DirtBum

75% Virgin

It’s not every day that I get to ride new roads, and the more I ride, the farther afield I have to go to find what I call “virgin roads”, but these are the rides that I love — that sense of exploration, of venturing into the unknown, the promise of a new experience, a new view, over every hill and around every curve.

A few days ago I took a short trip into Leavenworth County, KS. This is actually not that far from my house — only 20 miles or so — but I’d never explored the county, even by car.

I drove to De Soto and parked there before heading over the Kansas River to Leavenworth County, then riding northwest to Tonganoxie and back.

By my calculations, about 75% of the 51 miles of this route were entirely new to me, a most excellent and highly satisfying percentage.

Here are a few pictures from the ride:

Flags and fountain at Miller Memorial Park in De Soto, KS. As you can see, the wind was blowing pretty good. I had a moderate cross/head wind on the way out, and a nice tailwind on the way back. (Not sure what the purpose of the lime-green water in the fountain is…)

This is on the bridge of the Kansas River at De Soto. The dots in the sky are birds wheeling and diving over the water.

A hilltop meadow. Leavenworth County is rather hilly, and there were a number of good climbs, with nice views at the top.

Here’s a shady and rocky little creek where I stopped to take a break.

Stranger Creek Bridge, an old narrow, wood-decked bridge on a seldom-used road in Leavenworth County, KS.

Another view of Stranger Creek Bridge.

Me looking down at the muddy waters of Stranger Creek.

The wheat harvest is in progress in Leavenworth County.

An old schoolhouse at 189th & Hollingsworth Road in Leavenworth County, KS.

I love stuff like this. This piece of folk art is wheat stalks made of old baling tines.

Lunch was at Mr. Goodcents in Tonganoxie, KS. $2.89 for a sandwich – what a deal!

A tank on display at the fine Reusch VFW Memorial Park in Tonganoxie, KS.

Finding a bit of shade on a hot summer day along a gravel road in Leavenworth County, KS.

I really enjoyed my ride in Leavenworth County, and can’t wait to go back and explore some more of their amazing back roads.

Cottonwood Falls April 2009

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This excursion out of Cottonwood Falls, KS on April 11th turned out to be a great little ride through the Flint Hills in early Spring.

Pics From Recent Rides

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Pictures from some recent bicycle rides around Eastern Kansas. Spring is finally starting to kick in!

Dirty Mudder Trucker

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With lousy weather predominating in recent weeks, riding opportunities have been limited. I did get out on a few rides to test out my new fenders, with mixed results.
A late-season snow gave me an opportunity to ride the Long Haul Trucker in a few inches of the white stuff, and the bike (and [...]

On The Cusp of Spring

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On the last day of Winter, I got out for a nice long ramble — about 35 miles of Miami County gravel southeast of Hillsdale. At long last, you can really see that Spring has almost arrived. The grass is starting to green up, trees are beginning to bud, and a few flowers [...]

The Long Haul Trucker as a Mountain Bike

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My Surly Long Haul Trucker had its first taste of singletrack, and found it rather tasty.
The LHT is not exactly a mountain bike, but it performed admirably on the trails at Dornwood Park and MacLennan Park in Topeka. These trails are more fast-and-flowy than technical, but there were still plenty of rocks and roots [...]

Exploring The Sunflower Area

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The Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant is a huge facility located in northwestern Johnson County, KS near the town of De Soto. The plant manufactured smokeless powder and propellants, starting in 1942, providing support for World War 2, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. It was the largest such facility in the world, and [...]

Double Knobbies

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I loaded up my new wheelset — Mavic XC717 rims, Shimano Deore XT hubs (thanks, 9Toes!) — with a pair of Nashbar Multi-Purpose MTB Tires I’d picked up cheap last year, and headed off on a gravel ramble.
This was the first time I’d ridden dual mountain bike tires on the Long Haul Trucker (previous rides [...]

Helmet Cracked, Head Intact

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I wrecked my mountain bike two months ago, began riding again about 3 weeks after the accident, and have been riding it regularly ever since.
In all that time, I never once took a good look at the helmet I’d been wearing the day of the wreck. It appeared intact, and felt solid.
But yesterday, as [...]

LHT: Impressions After 200 Miles

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I’ve now ridden just over 200 miles on my Surly Long Haul Trucker. It’s still too early to render a full verdict, but I can lay down some initial impressions:

Though I’d read some poor reviews of the WTB Slickasaurus tires, they haven’t been a problem so far. No flats, and they seem to roll reasonably [...]