offered in trade a perfectly new spray bottle fan. I would have let him have the sign for free, but he insisted on a barter. It's also odd that my wife just yesterday said that she really wanted to get one of these. I couldn't say no, really. It was an even trade. We both had something the other one wanted. I love the barter system. It was a big part of how I survived while I was laid off.


I hung out with Isaac for about an hour, shooting the breeze and getting his story. I gave him some pointers on route and accommodations for the next leg of his journey, then made my way home. I seem to run into one or two cheerful wanderers like Isaac every year. I have a lot of admiration for them, and try to get to know them for a brief moment when I have the chance.

June 26th - Family Friendly Bike Camping

This is just a new post, since things changed.



Mark your calendars: June 26th. This will be another caravan-style bicycle camping trip, but with a twist! The family's invited, even if they have to drive. Especially if they have to drive, although I encourage car-pooling if it can be arranged. I'll leave that up to you.

Cyclists should plan to depart from Lenexa Senior Center at 2:00 PM.
Depart from South Olathe Price Chopper at 3:30 PM.
Likely arrive to Hillsdale sometime around 5:00-5:30 PM.

We will try to snag the campsites near Crites Boat Ramp again. It's walking distance from real bathrooms and showers, and spitting distance from running water and "Brick Outhouse" style facilities.

This is not a rain-or-shine event, though. If it looks like it'll be stormy beyond gentle rain, there won't be a Plan B. It'll simply be canceled.

Basically, I'd like this event to be one your families can come along for, even if they don't ride. Accommodations could be a bit more lavish if you'd like your non-cycling relatives to bring out the propane camp stoves, the coolers of beer and hamburger patties, the bigger tents, the kids and the dog. If the family's not interested but you'd still like to ride out, you're welcome to show up solo, too!

If you want to haul some stuff on the bike and have the family haul the rest, go ahead.

If you'd rather ride your racing bike with no cargo, that's cool, too.

If you want to ride down with us, then throw your bike on the back of your team car to get home, do it!

Stay all day Sunday if you want. Go fishing with the kids, try the walking trail or hit the swimming beach. It's your choice, but I'd like a focus on family fun with bikes in the background.

The return trip may be less convoy-ish than the ride out to Hillsdale. My guess is that many of us will be riding our bikes back to town, though, if you feel better riding in a group.

P.S. a more minimalist trip is in the works for the first or second weekend in September. It will be much more focused on the self-support and S24O aspect, like the last Hillsdale trip I planned. Venue, date, and times are still kind of up-in-the-air on that one. Suggestions welcome.

Who's in? Please RSVP by emailing me (contact form at the right side of my site) or by commenting here that you'll be going.

Tailwind!

18.6 MPH Elapsed time average, including all the stops. 2/3 of my homeward trip was spent over 30 MPH on level ground. I *have* been getting a bit faster, but I cannot take credit for this one! Also, Bike Camping is definitely moved to the 26th. More details later. I am on the go with more errands to run. Peace out...