Foggy Morning, adjusting to road-bikeness

I shared this bus with 28 other people this morning.

The air was humid and foggy, and almost 60 degrees upon departure. As I left my parking lot, I felt something was missing. Helmet! I had to turn around and go back up to my apartment to fetch ye olde skid lid.

I got practically zero sleep last night, maybe 2 hours broken up into chunks. I have no clue what caused this phenomenon, either. Rest assured, when I find out, I'm kicking its rear. To addition, my legs can definitely feel the effects of slogging about 15 miles in my woefully inefficient and heavy Sorrento yesterday, and riding platform pedals with flexible tennis shoes gave my feet something achy to wake up to.

In contrast to the mountain bike, I looked at my average speed today, and even in my current zombie-like state, I pulled off 14.6 miles per hour, a "hammering" average on my Diamondback Outlook without any hammering on my Trek 1200. I'm wondering what my average will be when I can really get on it. I am simply too tired today to take hills without granny-spinning.

I know I've been talking about speed lately, and I've been doing it without talking about any impressive numbers. One reason is that speed is about the only functional thing my new Trek 1200 is good at. Looking awesome isn't functional. I was ready to make some sacrifices to get around faster when commuting, and to cover more miles in the same amount of time when riding for fun. I just didn't know how different this would be.

A road bike sacrifices "squishy" feel for a more direct, efficient and tactile engagement with the pavement. It trades climbing ability for close-ratio shifting and high speeds. It ditches rugged versatility in exchange for light weight and superior rolling resistance. As such, this bike's dynamics are so vastly different from anything else I've owned that it really does require a complete change in the way I ride. If my Sorrento and Outlook are bicycles then this must be something different.

I love it, but it took me until last Friday to really come to terms with these facts. Moving forward with this knowledge, I noticed that I felt a lot more "at one" with my road bike this morning. With all of my previous bicycles. it took me a few weeks to really get that zen-like feeling of having the bike as an extension of myself. This morning is the day that I felt it once again.

Sleepy time

It's late and I really need to get to bed.

It looks like tomorrow could be dry, so the road bike is ready to go again. If it's raining I might switch back over to the MTB.

This evening, I had about an hour to goof off at the college where my wife works, so I played around on the stairs and rode around campus some more. I'm sure that I, as a 205-pound guy that's a decade older than most of the students there, looked really out of place, but it was a blast.

We couldn't immediately get my dad's WiFi working. We need to try some other drivers, methinks. On my way home, I picked up some groceries. Without a rack on the MTB, it was an interesting ride home, carrying a half-gallon of milk in the backpack with my laptop, and the rest in a bag that I carried in hand while riding.

If I make it through Wednesday on my bike, I will officially hit 3.0 on my bike commuting ratio. While 4.0 will be a tough number to hit, and an impossibility in May since I am taking the last week off to pack up and preparing to move. I can get to 3.5 if I keep it solid until the 25th of May.

So fresh and so clean!

Or at least it feels that way. I usually take my showers at night, but I got another one on my way to work. It's rained so much this weekend that there's minimal road grime. I didn't bother with any rain gear because it's 66 degrees Fahrenheit right now. It feels really good outside, rain included. I am completely and totally soaked, but I feel good and clean! I wiped my legs down after I got on the bus and didn't get much of anything off of them aside from water.

Too bad our atmosphere is plagued with all kinds of toxins that are soaking into my scalp as I type this...

No, really, it was a surprisingly pleasant ride this morning. The Sorrento feels easier to ride than I last recall, too.

This evening, I'm meeting my dad at (you guessed it) the Daily Dose. He brought up a bunch of computer problems he's been having lately (spyware and instability despite only visiting reputable sites and having anti-virus/spyware/whatever installed) and I reminded him that issues like his are among the reasons I abandoned Windows for OpenBSD, Mac OS X, and Solaris at home many years ago.

While I don't like how the whole "Linux" thing is turning out, I suggested Ubuntu to my dad. What's my beef with Linux? Well, for example, one would have to familiarize themselves with no less than a dozen packaged Linux 'flavors' to say they really "know Linux well". Also, the small and lightweight days of Linux are gone. The user interfaces are adopting the "It's not user friendly if it doesn't look sleek and have lots of pretty animations" philosophy, and as a result, most Linux distributions are bloated mash-ups of hundreds or even thousands of separate products, chewed up and regurgitated into a download-able CD or DVD image for the masses.

Back on topic, though. He got it up and running but he's having trouble getting Wireless to work, so I'm going to help him out this evening. By the way, despite my denunciation of Linux, I actually do know it quite well, all the way down to the internals. I don't know Ubuntu specifically all that well, but I'm sure I can help.

Ugh. I'm such a nerd. A wet, crazy nerd.

This is a mountain bike week

There's little hope for a break in the weather until later this week, so I went ahead and geared up the Sorrento for duty. This trusty mule has consistently proven to be the most reliable bike I've ever owned. I've never had to take the bottom bracket apart, the axles roll smoothly, it doesn't creak, the rear derailleur shifts precisely, and it's just an all-round good bike.

The down-side is that it has a front suspension that I rarely have a need for, it's got wide, low-pressure tires on it, and it's very heavy. It's also slow and requires more effort than any other bike I currently have in my stable. It's not nearly as inefficient as the cheap toy bike I bought back in August or September, though.

Anyhow, I have a rear fender on this bike to minimize buttstripe syndrome. It will get me through potholes and mud-puddles that are obscured by standing water, and it will be the most mechanically sound in this weather. I moved the NiteRider Evolution (aimed downward in the above photo, it was blinding the camera) and Mars 3.0 lighta off of my Trek, and I'm going minimalist otherwise. No rack or handlebar bag this time.

Resting this weekend

The weather in KC wasn't too bad today. There was no rain. It was overcast, warm, and humid. Tomorrow, we're battening down the hatches for what looks to be a big ol' gully washer with the possibility for some twisters. Friday night's outbreak brought nature's wrath to southern Kansas, and there are no signs that the weather is going to let up in tornado alley any time soon.

I didn't get to ride today. I had Bike America check out my wheel. They got it fixed up as good as could be expected. The bike is usable again. Also, I trashed the stem on my spare tube trying to get it inflated with my mountain bike pump. I invested in 3 more tubes today (2 spares and one to go back in the tire) as well as a CO2 inflater. I'm working on a solution that will allow me to use my MTB pump in a pinch, without damaging the stems again. I really don't like spending money on inflating a tire. This includes $0.50 at the gas station, and it definitely includes $2 or more for 12 grams of carbon dioxide in a cute little metal canister. I'll keep it around, but I'd rather have a way to inflate my tires with just a pump.

Tomorrow will definitely be too stormy for recreational riding. The extended forecast for the week ahead isn't too bright, either, but I'll deal with it.

If something is worth doing...

I've always lived by the mantra that if something is worth doing, it's worth doing correctly. Those who know me will likely attest that I do a pretty thorough job at whatever it is that I'm doing. Given that, it should come as no surprise that the first flat tire I get on my road bike actually resulted in a tube that was perforated not one, nor two, nor even three times. There were four punctures, equally spaced around my poor, skinny inner tube.

I was hauling ass, going north on Main street on my way to pick up some lunch in the River Market when ahead I saw a truly wonderful wheel bender storm drain grate. With a car on my left, and going too fast to come to a stop, I attempted a bunny hop to clear the grate. I failed.

Carnage: two perfect snake bites and a flat spot on a rear wheel that has less than 50 miles on it. Liquid bummer. It took me about 5 minutes to get a new tube into place and inflated to a usable pressure. The wheel is still true side-to-side but the rim flanges outward just a little where it hit, and there are about 2 inches worth of rim that appear to be a flat spot. This results in a slight thump with every wheel rotation and a slight pulsing while braking.

*sigh*

Zzzzzzzzzzz...

I'm really, really tired today. As I mentioned yesterday, there was a lot going on. I got to bed after 2am and was still up at 5:20 to keep working on what I was working on before I went to bed. I got out the door about 6:20 and missed the 6:30 bus by about a minute. This is one of those days where I really should have just driven, but didn't want to.

I have my usual monthly gathering at Oak Park Mall, too. Locking the Trek up at the mall should be interesting. Despite my weakened state, the weather looks like it's going to give me a break this afternoon. I may try to get all the way to Oak park from work via bike. With any luck, tomorrow will stay nice and clear so I can get some actual miles on my new bike.

Sloppy, soaking wet

Photo: The wet Trek, loaded with some wet groceries, next to my wet Focus. This is getting old.

As you can see, I hijacked my handlebar bag to use as a mini pannier for my rack. Soon I will get some proper panniers. For now, this will work.

Today over lunch, I rode around a bit.

This evening has been hectic, and not just because of the rain. I hope tomorrow is smoother.

So tired, but felt really fast!

I didn't get to bed until after 1:00 last night. When I woke up at 5:30, I could barely stand up, much less walk. I was worried it was going to be one of those days where I spin the granny gear and get to the bus in 20 minutes instead of 11 or 12.

I went ahead and pushed myself pretty hard after spinning up the first big climb. I hammered the second big climb in a lowish gear but didn't let my cadence drop. Lungs and legs on fire, I kept the effort high as I crested the viaduct. I saw the bus zip through the intersection of 127th and Mur-Len as I headed for the drops and cut over to the highest chainring. I barely had stopped when the light let me take the left turn onto the final stretch of pavement. The bus was stopping 1/4 mile ahead of me to pick up a passenger that had flagged it down. I was back in the third ring on the flat part of Mur-Len, when my bike gladly accepted my request to breeze upwards of 30 MPH -- a feat that until now required me to wring every last drop of hammer-juice from my legs unless I was going downhill. I signalled left, overtook the stationary ark full of business people, and pressed onward. I heard it lurch forward not long after I'd passed. A half-mile later, I was leaning hard and turning into the park-and-ride lot, the bus still my runner-up by about a block.

Now, I wasn't racing the bus. I didn't drop anyone, but the capabilities this bike has is impressive. I have to watch the potholes now, and there will be no more curb hopping. It's a definite change in functionality, but I'm still amazed at how quickly and smoothly this bike responds when you give it input. Up the effort, and speed increases as if it was waiting and ready for you to pick up the pace. Tap the levers, and the chain glides into gear with precision and minimal sound. Lean and steer, the bike will carve whatever course you pilot as if it's on rails.

At any rate, my quick pace was a pleasant surprise given the fact that I felt like crap when I woke up.

Now... why was I up past 1:00? I was busy cleaning all of yesterday's grime off the bike and drivetrain. I'll admit that once the bike was almost totally clean, I gave it a thorough wipe-down with Meguiar's Quik Detail spray to make it shine like new again. It's not raining this morning, but the road is still covered with a film of gritty, wet sludge. My bike is going to need the same treatment again tonight. I'll start earlier this time. I also practiced changing a flat tire. I have a spare 25mm tube for it already, but wanted to at least familiarize myself with flat-changing using my roadside tools so that when (NOT IF!!!) I need to do it, it's not my first time. For what it's worth, it's actually easier than changing a flat on my hybrid. Getting the tires up around 100 PSI with my Blackburn Mountain Air portable pump was a challenge, but it does adapt easily to presta with a simple flip-flop two parts in the nozzle.

New bike for the win.

Raining :(

Well, it's officially raining on the first day I get to actually use my new bike. What a bummer.

This bike is a world apart from anything else I've owned. I'll have to get used to both the shifters and the radically different gearing, but other than that, this bike is nothing short of amazing. 20 miles per hour comes effortlessly on the second chainring. I can't wait to put her through the paces once the weather gets a little nicer. Something tells me that my lard speed record of 44 MPH is about to be shattered.

I got my bike!

Pics tomorrow...

I picked up my Trek 1200 today. My financing was approved for more than enough to buy the whole bike almost twice, so I splurged a bit (read: went into more debt than originally planned) on accessories and did it right.

Rear pannier-compatible rack. Let's face it, a bike like this doesn't deserve a seat-post mount rack.

NiteRider Evolution Smart light. With higher speeds comes the need to see further ahead. This is a great light from what I've seen so far.

Shimano SPD pedals. Yes, the double sided mountain bike pedals like what I have on my hybrid.

Bottle cage, in silver. Because I need hydration and my bookbag doesn't agree with camelbak. Maybe a set of panniers to go on my new rear rack is in the future.

Another Trek Incite 6i computer. Although, all I'm really using is the mounting bracket. The 6i has the ability to switch between two wheel sizes, so I'll just use one of the computers and swap it between bikes.

I haven't had much time to ride it. Today was crazy, as I also sold off my wife's old van that's been sitting around for way too long. Looks like rain and bad weather is in the forecast for the next few days. I'm not going to let a little water stop me from enjoying my bike, though!

Lameness and coolness

No, really. This is actually lame.

All of my vehicles tags expired in April, and the schedule for renewals is such that it's truly impossible to handle it by using a bicycle and the bus. You just can't do it, and get a full day of work in. They open at 7:30, mere minutes before the last bus heads downtown, then close at 4:30, before the first evening bus from downtown can get there.

They have a "convenient" drop box, but it's behind locked doors until 7:30 AM. It's obviously meant only to be used by impatient people when there's a huge line for renewals.

I took the super-slow A bus from my usual bus stop at 6:10 in the morning, to the Johnson County offices and discovered this. I wised up and transferred to the D bus (where I'm writing this post), which will get me downtown a few minutes faster than the other bus I was riding.

Now for something that's cool! I'm sharing the bike rack on the front of the bus with a fellow bicycle commuter. I don't know if he's a frequent commuter or not, but the fact that today is supposed to be rainy tells me he's either uninformed, or somewhat dedicated.

Update: The cyclist is definitely a dedicated bike/bus commuter. I had a chat with him as we left the bus.

April Recap

My goodness, how time flies when you're on a bike!

I rode all the way home from downtown tonight, with about a 12 mile detour for the Recovery ride, netting me 37 miles or so for the day.

Total miles ridden for April: 362. In my Focus, that's about 15 gallons when you consider sitting in rush-hour stop-and-go. As we approach $3 per gallon, my bike's miles would have cost me $45 in the Focus.

Now for the real fun. I only used my car to get to work once in April, and I had to cough up $3.75 for parking that day, too! A 50 mile round trip sets me back about $6 in fuel every day I drive all the way to work. That day, I wasted about $10.

The other 18 work days this month, I used my bike and the bus. The bus costs me $15 per month. 18 days of driving the bare minimum in my Focus would have been 900 miles, $115 in gas and almost $70 in parking fees.

Do you see why I do this?!

Now, on to the recreational stuff. With a bare minimum of 6 miles per day, 18 round trips would be 108 miles. In one way or another, in the form of recreational miles and running errands, I voluntarily snuck in an additional 250+ miles this month that I didn't really have to ride.

So, what does May hold? I want to bike commute an average of more than 4 days per week, and I want to make Bike To Work week a 5-day commute week, with or without the help of the bus. That's it. I don't know that I can beat 350 miles. Maybe I can. I'm just in it for fun (and money savings)

No Trek yet, so I rode from downtown again

Kevin got slammed at the bike shop today, didn't have time to pester the financing company. It's kind of a shame, too, because today's the last nice day for a while. When I say nice, I mean it's not raining. 85 degrees is a little excessive, when I was just getting used to riding in the high 40's a few days ago.

Since there was no compelling reason to go all the way down to JCCC or Olathe after work, I just took the boulevard to the Trek store from downtown. It wasn't as nerve-racking as it was last time I tried it, but I was fighting a stiff headwind most of the way. By all my estimates, I could squeak 350 miles out of April :)

I'm supposed to swing by the bike shop tomorrow to see where the financing sits. Anyhow, time to go ride with my peeps!

Should be a good day...for a Monday

Well, I'm officially giddy. I am supposed to call Bike America to see if my financing went through. This morning it was already a muggy 59 degrees. I didn't hammer on it, but I got to the first bus quickly and early.

The forecast is calling for mid 80's today. Yeesh. I'd bet the monday night Trek store ride is packed tonight!

I'll update this post as soon as I know wht my plan is for this evening. If I get my road bike today, I'll have it with me at the recovery ride.

Escort SOLD! Road bike, coming soon

I sold my Escort to a long-time friend and occasional commenter to this blog, whose current main mode of transportation is an inefficient-yet-handy GMC pickup. I isolated the source of the noise I was hearing from the engine and it was just a loose bolt holding a pulley. As it turns out, the clutch really was the only major thing wrong and I'm already prepared to help fix that up.

Today, while I was picking up my spare spokes, I checked the bike shop to see if the used Trek 1000 was still around. I didn't bother asking, but it wasn't visible. Since the Orange Trek 1000 was a wash, I went ahead and put a down payment on the closeout Trek 1200 today, instead. Effectively, I've put it on layaway. They also told me about interest-free financing for up to 2 years. After that, you get hit with uber-heavy interest rates. I basically put 40% down on the bike once you count taxes. Depending on our whole moving plan, I could have my 1200 paid off in a month or maybe two. If the financing goes through, I'll have my bike on Monday and be paying on it for a couple of months. If financing doesn't go through, I'll still be paying on it for a couple of months, and I'll get it when I've paid it in full.

Just to make sure it's the bike for me, they went ahead and fitted the bike to me, had me give it the initial shakedown run, and all that good stuff. Everything is so precise that it almost feels twitchy, but in a good way. It's also darn quick, very light, and a very different kind of fun than I'm used to having on a bike. I didn't get to put much more than a mile on it today testing it out. I'll be thankful for the triple crank once I find some hills. The gearing is really, really tall.

Saturday ride results

Sometimes, you ride just to take a nice saturday morning stroll. You don't plan on getting wet, sweaty, or dirty. In fact, you might try to avoid getting messy altogether.

If, along your journey, you find that cleanliness is futile, there's only one proper course of action. Get as disgustingly dirty as possible. When crossing flooded areas, no speed should be considered too fast. Every muddy patch should be in your crosshairs, and every possibility to fling mud everywhere should be gleefully embraced.

That just described my ride today. I was a peloton of one, but it was fun, and probably a lot messier than anyone I know would have cared for. I put on about 26 miles today. My trip included a 2-mile on-road detour to Bike America on Nall to pick up a pair of new spokes. One, I'm keeping with me. The other installed flawlessly this afternoon.

My bike, however, is a complete disaster. I was actually quite thankful for the knobby rear tire. Enough so that I think I regret doing all the swapping stuff around and all that. My Diamondback Sorrento would have been a much more appropriate tool for this job, despite the lack of all the little upgrades I put on my Outlook.

My total for April is now 323 miles! There will be no riding to church tomorrow. I need some rest...

My wife and I finished off the day fishing.

It never fails...

Or maybe I should say it always fails.

I was checking and airing up my tires in preparation for this morning's ride, when I noticed something wasn't quite right. It ended up being a broken spoke.

I've never broken a spoke before. They're cheap enough and easily replaced. But, since I noticed it right as I was preparing to leave for my ride this morning, I had a bit of a dilemma. My options were:

1. Ride with the bad spoke, and tighten the ones around it to keep the wheel true
2. Ride the mountain bike, without a computer to track my miles, without clipless pedals, and with evil knobby tires
3. Steal the wheel off the mountain bike, swap my slick tire onto it.
4. Put the mountain bike's rear wheel, knobby tire and all, onto my hybrid.

I went with the last option in the name of simplicity. The end result? Knobby rear tire and slick front tire as seen in the photo to the left.

My 127th Street Rant

Well, the 127th Street Improvement committee had another public meeting on April 5th. I wasn't notified of it, so I didn't attend. What bothers me is that it seems some people went through painstaking steps to make sure everyone who lives along 127th street not only knew about and showed up to the meeting, but made sure they were all really angry and bitter, too.

Click here to take a look at the comments that were gathered from April 5th's Meeting

I'm going to pick apart some of the arguments here. I'm paraphrasing and condensing some comments that are in the same spirit.

It's not hard to see the angst spawned from that that two feet of pavement in the form of a bike lane. "There's no room for bike lanes." "I am absolutely against bike lanes!" "Please consider the views of Olathe residents before non-resident bikers"

First off, It's CYCLISTS, Folks! Bikers ride Harleys, Gold Wings and Triumphs, not Treks, Le Monds and and Bianchis!

What's not so funny is that, taking into account 143rd street and other roads with bike lanes, the road lacks a wide outer lane where the bike lane is present. There's really not much, if any width being added to the pavement for the bike lanes. I haven't seen if the proposal for 127th also fits the paradigm, but my guess is that it probably does.

If residents want to reduce the amount of their property that needs to be bulldozed, they should fight the 24-foot-wide landscaped median. A dozen or so people had some push-back on the wide median. More than three dozen pushed back on bike lanes.

Last but not least on this point, there are plenty of cyclists in Olathe, and I've seen several just in my little part of the world, who, like I, use their bicycle for basic transportation to and from work, to the store, or for running errands. Not all adult cyclists are weekend group-ride warriors in spandex superhero costumes*.

*no offense meant to road cyclists and/or group riders that choose to wear cycling-specific clothing, but you look ridiculous to non-cyclists.

From comments like "bike lanes invite novices into the road, which isn't safe", "children should use the sidewalks instead of bike lanes", and "I have never seen a child ride their bike to school", it's safe to say that the average attendee thought that bicycles are playthings for kids.

Children under 12 should not be using bike lanes. They should not be using sidewalks along major arterials, either. The sidewalk crossings that span residential entrances to arterial roadways are VERY DANGEROUS even to an adult cyclist or jogger. Children should be using residential streets for travel, and proper signaled crosswalks should be their only interaction with an arterial roadway, wherever necessary. I understand that crossing a main road is mandatory for many children to get to school or their favorite park. Bicycle lanes are not for kids.

Novice riders are safer in a bike lane where they're more visible approaching intersections than they would be on sidewalks. This is also one reason I say children should not ride bicycles on sidewalks next to an arterial roadway. If the novice cyclist stays in the bike lane, and motorists stay out of the bike lane, the bike lane will be the best balance of safety and efficiency for a cyclist to travel, regardless of experience level.

Others are taking issue with existing trails and bike lanes, as if they're efficient for bike travel. "Keep the bike lanes on 143rd and Dennis" "There's already a bike trail" "Are the bikers going to do laps?" "What good will a short bike lane do?"

Regarding bike lanes on the further-south streets such as 143rd, those streets are very far out-of-the-way. These are probably the same people who were complaining about the 127th street bridge lacking interstate highway access. Every second arterial has highway access. The rest have no access. College, 127th, 143rd, and 159th lack highway access. The arterials between them such as 119th, 135th (santa fe), and 151st do have highway access. This means that no one needs to go more than two miles out of their way to find a safe road to cross the highway. It would make sense for a bike lane to exist on 127th street.

The trails are not efficient transportation. They are safe from traffic and very scenic, but nothing more. They wind around, they're hilly, they carry traffic in both directions on a very narrow stretch of pavement, and they get easily covered with mud, water, and debris from the nearby creeks. Suggested maximum speed on the trails is 10 miles per hour. When I rode from 127th and blackbob to 119th and Quivira, I covered about 5 miles on Indian Creek Trail with an average speed of about 10 miles per hour as I didn't want to run anyone over coming around a blind curve. The trip took me more than 30 minutes. If I used the road, it would have been a 3-mile trip, and probably with an average speed approaching 16 miles per hour for a travel time closer to 10 minutes.

A short bike lane (2 miles long where the improvements are taking place) in and of itself will do several good things. As most trips by "vehicular cyclists" are 10 miles or less, 2 miles of bike lane will improve the safety of at least 20% of the ride for anyone using that stretch of road. Also, it brings a challenge to Overland park to section off a few feet of their already wide 127th street as a bike lane. 127th is so wide east of Pflumm that they could easily add a bike lane with nothing more than some paint on the road and a few roadside signs. The 127th street bridge in Olathe is also wide enough to paint a bike lane onto. West of Ridgeview, 127th street (known as Harold) already has an on-street bike lane. With some effort between KC road and Ridgeview, that 2-mile stretch of bike lane could turn into 10 miles of safe cycling without a whole lot of impact to existing infrastructure.

Others also doubt the feasibility of cycling as economic or good for the community. "Please explain the economic development standpoint for bike lanes" and "Bike lanes are less beneficial to the community than leaving my back yard intact" (remember, these are paraphrases).

This is selfish, short-sighted balderdash. Economically speaking, bicycling is just about the best way to travel. It's four times faster than walking, doesn't require fuel made from foreign resources, increases health, decreases stress, and increases your interaction with others you see along the way. When gasoline is at $5 per gallon and an SUV -- which you won't even be able to give away, much less sell -- gobbles $40 in fuel for every 100 miles driven, people will be looking at bicycles. A $2 lunch of a few ham-n-cheese sandwiches and some fruit can fuel a 30 mile bike ride.

Also, hundreds if not thousands of cyclists might use the bike lanes over the next 10 years. What's the biggest party you've thrown in your back yard?

---

That said, there are many other options. Brent, a fellow JCBC member made a good point that the scope of this project is very much overkill and that alternatives exist. We don't need a superhighway through suburbia. What's really angering the residents are things like high speeds, litter, noise, traffic jams, and a wide right-of-way that eats into their property more than they deem necessary. Brent has some suggestions that less lanes, and more bike/pedestrian space is a good solution. Maybe a two-lane boulevard with a shared center left-turn lane would work. Perhaps widen the road a bit, straighten it out, take out some of the hills near Pflumm, and keep the speed limit low and well-enforced.

Also, there were a few people there with their heads on straight at the last meeting. If you're one of them, please realize that I'm thankful you provided your opinion. Moving forward, Olathe needs more trails, more bike lanes, and more exposure for alternative transportation.

So much for the warm-up!

It actually dropped in temperature today while I was at work, or at least it seems like it did. My forecast showed partly cloudy today with temps in the high 60's. When I got out of work it was about 48, still overcast and here I am in mountain bike shorts.

Definitely not a fun ride home. I also had to ride though some mud, which got my tires and shoes pretty dirty.

Oh yah. Tomorrow is supposed to bring more rain. Freaking great. Somehow, Saturday is supposed to be awesome. Let's just hope Indian Creek didn't wash out the trail.

I may be selling my car at a discount to a friend of mine who lacks a fuel-efficient vehicle for getting around town. He definitely has more use for it than I do right now. I'm not banking on anything, but it would be kind of cool to keep it in the circle of friends. I'll probably get to wrench on it a few more times, at least. :)

If it works out, I will probably try to get my road bike soon. It's just a matter of what's out there. I've been convinced by the masses that I don't need a beater bike and that with proper locking, I should be safe while I'm at work. The area isn't that bad.

This weekend should be fun. My wife and I are going fishing and probably going to brush up on our shotgun skills with some trap shooting. Yee Haw.