Forgot my phone

I'm publishing this via e-mail since I forgot my phone (which also
lets me access the 'net from work), so pardon any weirdness that
happens with this post. As you may recall, I'm trying to build up to
avoiding the bus all together except for inclement weather. I've only
had a few full round-trip bike commutes. One in January, One in
February and one yesterday. I didn't get one in March. I rode all
the way in again this morning. A moderate headwind (9-13MPH out of
the Northeast) really put the hurt on me. I'm weak, but trying.

Now, I've got 16 one-way bike-only trips under my belt on top of those
3 full round trips, and I'm (finally!) approaching 1,000 miles for the
year. It's not like I haven't been riding. I just haven't been
riding as much as I wish I were. I'm pretty sure I'll ride all the
way home this evening as well. That would make this my first 2
back-to-back bike-only commutes this year. It's too bad that weather
is looking crappy for the last part of this week. With fenders, I
don't mind wet roads too much, as long as it's not raining too hard at
the times I need to be on the road. Of course, I'm still fighting my
aversion to headwind. I'll get there someday. Hopefully that someday
is soon.

I've got pictures to upload, but those need to wait until tonight.
Also, I can't publish any comments until I get back home. Have a
happy Hump Day, folks!

Random Tunage:
EPO - Popcorn (Trance cover of the 1970's song by Hot Butter)
Real McCoy - Run Away

A convoy of three and a bike bath

I met Lorin at 13th and Broadway on my way out of Downtown. Karen also emailed me today and said she wanted to convoy, so we waited by the brewery. I saw this guy doing the crosswalk button trick.


Southwest Boulevard just north of the brewery is still flooded.


Goooosh! Lorin and I took the left part of the right lane (too much traffic in the left lane) and it got me wet even with fenders. There's just no protecting yourself in 8" deep water.


Lorin's Commuter. It's at least 59cm if not 62. Ye Gods.


Karen (left) and Lorin (right) hogging the lane. Good commuters. There are 2 more lanes and light enough traffic.


Random Southwest Boulevard stuff




Karen pulls ahead to conquer the mighty 67th street hill. That's Part 1. There's a shorter, steeper section after that.


My bike was a complete disaster when I got home. It looked like I'd been mountain biking in the mud with it. One thing I love about my apartment complex is they provide outdoor hose hookups on every building. I picked up a hose and some simple green and got to scrubbing. I waxed it, too. Does that make me an OCP?





Just being goofy.






These pedals have seen many miles and better days but they still click like new.


Random Tunage:
DJ Hell - Buttersaure
White Zombie - More Human Than Human

Back to the grind

There are few woes that can't be made better by a nice bicycle ride -- a sucking center-of-mass bullet wound and whooping cough aside, of course. When the woe of the day is simply dreading the return to the 8' x 8' sliver of the faceless bastille that takes up 1/4 of my life, a bicycle ride is actually quite therapeutic.

Unfortunately, a powerful but relatively isolated storm decided to throw fierce hail at my bedroom window amid ominous thunder and blinding lightning. My slumber is seldom interrupted by thunder, but the din of hailstones agitating windows almost always rouses me. The storm woke me at 2:30 AM and it took about an hour for me to get back to sleep. By the time 5:00 hit, I was sufficiently rested despite the disturbance.

The roads were obviously wet, but with overcast skies and no falling rain, I decided to ride the distance this morning. The fenders did an excellent job of keeping me dry. Winds were light (a head/crosswind), temperatures in the lower 60's. It was a good morning.

Once I hit Wyandotte County, I noticed that there was a lot of flooding. This is the lowest elevation of my commute route. Particularly between Mission road and state line, Kansas City, KS was downright disgusting with flooded gutters and storm drains. Covering the road was a 1/4" thick milkshake-esque fusion of grime and dirt washed downhill from KCMO mixed with what I could only guess was overflow sewage and lawn debris.

As I started my ascent into KCMO, the roads started to dry out and due to either the higher elevation or falling clouds, the KCMO skyline was visibly enshrouded in a murky, misty haze.





We had four bike commuters for coffee this morning. Lorin, Bob, JR and myself. JR's bike is locked up out of frame (but he's visible through the window)


North wind and mid-70s are predicted for this afternoon. Lorin said he might be interested in riding all the way back home with me.

Random Tunage:
Nine Inch Nails - La Mer
Future Sound Of London - We Have Explosive

7th Wedding Anniversary

Holding true to tradition, I took our wedding anniversary as a vacation day from work.  I treated my wife to a membership to a professional massage therapist (I'm not all that good at giving therapeutic massages) and shortly we'll be heading off to a nice dinner.  I was sitting here tinkering with geeky stuff when my neighbor (a florist and a fellow cyclist whom I have helped a few times) dropped off my wife's flowers. 

I've been completely disconnected from work for four whole days now and with the exception of Friday morning, the weather's been great for a long weekend.  I'm not ready to go back to work, but our beautiful Kansas City Weather streak is coming to a temporary end.

Random Tunage:

Armin van Buuren & DH Shah - Going All Wrong  (AvB Extended Remix)

Sasha - Who Killed Sparky (Exclusive emFire Edit)

Both of these are newish progressive tracks that are simply amazing with mind-blowing riffs, hooks and builds.  Check them out, even if you don't like electronic music.  They're on iTunes.

Weekend so far

Yesterday: Rode to the DMV. Short line, I was #350. It was a little more than 19 miles round trip, but I didn't take the shortest route. It was chilly and misty.



Today, I rode to Daily Dose for the KC PHP User's Group. More than 14 miles round trip, and a somewhat enjoyable ride. Quite a bit of traffic, but beautiful weather.


Just messing around.




Nice day for a game of Golf, apparently.


I was trying to snap the epic hill in the background, but autofocus chose my dashboard instead.


Welcome to old-town Lenexa, KS. I just live around the bend from here.

Bringing home bike parts... on a bike!

Stormy, stormy weather this afternoon. I am still drenched.

I went to check out JR's shop. Here are our (soaked) bikes in a freight elevator as we ride up to the place where the bikes are.


I picked up some wheels from him, here's one of his bike closets. It's hard to believe how much stuff he's got, I couldn't even begin to capture it all, and this was just one of the rooms.


Here's how I ended up carting the wheels home. These are some low-end double-wall Weinmann wheels. Nothing fancy but better than the original crap that came on The Goat. I'll swap knobby tires onto these wheels, as they'll be used mostly for singletrack/cross country duty.


It was so ghetto, but it worked just fine.


Random Tunage:
God Lives Underwater - Rearrange
Moonman (a.k.a. Ferry Corsten) - Galaxia

Galaxia is such a spine-tingler. Although it's probably a decade old, this song stands on a very short list of my favorites of all time.

Nice morning, but not enough time for a full commute

61 Degrees, south winds. It would have been nice.









It'll likely be storming this evening. I guess it's a bus day. I'm off until Tuesday, so no commuting for a while. Maybe I'll find myself on an interesting ride or two this weekend.

Random Tunage:
Marilyn Manson - The Beautiful People
Steve Winwood - Back In The High Life Again

Evidentally, entropy emerges via my tunage this morning.

Announcement: Return of Monday Commuter Convoys!

No more excuses, folks.

The weather is (kind of) getting nicer. It's time for the Monday Commuter Convoy to start back up.

Who runs this thing anyways?
Noah (that's me!) does. Well, I don't run anything, but I'll be one of the people to lead you, and I'm herding cats for this loosely organized phenomenon. My Monday Convoy is the same Lenexa-Downtown commuter convoy schedule and route that will be featured on May 12 as part of Bike Week in Kansas City. There are other volunteers hosting other routes for Bike Week, but if you're interested in hosting your own weekly commuter convoy, let me know and I'll start getting things in motion.

What is a bike commuter convoy?
A convoy is a group of vehicles traveling together for mutual support. A bike commuter convoy is a somewhat social no-drop ride at a pace determined by the slowest rider. Think of it as a group ride on your way to and from work!

Why ride in a convoy?
The Convoy allows those who are new to bike commuting (or new to bicycling!) to team up with experienced bicycle commuters who don't mind taking it easy and helping others out. By riding together, we are seen as traffic. By riding with experienced commuters, newer riders can gain knowledge of bike-friendly routes, traffic patterns and on-road confidence. It is our goal to help others get comfortable using their bikes for all kinds of trips.

When:
Every Monday through September, weather permitting. We will depart at 5:40 AM and head toward Downtown KCMO.

Where:
Ride or drive to the strip mall on the west side of Quivira between 87th and 85th. There's plenty of parking if you need it. For reference, there's a Conoco gas station and a (currently out-of-business) restaurant that we usually meet between. [Street View]

If you're up north of 85th and Quivira, you can meet us at QuikTrip on the Northeast corner of 67th and Nieman, usually betwen 5:50 and 6:00 AM depending on the riders. Parking is limited, and I wouldn't rely on QT's parking lot unless you want your car towed.

The riders that have been participating lately have been holding an average speed of about 14 MPH in the morning. At this pace, we pass Boulevard Brewery between 6:20 and 6:30 AM. It's entirely possible to get to work in the downtown loop well before 7:00 if there are no mechanical problems.

The return convoy will meet at Boulevard Brewery, usually between 3:45 and 4:00PM. The ride back to Lenexa takes approximately an hour.

[Checkpoint Map] [Lenexa-To-Downtown Route] [Return Route]

Extra Stuff you might want to bring along

• As the weather gets warmer, you'll likely want a water bottle. Getting dehydrated isn't fun.
• It's wise to carry flat tire repair stuff (patches and/or spare tubes and a way to inflate them)
• $1.75 will buy you a ride on the JO from downtown back to the convoy start point if weather gets bad or you don't feel up to the full length ride home.
• I consider a helmet and a tail light essential, and at least a cheap LED headlight a VERY wise idea. Please think of using them for this ride.

Questions?
Just use the form on the right side to contact me, or leave your comments here!

Took a walk over lunch

Not much worth mentioning for the homeward commute (aside from the swanky new Bike Week poster I saw on the bus)



Other than that, I had a nice lunch, went for a walk.

I committed a crime against photography (I think)


If these were further from the building, I think people might mistake these for bike racks.


It's spring time.


Another mediocre coffee shop in the downtown loop


In the colder months, this alley is home to the homeless. Lots of warm air coming from various vents, as there's a hotel kitchen right on the other side of the wall. In the warmer months, it smells of rotting kitchen waste and is writhing with maggots. In a few weeks, I will have to hold my nose to walk past it. I like this alley more in the winter.


I tried to go to the bank to deposit our MO Tax Refund (small enough to spend in one place, easily) only to find out that since it is written to me AND my wife (not me OR my wife) we both have to sign it. Freaking red tape. Someone get me a blowtorch.

Random Tunage:
The Killers - Mr. Brightside (Jacques Lu Cont's Thin White Duke Remix)
Desree - Dreams Can Come True

Great morning for a ride

First, Some pictures from last night's commute.

Two Bees (Downtown District staff) and a bike


Fun with shadows (and iPhoto effects)


Helmet Storage. One less (sweaty) thing to take on the bus with me and it isn't going anywhere latched this way.


This morning, we had crazy south winds with gusts well into 30 MPH territory.

Lenexa, KS near 79th and Quivira. The bank thermometer and clock are both inaccurate. It was about 53°F upon departure this morning.






I saw this on the road at 25th and Southwest. I'll leave the reader to identify this device (lol) I'll just tell you that it's NOT a LASER pointer. It's about 1.5" long.


Skyline at sunrise. Check out the epic debris field along the right side of the road. Someone get a street sweeper out here!


Downtown Daybreak (sorry it's crooked)


Blossoms obscure the Power & Light District


Sprint Center and a road pylon (covering exposed wires from a fallen light post)


This light post. Obviously struck by a vehicle. Gotta love KC motorists.


Obligatory lightpost abstractness


You can thank Deb Ridgway for getting these awesome replacements for some of the wheel-killing storm drains around town.


Transamerica building A.k.a. Town Pavilion.


All in all, a great, beautiful morning. Ran into Karen on the way in, saw lots of bikes being ridden and locked up downtown, had coffee with Lorin (who snuck up on me while taking that last photo) and JR. Winds will continue out of the South or Southwest this evening, so it looks like more bus riding for me. I'm such a slacker.

Random Tunage:
Bryan Adams - Heaven
Nine Inch Nails - 32 Ghosts IV