Suburban camping

My schedule and family life have been crazy lately, but I needed to get out and spend a night under the stars. The mission was to find some wooded area right here in the suburbs, not marked with "no trespassing" or other such verbiage.  Since I was staying close and I knew I'd be off-roading, I opted to load up Frank for this trip. I didn't take many pictures, mostly because I really felt like shutting down all the parts of my brain that had anything to do with electronics.

I started with some fishing on the way out at a spot close to home. I caught bluegill by the dozen, and brought in the biggest red-eared slider I've ever seen (not even close to the size of a snapper, but big for a slider). I threw them all back in.



Then, I was off to find that perfect spot. I've been doing a lot of Google Maps Recon and I had a bunch of ideas for places to go. This seemed like a good place to set up camp for the night, despite being able to hear a deck party going on at a nearby $800,000 home.


Even before the sun was all the way down, it was getting pretty dark in the area I'd chosen. I only had one bottle of water with me, and I'd powered through most of it already. I went to a nearby stream with my water filter, got enough water for the rest of the trip, heated up dinner then called it a night.


It was a really short trip. I don't know if I'll use the same spot ever again but there are many others nearby to try. I needed it, though.

Response from Mike Boehm, Mayor of Lenexa

Mike was quick to respond to my inquiry, but I must say that several experienced cyclists do share Mike's opinion of Santa Fe Trail Drive and prefer to use other roads. I can only hope that making bicycling more visible in a positive way gets more people out on their bikes.

Thank you, Mike, for taking the time to respond. Our city isn't earning high marks from the sustainable transportation advocates, but it remains a pleasure to live, work, play and bike here, thanks also in part to local businesses who remain friendly to bicyclists as both patrons and employees, such as Hen House.

Noah,

Thanks for writing. I was pleased to see you referenced in the article and read your positive comments. Knowing there was significant truck and car traffic along that route and given the narrow nature of the roadway, without curb/gutter/shoulder treatments, my general feeling was that it would not necessarily be the best option for riders. Your experiences obviously prove that my concerns are unfounded.

Again, thanks for writing

Mike

Open Letter to the City of Lenexa

In this article, Mike Hendricks apparently quotes you saying that it is unwise to bicycle on Santa Fe Trail Drive.

I live in the apartment complex behind City Hall, and work on the southern reaches of town along Renner south of College Blvd. I'd be interested to know what route you would propose for getting to and from work. 87th St Pkwy and Renner are both high-speed thoroughfares without wide outer lanes or any other amenities that would make me feel safe using them during rush hour.

I might add that I got this job two years ago, and have found nearly all of the motorists to be courteous along this route. I also encounter many other cyclists on that stretch of road. Truck and bus drivers often log thousands of miles per week, and I have found that they are among the most experienced, careful and attentive users of the road because driving is their livelihood. I see little reason to be afraid of bicycling through the more industrial parts of town.

This was emailed to Lenexa Mayor, Mike Boehm. If I get any response, I'll share it.  Mostly, I was taken by surprise at the mayor's comment about Santa Fe Trail Drive. Certainly, he doesn't intend for cyclists to use the city's high-speed, densely used miniature highways during rush hour.

KC Star on the state of Bicycling in Johnson County

A few weeks ago, Mike Hendricks of the KC Star interviewed me. In the middle of Bike Week, Keith from the KC Star photographed me (and I photographed him).  I didn't know exactly where the article was going, but I gave my all to paint a positive picture of my route. After all, this is the best bicycle commuting route I've ever had, even though it's littered with diagonal rail road crossings.

Enjoy: Happy Trails to you, cyclists

KC Star did caption the below photo to indicate that I had made a hand signal to indicate my intent of taking the lane before cutting across the diagonal rail road tracks. I had also made eye contact with the Dodge driver behind me, and he'd slowed down to let me proceed. This plays out several times per day on my usual commute. Motorists along Santa Fe Trail Drive are usually pretty easy to get along with.

Photo of me from linked article. Copyright KC Star/Joco913

Freedom isn't free.

Freedom isn't free., originally uploaded by KC-Bike.

To all those who have served, and especially to all who made the ultimate sacrifice: Thank you.

Rager.

Rager., originally uploaded by KC-Bike.

Hooky

Whenever my birthday falls on a work day, I almost always schedule it off. If it's close enough to Memorial Day weekend, I have been known to schedule a whole block of time off. Today was no exception. 

Things I Cannot Afford Right Now:

Things I Cannot Afford Right Now:, originally uploaded by KC-Bike.

A new rear tire (I'm hoping to go back to the Bontrager Race-Lite Hard Case) and Flickr Pro. You can only see the last 200 pictures now, and this Vittoria Randonneur's days are numbered. It served me really well, though.

Errands

Errands, originally uploaded by KC-Bike.

Shadow Panda

Shadow Panda, originally uploaded by KC-Bike.

From the workbound commute this morning, for Fritz's Panda Portrait Wednesday.

Photrographing the photographer

Photrographing the photographer, originally uploaded by KC-Bike.

I guess I'm gonna be in the KC Star again. I'm really hoping it's a positive piece for bicycling in this town. There isn't enough of that. Keith got some good shots of me controlling the lane and safely maneuvering the railroad crossings on Santa Fe Trail Drive.

Snapper

Snapper, originally uploaded by KC-Bike.

Bike Week 2012: Overland Park Deanna Rose Farmstead Event

Bike Week 2012: Overland Park Deanna Rose Farmstead Event, originally uploaded by KC-Bike.

I seem to post this same photo every year. Again, it was good to see Drew and commuterDude at the booth. I'm not sure how many other events I'll make it to this week, but you can probably count on seeing me at Friday's OP city hall booth.

It's Bike Week!

Bike week 2007 was an enlightening experience for me. After 8 months of biking to the bus through winter and a bit of dabbling in longer distances, Bike Week was what really got me to take the plunge. Back then, the full commute route was 23 miles each way. That pretty much hooked me. So, fellow KC area folks, relish Bike Week and sign up for the car-free challenge. Get out and ride. I'll Be at some of the Overland Park events.

ANSI 107-2004 Class 2

ANSI 107-2004 Class 2, originally uploaded by KC-Bike.

I don't always bike to work at 4:30 in the morning, but when I do, I prefer that people can see me.

Daylight Moon

Lenexa, originally uploaded by KC-Bike.

Bit of a chilly bike ride to the office (50°F) but it was cool to see a daylight moon over old town Lenexa this morning.

Bikeness is getting contagious

Bikeness is getting contagious, originally uploaded by KC-Bike.

This week makes two years at my "new" job, and today makes the third bike I've seen locked up on the re-purposed handrail bicycle rack our maintenance team set up. It's a yellow Univega road bike. The pink bike that I've been seeing a lot of belongs to someone in customer service that shows up a bit later than I do, so it wasn't yet parked when I arrived. I estimated that this "rack" would pretty much max out at 4 bikes if people played nicely together. I Still believe that's true. It's about to be full, just in time for bike week!

#30DaysOfBiking: Mail Call!

#30DaysOfBiking: Mail Call!, originally uploaded by KC-Bike.

#30DaysOfBiking: Mail Call!

Laziness

Laziness, originally uploaded by KC-Bike.

Let's do this.

30 days of Biking kicked off yesterday with a ride to the auto parts store. I was in the middle of fixing the air conditioner in my car, when I realized I needed even more parts than I'd already acquired. So either I ride my bike (takes about 5 minutes each way) or I spend half an hour putting my car back together, drive two miles round trip, take my car back apart so I can replace the part I needed (which will take another hour and a bunch of effort). So instead of spending an hour and a half messing with stuff, I rode my bike. Obviously.

I have to have A/C in the car for my wife's sake, due to her medical issues. She's coming home this week, hopefully, after quite a while of being away. I wanted to make sure everything was going to work out well for her.

Every day bicycle commuting still isn't an option while she's away from home, but I'm going to make an effort to at least do some bicycling each day, even if it's only to check my mail on the other side of the apartment complex or make a quick errand.

Dystopia.

Dystopia., originally uploaded by KC-Bike.

Dystopia.