March 2013 DSR

Tired of dealing with aging and/or unreliable lighting, I picked this up yesterday. a Dark Side Ride provided the final nudge to pick up something relatively inexpensive in the "to see with" category. The optics leave something to be desired, but it's bright enough for my riding style. 120 lumens, but it does okay with them. The Flare 3 tail light is superior to my SuperFlash, but not by much. It offers much better side lighting.


The route. I wasn't keeping track. I don't think it was quite 20 miles by the time I count the 3 miles getting to and from the start.  Jason and Al were also in the mix.


Quick blurry shot of the Twelve. It was a beautiful night for a ride. For those keeping count, this is my second ride the bike in 2013, if you don't count little errands within a few miles of home. I'm slacking.

Dark Side Ride: Once in a blue moon

Although "Blue Moon" has several definitions, the one that seems most popular is the coming of a second full moon within the same calendar month. Since we had a full moon on August 2nd, we're going to get in by the skin of our teeth on August 31st. The last time we had this kind of Blue Moon was in December of 2009.

With that, we're celebrating with yet another edition of the Dark Side Ride.

Where: Meet at the Wendy's parking lot just north of K-10 and Woodland Rd in Lenexa.
When: Friday, August 31, 2012. We roll out at 9:00 PM sharp. Be there early enough to roll at 9.
Route: It'll be a surprise! Expect 20-30 miles.

A few things to note:

1. Usually, our DSR includes a stop by a convenience store for the emptying of bladders as well as the purchasing and consumption of beverages and snacks. I have a feeling this route will not include such accommodations.
2. We ask everyone to use helmets, reflective/hi-vis gear and to bring along lighting that's good for up to 3.5 hours of darkness.
3. I have a feeling that Blue Moon might be available after the ride. It would only be appropriate.

That was a blast :D

Good showing for October: C'dude, Schnake, Wildcat Al, Randy, myself and two new faces to the DSR: Richard (who was on the last bike camping trip) and Steven.

Highlights: Cheers from people hanging out at Black Hoof Park. A 15 second horn honk on 83rd just east of DeSoto. The same Sheriff's patrol car checking us out about 5 times on the route. A bunch of us almost running over a tree. Coyotes howling in the distance. The Louisburg School District school bus full of party-goers pulling up to Meiners in DeSoto (bringing more cheers). A bunch of us almost running over a possum. A serious pucker moment while bombing downhill on washboard gravel with my skinny tires trying (but failing) to find solid ground at 25 MPH. That awesome descent from Clare to 119th with the sudden stop at the bottom.

I've also been staying on top of my war-biking, and this extended trip through parts previously unknown paid off handsomely, netting almost 900 points and finally pushing me past 50,000 on WiGLE. I haven't talked about war-biking much lately, but now I usually rely on my Android phone and WiGLE's intuitive network-finding application, which means I'm war-biking any time I ride.

Dark Side Ride - Oct 8th, 9:00 PM

First: Go read this. Go now! I'll wait.

What are you still doing here? READ IT!

Done? Good.

Next: Bring your bike, your reflective gear, your das blinkenlights and your helmet to the Wendy's parking lot at Woodland and K-10 Highway. We roll at 9:00 PM sharp, so get there early enough to prepare. If any of you eastern/central Johnson County folks want to ride to the start with me, I'm departing from 87th and Monrovia (Lenexa PD / City Hall) at 8:15 PM.

We'll be celebrating the fall of one of the most infamous bicycle bans in the country by riding through the very stretch of road that's been off limits to us human-powered two-wheelers for the better part of a decade. The route itself is about 30 miles with a mile and a half of relatively tame gravel. With a rest stop somewhere along the way, expect to get back to Wendy's at around midnight, but it might be earlier, depending on the general pace of the group. Bring enough lights and batteries for 3 hours of riding.

This is a no-drop social ride with re-groups as frequently as they're needed to keep us all together. Some of us at the front and back of the pack will be in communication via two-way radio to facilitate this.

See you there!

November 2010 Dark Side Ride

That's right. We know no season. With our ride kicking off at 9:00 PM, a light headwind out of the East and temperatures in the mid-40s, five riders departed. Usually, the DSR crew heads off to rural territory, where only light traffic is seen, but this route was designed by DB, who decided to mix things up with some urban flair. We started in northern Overland Park and passed through almost all of the little suburbs in Northeastern Johnson County. Then, it was across State Line, where attractions included The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, The Plaza, Loose Park, Brookside (where we saw a spectacular chimney fire being put out and rode our bikes past a huge trailer full of aromatic Christmas trees waiting to be set up for sale), Waldo, and back to the starting point. The route had dozens and dozens of turns as we avoided most of the major thoroughfares in preference of smaller residential streets, but we had a few fun, high-speed runs on big-name roads like Cleaver II Blvd and JCN Parkway.

It was a blast, as always, but I forgot my camera. All I got were these crappy phone camera shots.

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.

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)

Dark Side Ride this Friday Night

Imagine a 30-40 mile ride that starts at sun-down. That's a dark-side ride. These things seem to attract bicycle commuter-types, rando-nerds, and mountain bikers. These are no-drop rides with re-group points, but you can usually count on an average pace between 13-16 miles per hour.

As usual, there are rules. They're not my rules. They're just THE rules. The important ones:
* Headlight and tail light required. It's probably a good idea to make sure you can stay lit up for 2.5 to 3 hours, just in case.
* Helmet required.
* Reflective gear: It's ostensibly required, but there may be some leniency here. It's a good idea, though.

Starting point is near the Wendy's parking lot on Woodland just north of K-10. We roll out at 9 sharp, so get there at 8:45 or so. The route isn't going to be too brutal, but there will be a couple of sweat-inducing climbs.

See posts about some past DSRs to get a feel for what they're like:
"June Moon"
Pre-Halloween 2008
DSR-IV
DSR: August 2009
The Impromptu DSR in April 2010

Hope to see you out there! Email me (using the form on the right side of my page) if you have any further questions.

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

Dark Side Ride Recap

I think we had a total of 13 riders, including one who's new to the full-distance dark side rides (he came to the cave ride too!) and to cycling in general. I think he's hooked.

I saw this right before I went on the DSR. Confident in the Hard-Case's abilities, I rode on it anyway, without any problems. I replaced it Sunday night. This tire had about 3,700 miles on it without a single puncture. The tire on the front is now up to 7,400, also without a single puncture since I put it on.


It's hard to put into words exactly what's so awesome about riding a bike at night. Having only a narrow cone of light ahead of you seems to intensify all of your other senses. Nature's noises and the subtle susurrus of mechanized synergy jump out at you. Variances in temperature and humidity surprise you more. Crisp air off the streams, putrid vapors of roadkill and skunk, earthy tones from nearby gravel roads and the distinct smell of recently-mowed grass fill the nostrils.

All the while, you can be cruising with a small group of people and no one says a word for miles, then spend the next half hour talking about hobbies non-stop. The DSR rides tend to vary a lot in pace. On this particularly cool (for August) evening, some people were hammering just to stay warm. We always re-grouped, though. This was taken at 195th and Holmes.


And then the turn-around point in Belton


I'm not sure if this morning was a record low or not, but I don't ever recall needing a windbreaker in August. September will be truly bizarre. I logged a puny 250 miles this month.

Get your lights charged... it's time for another Dark Side Ride!

What: August '09 Dark Side Ride
When: 9:00PM Friday, August 28, 2009
Where: Spring Hill High School, 199th and Ridgeview Rd.
Route: Belton Out-and-Back 33 miles, so bring lights that can survive for 3 hours or so.

Lights, helmets, and some kind of reflective gear required for this one. See you out there!

Midnight Un-Lenexa Cave Dark-Side-Ride-o-Rama of Awesomeness

We've had a few last-minute sign-ups, a few who are confused on the date, and some who didn't get the last round of e-mail. I'll just post it here for everyone to see. I'd still like it if everyone was accounted for, though. PLEASE SIGN UP if you think you'll be attending.

"Midnight" is a confusing word. So let me clarify. The ride will start at the stroke of midnight SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING. That means get to Merriam Marketplace LATE Saturday night. I'll get there sometime around 11:15 or 11:30. I recommend not getting there any later than 11:45 PM.

This ride is a combination of July's Dark Side Ride, and an alternative to the traditional Lenexa Midnight Ride, because they changed their route and location in such a way that detracts from most of the features that made it fun. Sure, riding on a bicycle in the dark rules, but after that, the Lenexa Midnight Ride has nothing. We're going to fix that by adding a cave.

To discuss more dark-side rides throughout the year (most of which do NOT include a cave, start earlier in the night than Midnight, and usually have a distance of 25-40 miles), sign up here.

Check your lights (and batteries), brakes, tires, chains and quick-release levers in advance. No one will be inspecting bicycles for safety at this event.

Show up at Merriam Marketplace with enough spare time to get your bike set up. I recommend showing up no later than 11:45 PM on July 11th, 2009. It's Saturday night.

At the stroke of Midnight July 12, we will all depart, riding northeast on Merriam Drive. We'll take it all the way to Kansas City, MO (where it's known as Southwest Boulevard) with re-group points along the way and turn right on 31st Street.

There's a large hill on 31st street. We'll re-group at the entryway to the cave and I'll unlock the door if it's not already open. We'll ride through the cave loop counter-clockwise, then come back out to return to Merriam Marketplace.

Every time I've been in the cave, there's been a thin, slick mud on certain parts of the roadway. I've never wiped out on it, but my road bike's narrow tires have gotten squirrelly in some parts. I'd recommend using a mountain bike for this ride. Also, the hill coming out of the cave is pretty steep.

Afterwards, some of us will undoubtedly be hungry, and for some of us, it wouldn't feel right not to wolf down some pancakes or breakfast after the ride. There is a Denny's at Shawnee Mission Parkway and Eby that's open 24/7 which is riding distance from Merriam Marketplace. Feel free to join some of us there for the after-party.

If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me via the form on the right, or here in the comments.

Dark Side Ride IV

Friday, after riding home with Karen, I noticed some blossoms on the trees in my apartment complex.

Friday night was the fourth installment of The Dark Side Ride. Our night rides (which have gone under various names) usually happen about monthly during "Bicycling Season" and start at about 9:00 PM. Riders are subject to RUSA rules for lighting, safety and reflective gear just so that everyone is seen and safe. Usually, they're about 25-40 miles in length, so riders should be ready to ride that far and have lights that last several hours. As you can see, there's probably a good 5,000 lumens in this crowd. For the most part we stay together, so if you don't have an insanely bright light, you'll probably still be able to see pretty well.

The turn-around point in Belton.

It was nice to see lots of faces. I think we had 14 people total? I finally got to meet Darius, plus some other folks I haven't seen in a while... some as long as almost two years! cDude, as usual, put on a heck of a ride. I don't remember everyone's name, but I know Wildcat Al, Randy, Badger, Clem, Nan, Chris and Dave were among us. Grr! I need to remember some names. :(

Welcome... to the Dark Side

A bunch of us (9? 10?) had a blast at what will probably serve as the last Dark Side Ride of 2008.

This was the sunset at about 7:00 or so.

I rolled up to the start of the ride at 8:30 and cracked open the coffee. I found out that my stainless coffee flask fits perfectly in the spring clip of the SunLite rack.


One by one, cyclists rolled up. Badger, c'Dude, Dave, Mike, Mike and the couple on the tandem who I'm too tired this morning to recall the names of.


On our way to Edgerton we picked up a few more: Randy (Kansascyclist.com) and Randy. Yes, two Mikes and two Randys on the ride. This was about half-way for us.




The tandem kept flatting out. I snapped this near New Century Air Center while we waited for them to catch up. Dave was back there helping them, so we waited.


A heavily-processed flash photo I took at one of the re-group points.


I rode to and from the ride, which added 29 miles onto the 38-mile night ride. This is my bike on the 127th Street bridge I used to ride on every day when I was first getting started commuting by bike and by bus. Riding over it again was like running into an old friend. Riding over it at 1:00AM was a little odd.

Like Night Riding? Dark Side Ride this Saturday

We haven't done one of these since The June Moon. These things are always a blast. Think of it like a longer version of the Lenexa Midnight Ride. Last year, this ride netted me my first metric century.

Anyhow, come on out and join us. I kind of just heard about it last-minute-like, but I'm gonna try to wedge it into my schedule.


1) RUSA Article 10 rules apply for this ride. I shall quote it in its entirety here:

For night riding, vehicles must be equipped with front and rear lights attached firmly to the vehicle. Lights must be turned on at all times during hours of darkness or other low-light conditions (rain, fog, etc.). At least one of the rear lights must be in a steady (rather than flashing) mode. All riders' lights must meet the requirements of local laws. A rider is not permitted to cycle at night or in other low-light conditions without working front and rear lights attached to the vehicle; therefore backup lighting systems and/or spare bulbs are strongly recommended in case the primary system fails and cannot be repaired on the roadside. Each rider, whether riding in a group or alone, must fully comply with this requirement. Everyone must use their lights!

During hours of darkness or other low-light conditions, all riders must wear a reflective vest, sash, Sam Browne belt, or some other device that clearly places reflective material on the front and back of the rider. During these times all riders will also wear a reflective ankle band around each ankle. (Due to their unusual seating position, recumbent riders may modify their reflective torso devices to show better from front and rear.) Other reflective devices on clothing, shoes, helmets, and machines are encouraged for increased safety - but they are extra and may not take the place of the minimum items listed above.

Any violation of these night riding rules will result in the immediate disqualification of the rider.

2) If it's raining, it's off. Period.

3) YOU NEED LIGHTS AND REFLECTIVE GEAR.

4) It's at the price chopper at 159th and Mur-Len. Not the one at 151st and Mur-Len, Not the one at 135th and Mur-Len. No. The one at 159th.

5) Carrying extra batteries and maybe even a spare bulb is a good idea. No, really.

6) We'll roll off on Saturday, October 25th, 2008 at 9:00 PM SHARP.

7) Expect to ride about 35-40 miles with multiple re-group locations.

8) Have I mentioned that you will need lights if you're going to ride with us? Glad I cleared that up. We can get separated and it'll be pitch black out in the country where we'll be riding. Safety first!

June Moon Ride Report Round-up

Some others that went on the June Moon Ride had things to say as well.

• Jason
• Dave
• c'Dude
• My own

Also, welcome Jason to my blogroll. I hadn't seen his blog before. His missives are often quite clever. Check it out.

June Moon Ride

Chris arrives (by car) to ride with Dave and I to the ride.


Chris and Dave


At the start point. Badger is mooning us?


Amnee and Jason showed up. I know both of them. Jason through classes at JCCC and Amnee through the Monday Night rides.


C'Dude's Sweet vintage Trek.


Left to right: C'Dude (almost out of frame), Dave, Al, Jason, Crowbar, Chris, Amnee (hiding behind Chris) and Badger (almost out of frame too). Counting myself, we had a crowd of nine. Awesome!


Abstractness.


Rest stop in De Soto, KS.










C'Dude needs wipers for his glasses. This is a bug splat.


It wouldn't be a June Full Moon Ride if it wasn't june or close to being a full moon, would it? Here, the moon is rising over the highway and between some trees.


More abstractness


A quick regroup before the death slog. One of many slogs, actually.


Even more abstractness.


All in all, I put 81 miles on since I woke up...errm yesterday at 5:00. Now, it's almost 1:30 and time for me to go to sleep.