DirtBum

Here are a few photos and stories from a very long road trip that my wife and I took to San Diego and back, through New Mexico and Arizona. Got to see some amazing sights — ocean, deserts, mountains — for the very first time!

Exploring Kansas City by folding bike, cruising through tree-lined neighborhoods, city parks, busy streets, and multi-use pathways. I got to play tourist in my own city!

Picked up a used folding bike, and took it for a first ride — with panniers and on gravel, naturally. Here are my initial impressions of the Dahon Vitesse D7HG.

I recently picked up an old 10-speed bicycle, a ‘Puch Cavette II’, from a garage sale. It’s not a high-end bike, but it’s a quality machine, and I’m hoping to update it a bit and make it a fun ride!

With rain in the forecast for the next week, I got away for a long ride to Pleasant Hill, Missouri and back, via Peculiar, Missouri, for about 90 miles.

Sometimes you stumble across the coolest places when you’re rambling … here’s my serendipitous discovery, a park dedicated to the Potawatomi Trail of Death, a forced march from Indiana to Kansas in 1838.

A ramble on minimum maintenance roads in Franklin County, Kansas. These are some of the sweetest roads I know — rocky, rough, remote, and scenic.

A “Tour of Rural Fences” seemed like a fun theme for a bike ride, so I headed off on gravel with a few specific fences in mind, just to see what else I’d stumble across. Lots, as it turns out!

A bicycle touring equipment torture test, and introducing two roadies to the joys of rough-riding.

Labor Day on the Flint Hills Nature Trail near Osawatomie, Kansas, and picking up a refugee along the way…

Lots of riding this fall, but very few “big” rides to write about. Quite a few “utility” miles, not quite as many “recreational” miles. Still, I took the time to capture a few moments.

A trip report, photos, and video from an all-too-short trip to northwest Arkansas.

A day-by-day photo-journal of the 30 Days of Biking challenge for April 2011.

Grit, graffiti, and poetry on a mini-adventure, rolling through urban Kansas City.

A report from an overnight bike camping tour to Leavenworth, Kansas.