Bike Week Saturday: It's a bike party at Chipotle!

I told my wife I'd bring back a Burrito Bowl from Chipotle for her, so I was figuring it would be an out-and-back ordeal, and that there might be a few other cyclists who would bother to show up. She told me I should leave early, because there might be a huge turn-out.

We were both right.

Coming south on Quivira, I saw a cyclist ahead of me a ways after cresting the I-35 viaduct into 20-25 MPH headwinds. As I pulled up to Chipotle well ahead of 2:00, I saw Jon, a guy I used to see on the bus with his custom-painted singlespeed. We chatted for a bit, and John (a differeny cyclist who I also know from the bus) showed up with his wife. If you look, you can kind of see the other two bikes around the corner of the patio fence.


So there were four of us, total. About what I had figured. A bit after 2:00, as we were all in line, I saw someone else roll up. Five cyclists! (HA! HA! HA!)

Upon leaving, however, my wife's suspicions became quite valid. Apparently, an entire group ride descended on us.


I'm glad the turn-out was so good for this event. Thanks again, Chipotle!

Bike Week Friday: Another Year Older

Today is my 31st Birthday, and it was a good day. My current employer always has an Employee Appreciation Day around the end of May. Their idea of appreciation: Feed us breakfast, recognize those who have been with the company for a long time, recognize those who have been heralded by their peers as outstanding people, have a little fun, then send everyone home before 10:00 AM. In a drawing, I won a $50 gift certificate out of the deal, good for things my company sells (Jewelry, so it basically got handed over to my wife).





I swung by the grocery store to pick up a few things I needed to make some of my famous "Dang Kay-suh-dill-uhs" for lunch.


Speaking of food, don't forget to ride your bike to Chipotle tomorrow. It's your last chance to log some miles for the Car Free Challenge. You'll get a free burrito out of the deal (KC Area only as far as I know), but you might want to plan a 30 mile ride afterward, to offset the thousand-calorie foil-football.

Bike Week Thursday: National swim home from work day.

I probably got more rain in the 30-minute ride home than I got in the 90-minute wetfest yesterday. I mean, once you're completely soaked like I was yesterday, you really can't get any more wet. But today was different. Wetter, even though both yesterday and today I arrived home looking like I should have been carrying a snorkel and flippers up from the parking lot, rather than a bicycle.

I got a bike rack at work. Just in time for Bike Week, the maintenance guys installed this 8-foot-long section of guard rail, now re-purposed "to accommodate up to four bicycles." It'll work, and it's certainly better than those awkward wave-shaped racks, but not by much. When I mentioned my bicycling habit, the HR rep I was talking to during the interview phase told me that there would be a bike rack installed soon. Lo and behold, here it is:


After I showed up for work, I noticed a bunch of people talking in the break room about bicycle stuff. Many of my new co-workers have expressed an interest in it. Apparently, many people haven't even considered bicycling for transportation since they left college. No one has seen a bicycle parked here, ever, from what I can tell. Hopefully this new bicycle rack benefits the company as a whole, not just me. Several of my new colleagues live nearby.

For what it's worth, I went through a very similar process at my last job when I first started riding to work. That included a new bike rack going in, and other people using the rack. Of course, the first commuter to "share" was riding a motor scooter. It took a while, but other bikes eventually filled the rack up. We'll see if anyone else jumps on board. Judging from all the questions I'm getting, there will be some other bikes on the rack this summer, at least once monsoon season is over.

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.

Bike Week: Tuesday WarBiking

I didn't make it out to any of the Bike Week events this morning, nor will I likely make it to any of the events this evening.  I will, however, be at Overland Park City Hall at around 6:30 tomorrow morning, since they're hosting another breakfast break. Maybe I'll see you there! Instead, I fired up my WarBiking rig and gathered data about all the wireless networks that adorn my new commuting route. WarBiking is a play on WarDriving: driving around, looking for wireless networks. This has been a geeky pastime of mine for nearly a decade. I chart the networks that I find on a map (using GPS data). Oddly, I only found 30 new networks that I haven't previously logged. I'm up to 27,648 wireless networks, though, if you care. I don't really do much with the data. Some time around 2007, I started finding that wireless networks using encryption started to outnumber those what were "open" and these days, I'd say less than 15% of the wireless networks that I encounter are left un-secured.

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

KC Bike Week starts tomorrow!

This year, I'm not leading a convoy, nor will you see my hideous countenance on TV. I'll just be riding my bike.

There are a lot of events planned, so check out the KC Bike Week page to check out the calendar. Sign up for the Car Free Challenge, and ride. While there are prizes for the Car Free Challenge, its purpose, among other things, is to be counted as one who is interested in alternative transportation. Even if you know you won't log insane miles, it's worth signing up and logging your activity.

Posting will still be light for a bit...

We had to kind of pick and choose what would get paid for while I was out of work. Obviously, rent came first. Without breaking out into some sappy sob story, I'll put it frankly: Flickr Pro is expiring in a few days, so many of the photos won't load. Not that I am really able to upload much of anything from home anyway. Our Cable TV and Internet was cut on Friday. That means I have to tether via my mobile phone for Internet access at home. It's slow and disconnects often. Basically, it's more trouble than it's worth.

I figure things will probably return to normal in mid-to-late June.

Look for another S24O announcement soon, a-la One Ton Paceline. I've got the camping itch BAD, but we really dodged a bullet doing the trip in August. I'm thinking June might be better.

Also: I just realized I bought The Twelve 3 years (plus a few days) ago. It has logged more than 10,000 miles, believe it or not. In fact, I have had the same front tire on that bike since late 2007 when I got sick of the OEM tires and switched to Bontrager Hard-Case. The front tire has about 8,500 miles on it, without a single flat.

Pleasantries

So there are other commuters using my new route!

If you haven't yet seen this, it's worth watching. That's kind of how it went this morning.

Me: Fat guy. Cargo shorts and t-shirt. Entry-level road bike with fenders, lights and a rack. 30 pounds of God-knows-what in my panniers. I'm gradually bringing my usual desk stuff in to the office. 12 Miles per hour. Enjoying the ride and the mid-50s temperatures, looking forward to pulling into the parking lot without a drop of sweat and a heart-rate under 110.

Him: Typical crit racer build. Epic team kit complete with branded arm-warmers and windbreaker (as if it was below freezing). S-Works Carbon Tarmac. Too much stuff crammed into his well-used messenger bag, which is trying to fall off his back and under his right arm. Faster than me by a good clip. I see him coming from half a mile away.

Me: Wave, say "morning."

Him:  . . . [continues hammering away]

Is this related to the old rule? "If you can have a conversation, you're not riding hard enough."

Omni-wind

Generally speaking, my commute is southwest in the morning and northeast in the evening. Riding in this morning was refreshing. Sunny, 53 degrees, and a good wind out of the southwest. This time of year, the wind generally tends to be out of the southwest, so that didn't surprise me.

When I got out of work, it was as beautiful as you could imagine. Fluffy clouds, bright sun, and 67 degrees... with a northeast wind. Ah, omni-directional headwind.

While there are a lot of siding track crossings along my route that can be dicey with traffic, I really do like looking at all the railroad scenery that adorns Santa Fe Trail Drive. If you see the tracks from the highway, or you drive along SFTD, you might think that the same railcars have been sitting there for the past decade. The truth is that a lot of those cars get moved hither and yon by small locomotive engines.

Pardon my grainy, tilted photos.




Random Tunage:
MGMT - Kids
Bloc Party - I Still Remember

First Day

I opted to take the bus this morning, just so I was certain I'd show up fresh and on-time. It's nice to have a Plan B.

I had a great first day at work. Officially, my title is Linux/Windows Administrator. Practically, I am helping a relatively small IT group wherever they need it. After a brief orientation, I went up to my new office, caught up with my new boss, got Windows 7* installed, and started familiarizing myself with my surroundings.

I've got a great team to work with, and they've each got a unique and complementary set of skills. The pile of stuff I was handed this morning is almost entirely related to bolstering the company's security stance. A cursory look, however, shows that the team has managed to really stay on top of things. Over the coming months, I'll be streamlining all kinds of security-related processes when I'm not helping the team with system administration duties. Basically: this is a dream come true.

I took a bit of a pay cut, but when you consider all the benefits of having a job this close to home (and without interstate taxes) it's worthwhile. The small size of this group and the growth speed of the company means that this is a genuine career opportunity, not just a paycheck.

For those of you not in the Greater Kansas City Area: today was filled with cold temperatures, massive rain and biting winds gusting over 30 MPH. In the morning, the bus schedule agrees merrily with my work schedule. It stops running homeward around 4:00 or so, well before the end of my work day. Due to her medical issues, my wife needs her car. My car is currently out of commission in more ways than one. Homeward, there is no Plan B, and this photo doesn't do any justice to my aqueous, breezy journey. I was way under-dressed for this evening. It felt like a blustery, October day. I was, as you might imagine, dressed for the average May rainstorm, which usually doesn't call for any special gear.


* Windows 7 is one of the slickest operating systems I've ever used. I'm anything but a Microsoft fanboy, so that's saying something.

For real this time.

6 miles. No hills to speak of. Indoor parking. That blue stripe at the top of the image is the "elevation graph" with the little red band showing the most extreme climb of the route, which is something like a 3% grade that lasts perhaps a quarter of a mile.

Added bonus? The "Dreaded" bus still gives me door-to-door service for the really bad weather days. Boo yah.

Small World

I got to hang out with Ryan in person over "Lunch" (Bacon Pancakes for the win!) and beers at Swagger. Although we'd never met before, I know him through the social sphere of my fellow bike commuter, blogger and information security guy Jason. Ryan moved to Florida a while ago, but he was in town for a wedding this weekend, hence the meet-up. It's cool getting to know new people who share many interests. I thought Jason was actually going to show up to Swagger as well, but he didn't. *sideways glance in Jason's direction*

Upon meeting up, though, we were also joined by another acquaintance of mine, David, a web developer who I know through various technology groups in town, who used to work with Ryan. Indeed, a really small world. Or an unfathomably gargantuan Internet. Perhaps the latter.

Since I was in the Waldo area, I took a stop by Family Bicycles on my way home. I couldn't resist the temptation to test-ride a new Dahon Espresso. The Goat is in shambles right now and it's easy to think of replacing it with something more practical and easier to store. Also, there's a little part of me that's really lusting after a 26" folder.

Bicycle Safety Rodeo, Financial/Health Fair this weekend

Budd Park (St. John Avenue and Brighton Avenue), April 25th, 11:00 am - 3:00 pm.

This is an annual tradition that keeps getting better each year. Originally billed as a bicycle safety event for Northeast KC, this year, the annual bicycle safety rodeo will also be offering a health and financial fair for adults. My buddy JR has played a vital role in this event for the last 4 years. Also, I believe Lorin and his daughter Bailey will be volunteering. The Consulate of Mexico plays a big role in this event every year as well as they try to reach out to the Hispanic community in northeast. Several sponsors from the bicycling, financial and healthcare community are also represented.

Join the Consulate of Mexico and various other sponsors in celebrating "Dia del Niño" at the 4th annual Bike Safety Rodeo/Health and Financial Fair. Kids ages 3 to 11 and their parents are invited to attend. Kids bring your bikes! If you don't have a bike, loaner bikes will be available, and during the event refurbished and new bikes will be raffled. The first 500 registered participants, will received a bike helmet and T-shirt. This free, family focused event will feature not only a bike safety rodeo for the kids, but financial and health education for the entire family.

Here are some photos from last year's event:

Helmet Give-Away


Consul Jacob Prado with rodeo participants


Vice-Consul Justiniano Menchaca helps with the bicycle raffle.


These bicycles were raffled off. Some were purchased at a discount, others donated. They were all checked out and refurbished (if needed) before hand.

Job Hunt

I'm still on the prowl for work. As some of you know, I didn't get the "Information Security Incident Handler" (a.k.a. "hunting bad guys") dream job I was initially holding out for. I made it very far into the interview process, but was edged out by someone with more computer forensics experience. The entire time, I've been applying for pretty much anything I qualify for here in Kansas City, and even a few gigs outside the area.

Things have been looking up this last week, though. There's a job similar to my "dream" job that's starting to look very promising. Unfortunately, it's near a Detroit suburb named Romulus -- which, by the way, is basically the best name for a town, ever. There are also a few other potential jobs NOT related to information security which seem to be progressing quite well, and they're still right here in the Greater Kansas City area. One of them would send me to Wisconsin for a month of training. No solid job offers yet, but like I said, things are looking up for a change.

In the mean time, I've been keeping my skills sharp, learning new things and keeping stress at bay with some great bike rides. I've been bartering skilled labor to make ends meet: Tuning up bicycles, fixing cars (replacing clutches and starter solenoid type stuff), fixing office phone systems, and fixing... well... pretty much anything that's broken in exchange for the things we need. It's a shame I don't have any "on the job" experience for many of the cool things I've learned how to do in my lifetime, not that "Auto Technician" or "Lineman" would pay the bills around here.

Security is still one of my biggest passions in life, right up there with bicycling. If you know of any local companies that could use an Information Security guy, let me know. There's still time to hire me.

p.s. I know you guys gave me hell for turning down a job a while ago. I am still, to this day, glad I did what I did. No regrets there. It simply would not have worked for me, or for them.

Photo Above:
Crate full of BrickArms ordnance by Dunechaser

Random Tunage:
Burn In Noise - Transparent
Setherian - Patch This
(Yes, I've been on a Goa/PsyTrance kick lately)

Impromptu Dark-Side-Ride

I tried to rally some troops together for a night ride. Things are stressful and I just needed to get out and decompress. The sun was already setting when I decided I had to get out and ride. I had one taker: Chris. We decided to ride out to Mill Creek Trail and head out to Kaw River and back. Distance was ~24 Miles. A little shorter than most "official" Dark-Side-Rides. The trail was pitch black in most spots, with nothing visible outside the glow of our lights.











Random Tunage:
K's Choice - Not An Addict
Primitive Radio Gods - Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand

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

Trails

A few weeks ago, I got rejected when I rode to the mountain bike trails at Shawnee Mission Park. Well, I guess the parks department finally decided the trails were dry enough to let people loose on the singletrack this weekend. I can say that the trails were far from dry in many places, though. I did my best not to rut the trail out too badly, going around the mud where I could.

Shortly after I arrived, Chris showed up with his Long Haul Trucker. It must have looked somewhat interesting. A big, heavy urban bike and a steel road touring bike, tooling around on the mountain bike trails. I believe the term for this is "underbiking."


Mostly, I just wanted to wring the Urbana out one last time before I write my final review. The huge tires almost act like a suspension fork. I even managed to get a little air in a few spots.


I haven't ridden singletrack in a very long time. I had forgotten the serene beauty of the trails, and how much work it is to constantly maneuver the bike around obstacles and tackle hills. I'll probably feel the burn in the morning.



Random Tunage:
Amber - Anyway (Steve Porter Remix)
B-Movie - Nowhere Girl (Adam Freeland Remix)

Grass is supposed to be purple.

Sorry, I just figured I would partake in "Quick, everyone tell a lie on the Internet"-Day before April 2nd.