I did the ride with Keith and Terry, another cyclist from St. Joseph, MO. Both are working on R-12 Awards — riding a 200K or longer for 12 consecutive months. I’m not doing that, so I didn’t do the ride “for credit”, just for fun (if you can imagine).

The ride officially started in Olathe at 5:00am, but rather than tacking on an extra 12 miles (into Olathe and back), I elected to meet Keith and Terry in Stilwell, about 10 miles into the route.

I left home at about 4:45, and met up with the other two at about 5:30, and we rolled south on Metcalf Road to Louisburg for the first quick break.

This is just before dawn at Louisburg Lake.

The “Welcome To La Cygne” sign is always a nice milepost along the route, and a nice place to take a short break before the fast downhill and long flat into town.

There’s a nice view from atop the hill. That’s La Cygne Lake to the left beyond the trees, and several mounds on the border between Kansas and Missouri.

(Note: You’ll probably notice a blueish tint to many of my photos. I had the camera’s white balance set for indoor lighting, and forgot to change it back before the ride. I tried to compensate with post-processing, some more successfully than others.)

The water tower in La Cygne, Kansas features a nice town logo. La Cygne is situated along the Marais des Cygnes River (French for “Marsh of the Swans”).

This shot is along County Road 1095 in Linn County, Kansas. This quiet paved road features some good-sized hills, with some corresponding fun downhills, along with some nice scenery. Even in the “brown months” of winter, it’s still a pleasant route to ride.

Also along 1095 is the Linnwood School, once a one-room schoolhouse, and perhaps a church (with a cemetery behind it), now used as a community center, with somewhat dilapidated playground equipment still on the grounds.

Once at Pleasanton we took a nice little rest. Here are the three bikes lined up along the side of the convenience store — Keith’s beautiful Kogswell, my Puch, and Terry’s Specialized Allez (with Terry alongside). We were all traveling pretty light. Terry had a Topeak handlebar bag, but other than that it was just seat bags and pockets.

Back on the road leaving Pleasanton, the day was warming and a nice little tailwind was picking up. All smiles from Keith and Terry. Peace out, ‘Dude.

Terry was nice enough to take my picture as we rolled along through the countryside.

There’s a 3-mile stretch along US-69 highway. It always strikes me as odd that bicycles are allowed on this 75 MPH road, but not on interstate highways in Kansas, which have the same speed limit and similar shoulders. It’s perfectly safe (as long as no fool tries to drive on the shoulder).

And finally, pulling into the garage after 133 miles.

Gear Report

I rode the Puch Cavette II on this trip, my first really long ride on this bike.

Other than wishing for “just one more gear” on some of the hills, the bike performed quite well. No mechanical problems. No major pains, other than shoulder/neck tension, which seems more a matter of acclimation than anything else. Hands good, knees good, feet good, even the saddle wasn’t a problem.

In fact, I still felt really strong at the end.

Part of this was due, in no small part, to the weather, which was quite amazing for early February in Kansas. The temperature dipped to about 32°F in spots in the early morning, and was 63°F by the time we finished up. There was a slight (less than 5 MPH) headwind outbound, and a noticeable-but-not-huge 10-12 MPH tailwind heading back home.

Gear-wise, I had two bits of pre-ride panic. First, I discovered my MagicShine headlight batteries were about done for. With one pack, I could barely get 1 hour on high, and 2 hours on low. The other pack wouldn’t even take a charge.

I figured I needed at least 3 hours of lighting, so I fell back to plan B, and used LED flashlights. My primary light was a Rayovac “Indestructible” flashlight (which I reviewed here: A Decent $15 Bike Light). It promises 100 lumens for up to 15 hours on a pair of AA batteries, which is pretty darned impressive. My second light was an older LED flashlight I had on hand (also running on AA’s). This gave me double redundancy, (triple, if you count the two AA’s in my camera). In practice, the Rayovac (pictured in the last photo above) performed just fine. I have a new bike-specific light on order, but for this ride, I was covered.

The second pre-ride flub was the loss of one of my favorite gloves the morning of the ride. So I used an old MTB glove I had lying around. Turns out that the missing glove was stuck to the inside of my fleece cap, which I discovered at the first stop. So I ended up taking along the glove that was lost, and leaving behind the glove that wasn’t missing. Dumb. Oh well, the MTB glove worked fine, other than cold fingertips for part of the ride.

Clothing-wise, I went with arm-warmers, a wool base layer, a Hind long-sleeve base layer over that, a short-sleeve jersey, and a thin windbreaker vest on top. On the bottom, Cannondale liner shorts and Cannondale pants, with two layers of wool socks and MTB shoes on my feet. I was never cold other than the fingertips. The arm-warmers and vest came off as the day warmed, and I never overheated.

For food, I brought along Clif bars and a gel-pack. I took a few bites of the Clif bar, and squeezed out the gel on the way back, but other than that it was just c-store food and drink:

• Granola bar in Stilwell
• Apple Fritter and V-8 in La Cygne
• Sausage and Egg Biscuit and chocolate milk in Pleasanton
• Pecan pie and Snapple in La Cygne

So, a bit heavy on the junk food, but no stomach problems and no lack of energy.

I ended up with 133 miles at a 15.25 MPH pace.

I rode basically the same route in March 2010 on the LHT (135 Miles and No Headwind) at a 15.0 MPH pace.

So slightly faster on the Puch, and I wasn’t as tired or sore. Do I attribute that to the bike, or to my fitness? Not sure. The difference is pretty slight.

Not much I’d change on the Puch. Better wheels and wider gearing would be nice, but not strictly necessary.

I must say that it tickles me to no end to ride 133 miles — a ride that most cyclists, riding lightweight bikes costing well over $1000, wouldn’t attempt — on a 34-year-old, $15 bike, with steel wheels and $7 tires. The tightwad in me, I guess…

The bike performed well, as expected, over about 14 miles of residential streets, city parks, busy streets, and multi-use pathways.

It was actually something of a one-person Tweed Ride, as I was “dressed up”, wearing slacks, shirt, and dress shoes. No problem!

Here are some photos:

A gorgeous old Cottonwood in Hyde Park.

This wicked steep little hill is in the Union Hill neighborhood. I’ve been down his hill before (rather scary, with the rough bricks and a stop sign before a busy road at the bottom — better have good brakes!) but this is my first time to climb it. And it’s also the steepest hill I’ve attempted on the Dahon. But no problem, the little bike just spun right up without issue.

Looking over the West Bottoms, and into Kansas.

At the Liberty Memorial, which “is a memorial to the fallen soldiers of World War I and houses the The National World War I Museum”.

Coincidentally, while I was there, a wedding party was using the site for photos. It’s a lovely locale, with the Kansas City skyline visible over the wall.

Here’s another perspective of the Liberty Memorial and grounds.

Near the memorial there was an encampment for OccupyKC, “a movement of citizens who have come together to reclaim our democracy from the 1% who have hijacked it. We will not allow this injustice to continue”. Not much was happening while I was there. Just a few folks lounging in tents, and no one eager to talk apparently.

And in Westport I stumbled across a gathering for Bank Transfer Day. They yelled “Yay bikes!” as I rode past…

Also in Westport I found this grafitti. Not sure what it originally said, but I like what’s left of the message: “Dude! Riding A Dinosour?”

This is a view of Brush Creek, which flows near the Plaza, and has a nice multi-use pathway on each side of the water. Saw a few walkers (and a few men who had apparently camped under one of the bridges), but no other cyclists.

Finally, I rode on the grounds of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art for a bit. No time to actually go inside, unfortunately.

This is the “front lawn” in front of the Nelson, where giants play badminton.

(As I took this photo, a man came up and asked me if the bike was for sale. This isn’t the first time I’ve been asked that. I don’t think I’ll have any trouble getting rid of this bike when its time comes…)

This pathway on the Nelson grounds looks very European, I think.

Time’s been a bit tight for me lately, but I did get two bike overnights in during August, and both were less than 12 miles or so from home.

The first night I was there, I had only a vague idea where I’d be setting up, and with a 6PM start, time was short. But, since it was so close to home, I was there by 7 or so, so had plenty of time to locate a flat, grassy area, and set up camp.

Grass wasn’t too tall, and brush hadn’t overtaken the site, and it was partially hemmed in by trees — perfect!

I located some rocks, made small fire ring, and started a blaze. It wasn’t cold, but a fire is always comforting.

As darkness settled in, I kept the small fire burning, letting it idle down before turning in for the night. There was a mostly-full moon, and the sky was clear, so the stars were out. I kept the rain fly off the tent and enjoyed staring up at the heavens.

In the early morning the coyotes started up, at first far off, then eventually near at hand. At one point the whole pack was yipping nearby. Not sure how close exactly, but not far off! It was a pretty special moment, even if I did get out of the tent and stoke the fire back up until daybreak.

There was ground fog in the dawn, and dew covered the grass and trees. This is a view over a nearby pasture.

A dew-covered spider in its web, waiting for breakfast.

Flannel Mullein with with a solitary bloom.

The ground fog was beginning to burn off as I made my way out of the area.

My next camping opportunity was in late August. I had a group ride scheduled for Saturday, so I loaded up my camping gear on the bike, rode to the meetup point, and did the ride fully loaded. What’s an extra 20 pounds?

By afternoon, the temperature had climbed into the mid-90′s so it was rather muggy as I made my way back to the same campsite. Luckily, there was just a bit of a breeze, and the temperature moderated quickly as the sun went down.

I set up camp in basically the same configuration as before, using the same fire ring. That one long branch wasn’t very big, but it was solid, and it lasted me the whole night through.

In the morning, there was little to no dew, and the sun was already up as I went walking. I found this fat preying mantis clinging to a cedar tree.

Wouldn’t want to climb this tree!

Not sure what this purple flower is, but it was very pretty.

Acorns are setting on the oaks.

A big hairy hedge ball.

Puffs of milkweed seeds waiting to be cast adrift by the breeze.

Not sure what this plant is, but these little burrs latch onto everything, and are very difficult to remove, particularly from leg hairs. Ouch!

I used a bit of a different bike setup this time around. Rather than running front panniers, I managed to fit most everything in the rear panniers, then used a cooler on the front rack. Makes a fine place to store food and extra water. Might not be quite enough space for a long trip, though, if I were having to carry extra clothing and other gear. But for a short overnighter, this setup works well.

Hoping to get out a few more times before the cold weather sets in!

It was a cool but sunny day, starting off in the 50′s and ending up about 65°F, with a light wind out of the east. Quite pleasant, indeed!

The easterly wind is rather unusual here (it’s usually out of the south or west), so I took this opportunity to explore some new territory in Missouri. I’d never been to Pleasant Hill, but had heard that it was a nice little town that was looking forward to seeing the Katy Trail come through town.

The first 20 miles of the route were on familiar paved roads, and not much of note. After that, the gravel ratio picked up a notch. Ran into a few miles of freshly-graded road just west of Pleasant Hill, and that was a little frustrating, but was over soon enough.

Here was my first sight on entering Pleasant Hill, the future path of the Katy Trail. The Katy currently ends in Clinton, MO, but a new extension is being built from Pleasant Hill to Windsor (just north of Clinton). One of the reasons I wanted to visit Pleasant Hill was to see if any progress was visible. Obviously not here.

Next I came to the old Pleasant Hill train depot. The building is in great shape, but appears to be empty (or at least nothing was open when I was there). Beautiful old structure, but this will not, as far as I can tell, be along the Katy Trail — the depot is on another, active, line.

These two signs tell the history of Pleasant Hill, from its beginnings in the 1820s, through a sad period during the Civil War when the surrounding countryside was razed, through its days as a railroad town.

The town has a very simple and elegant veterans memorial, made of extremely polished stone, and bearing quotes from George Washington, Admiral Nimitz, John F. Kennedy, and George W. Bush, so it must be fairly new.

You can see from this image that the wind was a little strange on this day. The flag in the background is slack, but one of the flags in the reflection is standing out straight, while the one next to it is drooping. Weird.

This is the museum in downtown Pleasant Hill, housed in a lovely stone building. It was closed, unfortunately.

There’s a mural on the side of the museum building that depicts scenes from the town’s history.

After getting some lunch, I headed out of town, when I came across this. I had my route mapped out, but didn’t know about this road closure. I decided to continue, in hopes that the road I was looking for, Sherwood, branched off before the closure.

And indeed, it did.

Just one problem — it, too, was closed, this time for “Bridge Out”. I briefly considered chancing it, but had no way of knowing how far away the bridge was, and whether the bridge was truly missing, or whether it was passable by bike. I decided not to chance it, so headed back out to the highway and took the next road to the east, headed south. One way or another, I figured, it would connect and get me home. And so it did.

Along the way, the road crossed this trail. I presume it was the future Katy extension, but it wasn’t marked, (other than by “No Trespassing” and “Closed for Construction” signs), so I’m not sure. But it’s in the right spot, so it must be. At this crossing, it looks pretty well complete. Not sure of the status of the rest of the route.

There were equipment and people at work going the other direction (behind me as I took this photo), but they were a ways down the trail, so I moved on.

After quite a few miles of gravel and lightly-trafficked paved back roads, I rolled into Peculiar. After purchasing a few overpriced snack items from the truck stop, I found this water tower, and arranged it, myself, and the bike just so.

Water towers don’t lie.

After Peculiar, I was on mostly familiar roads. This is the marker for the “Trail of Death“, the route used during the forced relocation of the Potawatomie people in 1838. This is located at 215th and State Line Road. on the Kansas side.

And nearby, another historical sign, this one stating that the Fort Leavenworth – Fort Scott Military Road crossed here.

I’d love to ride the Military Road route someday. There actually is an official route, the Frontier Military Scenic Byway, but that uses US-69 highway, which is not a bike-friendly, or at least not a very pleasant, route. I’d like to go by back roads.

Ultimately, I made it home with about 77 miles on the odometer. But the cyclocomputer had been flaking out for the last 30 miles — weak battery, I presume. My route map had been for 83 miles, but due to the detour, I knew I had more than that.

I considered going for the century, since I was so close, but how close was I? Was I at 85 miles? 95? No way of knowing for sure.

Once home, I retraced the route, and came up with 89.2 miles:

Oh well, there will be other days for the century.

It’s a blessing to know that I have the health and fitness to knock off a hundee anytime the opportunity arises. Though my legs were showing the fatigue by the end, everything else — hands, shoulders/neck, butt, energy level — was good. I certainly could have done another 10+.

Still, I ended up with an (estimated) 90 miles at an (estimated) speed of 13.5 MPH.

It was a very pleasant day, indeed!

Note: What I’m referring to here as “bike camping” is basically a self-supported overnight tour — ride somewhere, camp out, then ride home the next day. Some folks refer to these as S24O (Sub-24-hour Overnight) trips, but I think that’s a really awkward phrase. Adventure Cycling uses the term Bike Overnights, which is better. But I use “bike camping” and “bicycle tour” to refer to short or long tours, respectively.

I took off from home on Friday afternoon, meeting Bill in De Soto, then crossing the Kansas River and riding due north with a nice tailwind.

Along the way I came across this: Very considerate to put out a couch for the touring cyclist to rest!

On the way to De Soto I took a short detour to check out an abandoned bridge. Pretty cool.

Waiting at the park in De Soto … check out the flags whipping in the wind!

North of the river, we hit a few miles of gravel, and a few hills. Not long, but certainly steep!

Once in Leavenworth, we rode the Three-Mile Trail that connects their downtown area to the Missouri River. This shot was taken beneath a street underpass.

I was running pretty much the same setup that I used for last September’s Adventure Monkey tour (see packing list). Bill was running a lighter setup on the bike — just a tent and blanket on the rear rack — but he carried a large backpack.

In downtown Leavenworth we stopped for a visit with the folks at the Santa Fe Trails Bicycle & Coffee Shop, where Bill got a photo with a wandering tinman.

There are some beautiful old buildings in Leavenworth, and this one was particularly striking. I amped up the colors a bit, but the blues and reds and brick were vivid even with no tweaking.

Here’s a view from atop the bluff, looking over the railroad and river, with Missouri on the other side.

And here’s the view from our campsite at Riverfront Park, with the historic Centennial Bridge in the background. This is a great little campground. The location right there along the river was amazing, and just a short ride into town and all the amenities you’d like.

After dinner in town, we rode back to camp and the sight of the river and bridge in the dark was rather spectacular. This is me on the riverbank with the lights from the bridge shimmering in the river (it’s a 15-second exposure, which is why the river surface looks so indistinct).

And after a restful night (even with periodic trains passing by only a 100 yards or so from the tents), here’s the view at sunrise.

Clouds had rolled in overnight, and storms threatened at daybreak, but we only had a short sprinkle in camp, just enough to get the tents wet. There was a bit of lightning across the river.

Soon enough the storm passed, the clouds drifted off, and the sun began to peek over the trees. It was a beautiful time to be on the river.

The morning light was glorious, and Bill and I posed on either side of this huge old moss-covered cottonwood tree.

After searching (unsuccessfully) for a cafe for breakfast, we came across this mural, so had to stop and get a photo. Leavenworth is known as the “First City” in Kansas. That’s Buffalo Bill in the center.

We had a little time to kill before the Kansas Sampler Festival opened at 10am, so we explored the town a bit more. This is a brick-paved drive on the campus of the University of Saint Mary.

After attending the festival for a couple hours, and learning about a lot of great places to visit in Kansas (and imbibing a bit of Kansas beer and wine), we hit the road, heading south on K-5. This is a lovely highway with light traffic and great views, though it’s rather hilly in places.

Finally, after riding through Lansing, Piper, Kansas City Kansas, and Bonner Springs, we crossed the Kansas River on K-7 and hit the Mill Creek Streamway for a few miles.

Bill and I split at this point, with me riding south through Olathe and Bill heading east to Prairie Village.

Here’s the approximate route I took over the trip:

I ended up with about 105 miles for the two days.

It was a great little tour, and I’m looking forward to doing more soon!

Here’s Bill and Corinna riding on weekend-empty KC streets. Bill’s still in his Tweed Ride finery, and Corinna’s in her Chocolate Fairy get-up.

We didn’t get to ride together all that long, but she led us to a few mini-adventures:

Al-Rahman Halal Market, a local market specializing in Middle Eastern and African food. Never would have stopped in there on my own, but a really nice little shop.

Worldwide ultraglobal international top secret superheadquarters of MK12.

“Ride a Bike” … yeah!

Graffiti in a rail yard: “Only believe what you here … welcome to the real world”.

We evacuated the railroad tracks when a train came through, then stopped at the next intersection and Corinna recited a poem she’d written that weaved the “secret concrete canyon” and the “nine blue sheep” graffiti together with other stories from the city and her life. It was powerful. Stunning, actually. I only wish I’d had the foresight to capture it on video.

But luckily, here it is, recorded at a Jazz Poetry Jam, Corinna West’s “816″:

After that, we split, with Corinna headed north, and Bill and I rolling on south towards home.

I want to get back there some time and do some more exploring. So many hidden gems to discover in the city.

Thanks for the tour and the poem, Corinna!

April 1: Criss-crossed the Santa Fe Trail numerous times in 34 miles. This is 191st Street just east of the Johnson/Douglas County line.

April 2: Rural graffiti in a railroad underpass near Spring Hill, KS. 36 miles.

April 3: It was crazy windy — 30-40 MPH — and crazy hot for early April — 90+°F. This is at the Veterans Memorial Park in Gardner, KS. In places, especially through open farmland, it was all I could do to keep the bike moving and keep it from being blown off the road. 16 miles.

April 4: What a difference a day makes! April 3rd was 90°. April 3rd was maybe 40°. But the wind was still a-blowing, so rather than venturing out on the open road, I headed to nearby Lone Elm Park for a short ride. About 5 miles.

April 5: I rode to Leawood, KS for a photo shoot for ‘Cycling the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route’ with Carfree American Bill Poindexter: http://cyclingw3r.blogspot.com/. 53 miles.

April 6: This is the Elm Street Bridge over the BNSF Railroad tracks, looking north into downtown Gardner, KS. The bridge was built in 1954 and closed to all traffic a few years ago. It’s inadequate for vehicular traffic, but would make a great bike/ped bridge! It was finally a beautiful day, but I was taking it a bit easy after my longest ride of the year. 19 miles.

April 7: It was a cool an windy day and rain was forecast, so I broke out the mountain bike and drove to the trails at the northwest corner of Hillsdale Lake. This bridge was built in 1920 and carries an average of 35 cars a day. Divine indeed! About 5 miles.

April 8: This old barn is located near 191st & Clare Rd in SW Johnson County. Not sure if it has any historical significance, but it’s a beautiful old structure. 8 miles.

April 9: I smelled like creek water after this. What happened? a) I fell in after taking this picture; b) I walked the bike across; c) I tried riding across, but the current swept my wheels out from under me; d) I rode across successfully.

The correct answer is “d”. I rode across without incident, but got my feet dunked in the deeper-than expected water. Rode the rest of the way with wet socks and shoes! 65 miles.

April 10: Looking out over the Marais des Cygnes river valley, with Osawatomie in the distance.

(OK, I cheated on this one. I rode on April 10th, but it was just a grocery run, with no photos. So I used this shot from the day before…) 10 miles.

April 11: I had a dentist appointment in Overland Park, so rode there in the morning, and noticed a group of kids riding along the sidewalk. I caught up with them just as they were parking their bikes at Cottonwood Point Elementary in Overland Park. No parental escort in sight, but with helmets & bike locks, someone taught these kids well!

Earlier, I had nearly been t-boned by a woman in a van, who pulled out onto a main road from a side street without stopping (or looking, apparently), just as I was passing by. Luckily, I was riding well into the lane, so had some maneuvering room (and should have been very visible). No harm, no foul, but I’m glad at least one of us was paying attention. About 43 miles.

April 12: This is another photo from my dentist ride. In this one, a cyclist rides through the underpass beneath Antioch Road on the Indian Creek Trail in Overland Park. When I came upon this tunnel, I recognized that it would be a good photo opportunity, so I stopped and waited for someone to come by. I waited and I waited, and finally gave up and started riding away when I saw a cyclist coming fast. I had to hurry to get back into position, and was only able to get this one shot in before he was gone. I like the way it turned out, though.

On my real live April 12th ride, I journeyed up to the Olathe Walmart, detouring for a spin around Lake Olathe, and checking out the West 127th Street bike lanes. About 22 miles.

April 13: Crossing Ten Mile Creek on Ridgeview Road near Spring Hill, KS. There’s a lovely decrepit old bridge, but it’s missing a deck. Hence, either turn around or take the water route. Today I forded.

You can read the full story of this little ride here: Two Creeks Crossed. About 22 miles.

April 14: Grocery getter … it’s about 5-6 miles to the nearest store, and I usually make the run several times a week. The bike makes the trip fun, and discourages me from buying too much stuff. I have larger panniers and a trailer I can use if I need heavy/bulky items.

I know this isn’t the most exciting or creative picture, but not every ride is an adventure. Some are purely utilitarian, and that’s OK. Time on the bike is still a joy, whether it’s grocery shopping or exploring the countryside. 13 miles.

April 15: Rock Creek School near Wellsville, Kansas, was in operation from 1860 to 1966. This red brick structure was built in 1910, and though it has been closed for 45 years, it’s still in great shape, and is used as a community building.

For this ride, I drove to Hillsdale Lake, parked, and did the ride, a short loop headed west. It was cool and drizzling rain, so that was plenty. 8 miles.

April 16: Stone and steel. Grabbed this pic on a grocery run, about 3 miles form my house. This wall looks impressive in this shot, but it’s really not. It’s full-height at this one spot, but peters away to nothing within a short distance both ways. 11 miles.

April 17: This is the Middle Creek Railroad Bridge on the Flint Hills Nature Trail near Peoria, KS. Lovely day on the trail! 46 miles.

April 18: Seems everyone’s complaining about the cost of gas, yet every pump was in use when I went to get fuel for the mower. Somehow it doesn’t seem so expensive when you’re only buying a gallon at a time. About 11 miles.

April 19: This is a rather strange bike lane, on 143rd Street in front of Havencroft Elementary in Olathe. The lane transitions from the street to a sidepath to accommodate vehicular parking in front of the school (and yet cars still park on the grass). Not a big deal, as traffic is usually light and it’s easy enough to take the lane. But it’s an odd configuration.

And just west of this, there are three roundabouts, and for each one, the bike lane disappears up onto the sidewalk, which is confusing, and not very useful. Again, I just ride in the road like the normal traffic that I am, and control the lane as needed. About 19 miles.

April 20: Falls below the dam at Olathe’s Cedar Lake. Not the clearest water, but a nice scene. About 13 miles.

For a listing of other waterfalls in the state of Kansas, see KansasTravel.org.

April 21: No dead end!

This isn’t the most interesting photo, but I think it illustrates something rather important. This is an example of an often-overlooked piece of cycling infrastructure, a short pathway that provides a link between two otherwise unconnected neighborhoods. In this case, a 200-foot section of pathway saves me a mile on a busy two-lane road. Finding these hidden links is one of the skills that a cyclist can use to get around quickly and safely in suburbia.

About 13 miles.

April 22: You know you’re in for a wild ride when even the road sign has been mudded. Thoughts are with the Trans Iowa racers, who start at 4am tomorrow on a 320+ mile trek on gravel and B roads. Hope they don’t see too much rain and mud!

(This is another time-shifted photo. I rode on this day (about 9 miles), but none of my photos were worth sharing. This is from my Sunday ride out of Wellsville. It was one of the few surprises on a route with otherwise familiar roads. It may look a little wet in this picture, but the mud was dried, which made for a very bumpy ride over the clods.)

April 23: Civil War history at Signal Oak Overlook near Baldwin City, looking north towards Lawrence. This was the site of a large white oak from which lanterns were hung during the border ruffian days of the Civil War, to warn settlers of slave raiders from Missouri.

I rode west to Douglas County State Fishing Lake, which usually provides me with some nice photos. Unfortunately, on this day all the good spots were fill with people fishing. Oh well, even though it was cool, cloudy, and a bit windy, it was a fun 46-mile ride nonetheless.

April 24: Well, I can’t complain. This was my first flat of 2011, and my first on this tire in 3000+ miles. And it was a slow leak, allowing me to limp home and fix the flat at my leisure. This little thorn was the culprit. About 10 miles.

April 25: Storm Clouds Gather — It was a rainy day, but I got out for a short 12-mile ride between showers. I actually didn’t feel much like riding this day. Not sure if it was the weather, or a bit of fatigue, but once I got outside and on the bike, I felt good.

This photo is the result of a bit of image manipulation, using the “curves” feature of my paint program to darken the shot. This was actually taken in full daylight, with gray clouds swirling overhead — visible, but not so evident as here. The framing of the bike with the tall grass was largely accidental, but I’ll take it.

I like this shot. It looks rather spooky.

April 26: A view of an oft-traveled road, from a road less traveled…

This is 167th Street over I-35. The gravel roads are mostly in great shape, but a bit wet in spots, hence the mud on the tires. About 19 miles.

April 27: Big Bluestem, Big Clouds, Big Wind

It was another cloudy, cool, and windy day, so I kept it close to home. This is another shot from Lone Elm Park. About 9 miles.

April 28: A racer crosses the finish line at the PowerFiTTE 10K Time Trial in Gardner. Great turnout for this event, with some really fast riders!

It was a nice sunny day, finally, and I rode around a bit before the event, getting in about 34 miles altogether. The time trials have been held in Gardner for years, but I’d never attended. I’m glad I got a “racing” picture into the collection. Not really my thing, personally, but gotta admire the rider’s speed and focus, and many of the bikes are really beautiful.

April 29: Met a hiker on this path who said he’d found a nice mess of mushrooms a few days before, but nothing so far on this day. I searched a bit, and came up empty. But the ride was reward enough. 18 miles.

April 30: The Kansas City Tweed Ride on the car-free Cliff Drive Scenic Byway.

I drove to a friend’s house, about halfway there, and we rode in the rest of the way. I’d never been on Cliff Drive, nor spent much time in northeast Kansas City, so this ride was a treat, as was the ride back, which turned into a bit of an urban ramble. About 33 miles.

Totals for the month:
30 rides
665 miles
22 car-free days

The riding was the easy part. There were a few days I probably would have skipped without the challenge, but once I got out the door I didn’t regret it.

The harder part was finding 30 unique and interesting photos, especially since I was limiting my driving days.

Suffice it to say that I used up a lot of the material within an easy ride from my house, and if I ever do this again, it’ll be very difficult not to repeat myself!

What’s your favorite photo of the month?

Creek #1: Bull Creek on 327th

April 9th was a warm and windy Saturday. I got a bit of a late start, so the wind was at its maximum as I headed south.

After 18 miles or so of mostly gravel, and then a ride across the Hillsdale Lake dam and a climb out of the valley, I stopped here at the Hillsdale Lake sign for a quick break and a photo.

I then kept heading south into the wind, another 10 miles or so to Osawatomie. I wasn’t pushing it too hard, trying not to wear myself out against the ~25 MPH wind. But still, by the time I reached the turnaround, I was ready for a break. I stopped in at the Sonic in Oz. They were busy, and it took much longer than I expeced to get my creamslush, so I drank a bit, then hit the road.

Once I turned north, and had the wind fully at my back, I no longer felt the wind at all, and it was hot! Glad I had the cool drink, which lasted about 8 miles or so.

I was finished by the time I reached Bull Creek on 327th Street. I headed down the minimum maintenance road to the low-water crossing, knowing that I could turn back if the water was too deep to cross.

I had ridden through here about a year ago, and the water had been rather high and fast, and I chickened out and turned around rather than trying to ride through it.

This year, the water was still flowing pretty good, but I was either a little braver, or a little more foolish, but I determined that I would try riding it.

Turned out to be not bad at all. No slippage. The bike just rode right on through, even though I was running my “road” tires (slicks).

The only problem was, the water was a little deeper than expected, and my pedalstrokes dunked my feet in the water. So I rode for the next 25 miles or so with wet shoes and socks. Luckily, no blisters.

The car in the picture showed up just as I was preparing to cross. Thought about handing him the camera and asking him to shoot my attempt, but that would’ve required my to cross three times, and I didn’t want to push my luck.

I bonked a bit a few miles later, as the sugar from the ice cream wore off. I stopped along the side of the road and ate a bit of Clif bar. That helped, and the rest of the ride wasn’t too bad. I was still feeling pretty good by the time I got home.

I ended up with 65 miles at an 11.6 MPH average. Slow, but my longest ride of the year!

Creek #2: Ten Mile Creek on Ridgeview Road

This is another creek that I had not dared to cross before. It’s located just ten miles or so from home, but it’s not a route I usually take, so I don’t get there often. I was most recently there this winter, where I took this photo.

When I arrived at the road, I was greeted with a surprise:

This is brand new, and a little odd. Miami County just put a bunch of work into this minimum-maintenance road, then put up a gate. It didn’t say “Keep Out”, so I took “Travel At Your Own Risk” to mean that it’s still a public road, just closed to motor vehicles…

The road was pretty rutted, looks like some idiot(s) went mudding. Maybe that’s why the county closed it.

On the edge of the creek, ready to cross, with the skeleton of the Ten Mile Creek Ridgeview Road Bridge looming overhead.

I thought about trying to ride across, but there were some pretty big rocks in the stream, making for an uneven bottom, and some were mossy, so I figured I’d fall over and get all my gear wet. (And I hadn’t brought a dry bag for my electronics, so didn’t want to kill my phone and camera.)

So I took off my shoes and socks and walked it across. Here’s my improvised shoe portage system.

The water wasn’t very deep, and the rocks weren’t as slippery as I feared, so it was a pretty easy crossing.

Here’s the view from the other side, as I sat on the ground putting my socks and shoes back on.

And yes, I’m riding my mountain bike again! It feels kind of weird after so many miles on the Surly, but it also feels much lighter than the LHT. Not sure how much I’ll ride it going forward, but for now, it’s good to switch things up.

Then the snow started falling, and I couldn’t resist heading out for one last (I hope!) snow ride:

A snow-covered sign at Lone Elm Park.

Looks like a winter wonderland at Lone Elm Park.

Poor little daffodils weren’t expecting this!

As the snow began sticking to the roads, the washboarded gravel road really stood out. It’s not much fun if you happen to find yourself bouncing over that.

I was all smiles, riding though falling snow one last time this season.

Like last year’s trip, I headed down on a Saturday. My mom accompanied me this year, so I first drove to central Missouri, before heading down MO-13 Highway. We passed through Springfield, where I stopped for a quick visit at Sunshine Bike Shop before we continued south on 13 through Kimberling City, then west a bit and into Arkansas at Holiday Island.

Once we were settled in, we headed over to Beaver, Arkansas. I rode the bike around for a bit while my mom walked the trail and tried a bit of fishing (no luck).

This is the beautiful Beaver Bridge over the White River (now part of Table Rock Reservoir). It’s over 550 feet long, and one lane, so traffic has to stop at each end to make sure the span is clear. If two cars meet on the bridge, one of them has to back up to let the other pass.

A few years ago, Tyson Industries (huge agribusiness with lots of chicken & turkey farmers in Arkansas) was pressuring the Arkansas Department of Transportation to destroy this bridge and replace it with one suitable for truck traffic. I can see the need for a truck route (many of the roads there are narrow and winding), but replacing this historic bridge with a dull concrete slab would be pure short-sighted madness. Apparently, the company has backed off, and the bridge has been saved. Whew.

This trail runs along the bluffs next to the lake. It’s only about a half-mile in length, but it’s lovely. Too bad more of this old railroad route (the Missouri & North Arkansas Railway) couldn’t have been saved when the line was abandoned in the early 1960′s — it would have made a spectacular trail through the mountains.

The next day was threatening rain, but it was sunny when I rolled out for a quick loop up through the Mark Twain National Forest. I rode over the Beaver Bridge, then west on AR-187 until it turned south, and a gravel road continued west.

This is the view from one point along that gravel road, running through a lovely bucolic valley, with rolling mountains rising on either side, cattle grazing on the newly-green grass, and a stream never far from the road.

At one point the road passes through a low-water crossing, and I marveled again at the clearness of Arkansas streams (compared to the muddy creeks back home). And no worries about bogging down in mud — there is none! — just rocks.

The road passed by this old homestead with a ruined stone house. Actually, this place must have been an impressive sight at one time — it’s big, and surrounded by stone fences and terraces.

Near the house was this circle of daffodils. Not sure what was here at one time … perhaps a garden?

When the road passed from Arkansas into Missouri, I entered the Mark Twain National Forest. I took the first road to the right (I’d missed this road on last year’s ride, and got a bit lost), and was immediately surrounded by trees.

The sun had disappeared by this time, and a mile or so later, the first light drops of rain started to fall. I stopped and put on my rain jacket, and was thinking “This isn’t too bad, but if it really starts raining, I’m going to get soaked.”

About as quickly as that thought came to mind, it did start raining harder. Not pouring, but steadier by the minute. I soon rounded a corner in the road, and was greeted with the sight of a huge rock bluff rising to the west, just off the road. And at the base of the bluff, an overhang that looked not only dry, but roomy enough for both me and my bike.

It was if in answer to an unvoiced prayer. Pretty amazing how the shelter appeared just when I needed it.

I waited out the rainstorm beneath the rocks, comfortable and dry. Turns out that there was indeed plenty of space. There would have been plenty of space for a half-dozen cyclists and their bikes.

Here’s a little video I shot while I was waiting. Sorry about the sound; the built-in microphone on my camera isn’t very good apparently:

The rain let up after about 20 minutes or so and I went back out to the road. The gravel forest road was wet, but not muddy in the least, and I resumed my ride, a long, twisting ascent to a ridgeline that carried me back east through the forest.

I stopped at this overlook for a quick break, and to enjoy the view.

Once out of the forest, I was on paved roads, but traffic was thankfully light, and I crossed back over Table Rock Lake on MO-86, then turned south back into Arkansas, and by steep twisty back roads to the condo.

I ended up with about 27 miles.

The next day was rainy and quite cool, so we drove to Eureka Springs and explored the old town for awhile. I stopped at one point to get a closeup shot of this daffodil wet with raindrops.

I intended to ride the rest of the week, but got a call in the morning from my wife, letting me know about the health problem, so we packed things up and headed on home.

On the way back I drove north on MO-39 through Aurora, Mt. Vernon, and Stockton. From there, I took a back road, Route J, which was a great little low-traffic route with nice scenery. I’d like to go back and ride that route again by bike sometime.

We hooked up with Highway 13 near the town of Collins, and from there it was a straight shot back to my parents house, then home by familiar roads through Kansas City.

So the grand total of the week was about 30 miles of riding, and probably 800+ of driving. Not exactly the ratio I prefer, but oh well.

Better luck next year, I hope.

Since the wind was out of the south, I headed down to Hillsdale Lake via gravel roads. The gravel’s mostly in pretty good condition, except for a few roads that have been recently graded. Those are always a challenge.

I stopped at a trailhead near the lake, and just wandered a bit through a nearby grassy area, finding a soft open spot and just lay on my back for a bit, soaking in the sunshine.

Nice, and just what I needed.

Some pics:

This is a nice little scene, but I’ll be happier when there’s more green …

Grass, ready to let fly some seeds for Spring.

More seeds ready to be released.

And still more!

And finally, this is a culvert under some railroad tracks. Nothing too magnificent, but I find it amazing that our forefathers created such solid workmanship and beauty for a rather mundane purpose. What would such a structure look like if it was built today? Plain, functional, but ugly concrete, no doubt.

After a very snowy January and early February, we hit a nice stretch of warmer-than-normal weather, which melted all the snow, and whetted the appetite for more. Unfortunately, now it’s snowed again, and the weekend is looking rather dreary. But the coming week looks promising, and in mid-March I’m planning to head down to Arkansas again. Yay!

So this is a catch-up post, with a few photos:

Bridge out, creek thawed. Time to turn back. This is the Ten Mile Creek Ridgeview Road Bridge just east of Spring Hill, Kansas.

This was taken on the Flint Hills Nature Trail near Rantoul, Kansas. I only ended up riding about a mile on the trail, because the snow was just too deep and hard to pedal.

I was trying to reproduce this shot from Fat Tire MN, but didn’t have fresh enough snow nor large enough wheels.

A nice shadow-and snow effect in Paola, Kansas.

The ice-covered Lake Miola in Paola, Kansas.

The next big round of snow was in early February, and once the plows made it through, conditions were actually pretty nice.

But, of course, with a few days of warmish weather, the gravel roads soon turned to muck.

This is Hillsdale Lake, iced-over and snow-covered, but not for long…

By mid-February, the temperatures were up into the seventies, which not only meant that the snow disappeared, but it was shorts weather, at least for a day!

This statue is called Pastoral Dreamer, and is located in Leawood, KS.

It was even nice enough for a night ride. This is a 60-second exposure on a quiet country road, with light from a full moon filtering through a line of trees. The dashes of light in the sky are stars, blurred by the rotation of the earth.

Late in the month, I got out for a group ride, and though the gravel roads were in fine form, we managed to find a minimum-maintenance road that turned out to be a little wetter than we’d hoped. There were several places along this mile-long stretch where I had to walk the bike.

The gumbo quickly filled the space between my tires and fenders, and eventually it stopped the front weel from turning. I had to take the front wheel off three times to clear the muck out.

It wasn’t as bad as this ride, but it was close.

Here are the after-effects the next day. Oh well, the bike needed a good cleaning anyway.

January ended up being a good month for me, mileage-wise, with about 275 miles. February, unless I get a few in the next couple days, will end up at about 200.

Next month, with warming weather and a week in slightly warmer climes, should be well over 300, with any luck.

I doubt that we’ve seen the last of Winter, considering that there were late-March snowstorms each of the last two years, but Spring is definitely in sight. Finally!

Given the snowfall in the forecast, I took another opportunity to get out and ride while the snow was coming down. I timed it right, and got in a short ride to Lone Elm Park before the roads got too bad.

The Lone Elm trails, which were so nice the last time I’d ridden through, were a little rough. We’d had one day of above-freezing temps, which allowed the top of the snow to turn crusty. Plus, several people had walked through in the meantime, and the compressed snow beneath the footprints turned to ice. A little treacherous, and quite a bit of bumpety-bump.

Some pics:

There’s also more up-and-down to these trails, far closer to singletrack than the gravel trail at Lone Elm.

All told, I got in about 30 miles, most of it gravel. It was sunny and about 28°F when I left the house, but as the afternoon wore on the temperature dropped and the wind picked up. It was a rather cold ride back home.

Some pics from the ride:

On the edge of iced-over Hillsdale Lake.

Someone's been out on the ice doing some fishing, so it must be safe. But I stepped onto the ice and heard a big creak, so I went no further. Chicken.

The snowed-in trails at Hillsdale Lake were a little tougher than I expected, but I was able to ride most of it.

This road's been closed for so long that the sign is barely legible.

Antioch Schoolhouse has been closed for about 50 years. It's privately owned now, and sort of maintained, though the monkey bars and swingset don't get much use any more.

Derelict Barn

I love this huge old Cottonwood tree overshadowing an abandoned shack.

A red barn in a pasture near 199th and Homestead Lane.

This stone house may not be around much longer. It's the last structure standing on the grounds of the soon-to-be-built BNSF Intermodal Facility near Edgerton.

Mr. Cardinal and Mr. Raccoon say "What you doing out riding in this weather?"

I decided to check out the trails at Lone Elm Park, the nearest place for me to ride off-road. Four days after the initial snow, I didn’t expect to be the first person to set foot in the park, but it turns out I was. Except for numerous wildlife tracks, the trails were virgin, with the snow about 4 inches deep in most places.

Here are some photos from my short ride:

Making first tracks on a bridge at Lone Elm Park.

Tread Deeply: This is a good look at the track left my Specialized Hardrock’r tires. Had no troubles getting around!

Love these rather delicate wingprints.

A deer track (I think). I saw one small deer while I was at the park, but she was too quick for me to get a picture.

These tracks are either from a field mouse running across the snow, or from a bird hopping on the surface.

I think these are mouse runs leading to a tunnel under the grass.

Not all the wildlife at the park survived. This coyote was lying along the trail; hard to say what killed it.

And not all the trees are lovely, either, as the huge spikes on this hedge (Osage Orange) tree attest.

The hedge apples produced by the Osage Orange trees provide food for the squirrels and birds in the park.

The hedge apples appear to be favored by wildlife such as this chatty fellow.

The snow on the bridge, path, and trees made for a lovely scene. This picture also shows the snow building up on my wheels, though it was always rather easy pedaling, even through the deeper drifts.

The cocklebur: Nature's velcro.

Once out of the park and onto gravel, the road was mostly clear. Luckily the temperature was still under freezing, otherwise this would have been a slushy mess.

(Sorry if it’s difficult to make out details in some of these photos; the whiteness of the snow tends to make finding the right contrast difficult.)

Hope you enjoyed riding along with me!

Conditions for snow-biking were just about perfect. Mid-20′s temperature. Light wind. About 2 inches of fluffy powder on the ground, and more falling. First snow of winter, so most drivers were taking it slow, or staying home entirely.

I switched over to my snow tires, a set of Specialized Hardrock’rs with super deep knobbies, and switched to flat pedals as well, so that I could wear the new winter boots I got for Christmas.

The view from my garage -- a couple inches on the ground, and more coming down. Ready to ride!

Stopping beneath the power transmission lines, I could hear the electric popping of snowflakes as they're vaporized (I assume).

A peaceful tree-lined gravel road...

Falling snow covers all, and obscures the distant trees.

A stone fence, falling snow, and crystallized flakes melting on a Brooks leather saddle.

A red barn framed by a lane of snow-laden cedar trees.

The snow was falling thick and fat in an idyllic scene of road and bridge.

It was a joyful ride!

Making first tracks on a trail while traffic passed on nearby I-35.

Snow continued to fall heavily as I made my way home.

A good look at the aggressive knobs on the Hardrock'r.

I got in about 15 miles, and it was just the ride I was looking for. Such a different experience to ride familiar roads transformed by a layer of white.

The tires did a good job in the fresh snow. I experiences some slipping and sliding as snow compacted by car tires gave way under the big knobs, but I never went down.

My way home was into a 12 MPH headwind, with deepening snow (perhaps 4 inches by the time I pulled into my garage). The forecast is calling for more snow overnight, but with cold temps and high winds, it’ll start drifting, and I may hole up until more mellow conditions return in a few days.

We may have snow cover from now until March, or it may be gone in a week, there’s no telling. But I hope to get out into the white again soon!

Still, I took the time to capture a few moments:

This is me on the brand new Lone Elm Interchange bridge, just a few miles from my house, on a night ride in late August.

At the Miami County Courthouse in Paola, KS. This was built in 1898 and is one of 13 Kansas courthouses designed by renowned architect George P. Washburn.

This was taken in late September on a local country road. The cool temperatures left no doubt that summer was gone, but the brief patches of sunlight sure felt nice.

This is the “Town of Kansas Bridge” at the site of the original settlement of Kansas City, Missouri. This bridge links the Riverfront Heritage Trail (below the bridge) to the River Market area via stairs and an elevator. Beautiful structure.

An early October ride on the Flint Hills Nature Trail with members of the Miami County Velo Cycling Club. We met some equestrians along the trail, so got off the bikes and stepped aside to avoid spooking the horses.

At the Douglas County State Fishing Lake near Baldwin City, KS. This is always a scenic spot for a photo.

By October 10th, the sugar maples had turned a brilliant orange-red color at the tree farm near our house. (Note the panniers bulging with groceries!)

This is Queens Road in Linn County, KS near the Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge. This road runs along the bluffs and the hills were alive with color on this mid-October afternoon.

Ugh. This is one of the gravel roads nearest my house, and a frequent starting point for my local rides. With road construction on the nearby highway, this gravel road was used as a shortcut and bypass, turning a quiet road into an unpleasant experience. With dry weather, the dust was terrible, and the road was severely washboarded. Worse, the traffic was pretty relentless.

I hate to make judgements, but going this fast on a gravel road is dangerous, and throwing rocks and dust on an unprotected cyclist is downright rude and selfish. Jerks.

The classic colors of autumn and a Brooks saddle…

A dragonfly towards the end of its life…

For weeks these trees had been bright fiery halls; now the ground was a carpet of smoldering embers.

This photo is me at one of the stone shelters near Gardner Lake.

This has got to be one of my favorite pictures of the year. It was early November on a ride in Miami County, and I was just riding along and came to this surreal scene: some kind of tumbleweed was blowing off this field and drifting alongside the road. Super light and fluffy, it was like walking through a cloud. It was awesome.

Turns out it is called Witchgrass. I’ve seen it before, but never in such quantity. This was the only spot in a 50+ mile ride where I noticed it.

Playing in the stuff, I felt like a little kid. It was definitely a joyful moment.

No, that’s not a fat squirrel — that’s a woodchuck! He would soon be headed underground to hibernate away the winter.

For some reason, I like this image. Especially on days when it’s not so pleasant to ride, it’s nice to think about sunshine, blue skies, and cottonwood leaves rustling in the breeze.

I have a knack for finding the wildest roads … this is 375th Street near Osawatomie, KS.

It was fun to be able to ride a bicycle to the DMV to renew my driver’s licence. Somehow, they didn’t think to include bike racks at this facility.

In mid-December I got a chance to explore some (new to me) trails on the northwest side of Hillsdale Lake. They’re not nearly as torn up by horses as the main trails near the dam – pretty nice actually. This segment, believe it or not, used to be a gravel road, before it was cut off when the lake was built ~30 years ago. Doesn’t take long for nature to take it back.

This photo was taken in late December on a sort of drizzly day, also at Hillsdale Lake. It was nice to be able to ride on my birthday for once! Often it’s really cold or snowy or icy, but not this year!

The plan was to ride with the group from Emporia to Camp Wood, ride 60 or so miles the next day, then head off on my own to ride home over the course of two day, heading north to pick up the Flint Hills Nature Trail near Bushong, riding it east to Pomona Lake, camping out in the state park at Pomona, then riding home the following day.

Seven riders assembled at High Gear Cyclery in Emporia to begin the tour, along with our hosts, Eric Benjamin and Lelan Dains.

(Note: I’m not going to write up the whole tour in detail — it would make a long post even longer. Besides, Eric’s done a great wrap-up post on his site: The Tour. The following are a bunch of pictures that will hopefully give you a feel for the beautiful landscapes we pedaled through.)

After a brief intro, we set off in cars (one of the riders let me and my bike hitch a ride) to the drop-off point, which was a beautiful log cabin-style home a few miles out of town. Another rider met us there, and then we were off!

Here are a couple of breathtaking views from along the route to Camp Wood.

This is Eric Benjamin, Mr. Adventure Monkey himself, sporting a GoPro HD Helmet Cam that can be used to capture video during rides. I haven’t seen the results from this tour, but I’d love to use something like this to document some of the great trails and destinations in Kansas.

Sunrise the following morning.

And other photographers trying to capture the sunrise as well.

Stopping for early-morning photos. The day started out overcast, but the sky gradually cleared as the day progressed, eventually turning into a beautiful last-summer Kansas day.

Cyclists passing a roadside sunflower.

At one point we came across some roadside plums. There was some debate about whether these were “Sand Plums” or “Chickasaw Plums”, but they were delicious, whatever they were called. The skin is slightly bitter, but the meat is sweet and juicy.

This is an old, abandoned stone schoolhouse. It’s still in pretty good structural shape, and there are blackboards visible in the weathered interior.

This barn is a mixture of old and new, with a modern top half, and lovely stone arches down below.

At some point we turned north, and faced a moderate headwind. To keep the group together and make good time to the lunch stop, we formed up into a double paceline, and went busting down a dirt road. Luckily, the rains had missed this area, and the dirt was smooth and dry.

Lunch was in Burdick, Kansas, and this is the town’s old grain elevator.

A biker gang descends on downtown Burdick.

After lunch we stopped at a local farm and were allowed to ride through the pasture on some sweet doubletrack.

Beware of cows crossing the road at 30 MPH…

The next morning, we prepared to break camp. These are the cabins we stayed in at Camp Wood. They’re made to sleep 8, but most of us got one to ourselves!

The bike tour rolls down the main street in Cottonwood Falls. Not the temperature (78°F) and the courthouse flag flapping in the stiff breeze. It was another great day to be on a bike!

As we left Cottonwood Falls, the pavement ended and we were back on gravel where we belonged.

Another great view from along the route.

The mudhole doesn’t look like much in this picture, but it clogged up several bikes with mud, and riders had to stop to clear their wheels of the tacky goo.

Riders fly down a fast little downhill.

Due to my family situation, I ended up catching a ride home with another rider, rather than riding home on my own. (Thanks, Bill, for the ride and for letting me pick your brain about your recently-completed cross-country bicycle tour: BetterBills TransAm Blog.)

Thanks also to Eric for putting this tour together, for providing such great accommodations at Camp Wood, and for passing along a little of your hard-earned photography expertise — hope I can make good use of it.

I finished up with about 245 miles over 4 days, memories to last a good long while, and an appetite to do more touring — what a great experience!

See also: Flint Hills Bike Tour On Tap, Shakedown, Flint Hills Bike Tour Packing List, Flint Hills Bike “Pre-Tour” Tour.

The tour began and ended in Emporia and consisted of three rides — 30 miles from Emporia to Camp Wood on day #1, a 60-ish mile ride on day #2, and 30+ miles from Camp Wood to Emporia on day #3.

To extend the tour a bit, and to give myself an opportunity for a bit of loaded, self-supported touring, I made plans to ride to and from the tour. A “pre-tour tour” and a “post-tour tour”, if you will. All told, I was expecting about 325 miles over 5 days, with 2 nights of camping, and at least two days of solo loaded touring.

The trip didn’t quite turn out as I planned, but it was a heck of an experience.

Here’s my ride report:

Thursday, September 9th, Home to Melvern Lake

As the launch day approached, I was watching the weather forecast apprehensively. Sure enough, the forecast was calling for a 100% chance of rain pretty much all day long on Thursday.

Oh well, I could have taken the easy way out and just driven to Emporia on Friday, but I was determined to avoid that if at all possible, so I geared up for a rain ride — I put all my gear in dry bags or trash bags, and brought along a rain jacket and helmet cover.

When I left the house at about 7:30am on Thursday, the weather was more mist than rain, and I was several miles into the ride before the first true raindrops fell. And even then, they were very gentle. In fact, the whole day was pretty much like that — not once did it ever rain really hard, just a slow, steady, very mellow rain that lasted though mid-afternoon.

And the gentle rain was certainly a blessing — I stayed mostly dry, other than my hands and feet.

My feet is what I ended up having the most trouble with.

Rain and sandals are no problem, and sandals and gravel are no problem, but rain and gravel pretty well sucks, and rain plus gravel plus sandals equals major discomfort.

The problem is that the bike tires tend to pick up tiny bits of grit off the road, and fling them onto my bare feet, where they stick, and then travel into the footbed of the sandal, becoming a painful irritant.

Luckily, my route was such that I was able to stick mostly to low-traffic paved secondary roads. I tried to avoid gravel as much as I could, but still ended up on about 19 miles of unpaved roads — the last 10 miles or so the road surfaces was extremely soupy much, and my feet were just covered in crud, as were my wheels, drivetrain, and panniers. Thank goodness for fenders, or it would have been an even bigger mess.

I was able to stop in the town of Melvern and use the water hydrant at their city park to get the worst of the mud off myself and the gear, but that night at Eisenhower State Park at Melvern Lake, I spent a good long time cleaning up the bike as best I could, and re-lubing the drivetrain.

Unfortunately, my brake pads, which I’d neglected to check before the trip, were pretty much done for due to the gritty mud on the rims. The front brake was squealing, and the rear had worn down to the metal. Oh well, I’d leave early to get the brakes fixed at High Gear Cyclery in Emporia.

Here are some pictures from the day:

By the time I reached Hillsdale Lake (about 13 miles into the ride), it was still mostly drizzle, not really raining yet.

A few miles further along, at Rock Creek School, it had begun to rain, and the roads turned sloppy. I also, at this point, picked up a droplet of water on my camera lens, which stayed there for the rest of the trip.

Crossing the Marais des Cygnes River on the Prairie Spirit Trail in Ottawa, Kansas.

After lunch in Ottawa, I stopped at this shelter along the Prairie Spirit Trail and waited a bit for the rain to let up. After 20 minutes or so I decided to move on.

West of Ottawa is the town of Greenwood. Actually, all that’s there is a few houses, the Greenwood Baptist Church, a cemetery, a community building, and a shelter, where I took a short break. Past this point, I was on “virgin” roads — one’s I’d never ridden before.

The paved roads took me west for a few miles, then south. Just as I was wondering if I’d missed my turn, and thinking “If I reach the interstate, I’ve gone too far,” I heard the sound of traffic from I-35. Yep, I’d missed my turn.

I stopped at the c-store near the Williamsburg exit, consulted my map, and determined that the shortest path to Melvern was via a gravel road.

So off I went onto soupy mud.

And you can see the result. Yeah, that’s about as uncomfortable as it looks.

After reaching Melvern and washing off at the city park, I rode to the outskirts of town to visit the Melvern Riverfront Park & Trails. I’ve been here a number of times, and really love these trails. They were a bit wet to ride on this day (and I was fully loaded and getting tired), but I stopped for a few pictures.

This beautiful and historic old bridge is also located in Melvern. It was built in 1909 to carry vehicular traffic over the ATSF railroad, but it’s now open for bike/ped traffic only.

From there it was just a few miles further to Melvern Lake. I checked out some of the facilities offered by the Corps of Engineers, but opted to continue on to the state park.

(Incidentally, the helmet cover works very well, even if it does look a little goofy — but looking goofy is the least of my worries.)

Eisenhower State Park is located on the north side of Melvern Lake, and it offers a lot of campsites, as well as some equestrian trails and bike trails. Again, too wet and too tired to ride them, but they’re there, and look promising.

The state park was a little cheaper than the Corps ($8.50 vs. $12), and I was pleased to find that I was nearly the only person camping there, and that the restrooms offered hot showers, which felt great after a cool, damp day. It had stopped raining while I set up camp, but picked up again as darkness fell, and continued off and on throughout the night.

When I called home that evening, I got some news that would ultimately cut my tour short. There had been a death in the family that day. They weren’t sure when the funeral would be. Worst case, my wife would need to come pick me up sometime during the weekend.

But even if I had to go back the very next day, it would have been worth doing. Even with the rain, this was one of my best days on the bike in a long time. I was fortunate that it was a gentle rain, and that the light wind was mostly a tailwind. Traffic was light all day, and seemed to give me plenty of room and consideration, despite (perhaps even because of) the rain. Just a very mellow day.

Friday, September 10th, Melvern Lake to Emporia

After a somewhat restless night in the tent, I got moving pretty early, eager to get back on the road and make it to Emporia in plenty of time to get my brakes worked on at the bike shop.

As I was heading out, I stopped at the restroom where I met a fellow who was curious about my bike. His name was Roger, and it turns out he was also headed for Emporia to ride the Adventure Monkey tour (after driving down from Wisconsin).

That was pretty cool, and it makes sense that the only two people foolish (and frugal) enough to camp out on a rainy night were both cyclists.

Packed up and ready to roll. Rain was done for, but the air still felt moist. It was a bit foggy near the lake and in low-lying areas.

Once out of the state park, the first few miles were gravel, and with no traffic, very light wind, and the slight haze, it was extremely quiet, just the sound of tires on gravel and the occasional bird. I was worried about riding on gravel again so soon after the rain, but the roads had firmed up nicely. A bit tacky in spots, but not a big deal.

Once on blacktop, the traffic was still light, and the clouds began to break up a bit, with occasional patches of sunlight leaking through. After a dozen or so miles I ended up in Reading, Kansas.

The Tightwad Bank in Reading. My kind of place!

Also in Reading is the Miracle Cafe, located in the oldest building in Reading, a house built in 1870. It’s a charming little place, that still feels very much like a home. I was tempted by their wide assortment of pies, but since it was only 9am, I opted for more traditional breakfast fare, a sausage and egg biscuit. Yum!

The rest of the trip into Emporia wasn’t spectacular, but it was certainly pleasant, with light traffic and gradually warming temperatures. A southerly headwind picked up at some point, but it wasn’t strong enough to become oppressive.

After 30 miles or so I rolled into Emporia, and pedaled past the William Allen White House. White was a famous newspaper editor in the first half of the 20th century, and his home is now a State Historic Site. I didn’t take the time to really check it out, but it’s a beautiful structure.

One I reached the bike shop, I got the brake pads changed out, and then left the panniers at the shop while I went for a short tour of the town. Without the bags, it suddenly felt like a new bike!

At the southern end of Emporia is Soden’s Grove Park, which houses a nice little baseball stadium, and a small but well-respected zoo, which offers a narrow-gage railway that gives visitors train rides around the park.

Soden’s Grove is also home to the All Veterans Memorial, which commemorates the US armed forces and their service in defense of the country. Emporia is the founding city of Veterans Day.

And finally, this is me next to the Soden Grove Bridge over the Cottonwood River. This elegant structure was built in 1923 and closed to vehicular traffic in 1987. It is now open to bicyclists and pedestrian traffic only.

Maps

Here’s the map of my first day’s ride. I actually ended up with 83.4 miles, at a 12.MPH average speed.

And here’s the map from Melvern Lake to Emporia.

I’ll end this report here, and cover the rest of the tour in another post…

The trail starts a couple miles west of town, running towards the northwest.

At Pressonville Road we took a short detour to check out Carey’s Ford Bridge, built in 1909 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Back on the trail, the trees quickly closed in, and spiders became a problem. It’s unnerving to be riding along and suddenly feel a web on your face or a creepy crawly on your arm. At one point Bill picked up a stick and began waving it in front of him, hoping to clear the path. It really didn’t work too well…

Eventually we made it through the worst of the webs, and stopped for a quick break next to this crumbling old retaining wall.

Upon setting off again, we saw a small dark animal ahead of us on the trail. It was long and low to the ground, but had no difficulty staying ahead of us.

“What the heck is that?” Bill asked. “A river otter?”

“This sounds crazy,” I said, “but I could have sworn it was a wiener dog.”

We passed the spot where it disappeared from the trail, and looked around, but couldn’t spot anything. There was a bridge a short way later, so we pulled over and stopped.

Soon this little Daschund came running up, tentatively at first, then friendly.

Strange. We were miles from any houses, but he must have been a pet, since he had a collar and rabies tag from a local vet.

The dog was scared and dehydrated, and we weren’t sure what to do with him. We hated to just leave him on the trail, since his tired little legs might not carry him all the way home, wherever that was.

So we elected to take the dog to the nearest house, which I judged to be about a mile up the trail.

Bill rode with the dog cradled in one arm all that way (it’s harder than it sounds). We stopped and took a few breaks. The little puppy was very sweet, even going so far as to cover Bill’s mug with doggy kisses.

We talked with a woman at the first house we came to, but she didn’t know who the dog belonged to, and wasn’t willing to take it. We asked at the next house as well — same result.

We knew we couldn’t take the dog much farther, it was just too awkward. And since it was a holiday, neither the vet nor animal control were open. It seemed heartless to just leave him to fend for himself. We eventually called the police, and after a bit of pleading, a couple of very nice sheriff’s deputies came along to take the dog off our hands.

He was a such a friendly, sweet-tempered little thing, we were sorry to see him go. Hope he ended up back home!

After that, we stayed on the trail, purchasing drinks from the vending machines in Rantoul, then continued west on the trail.

As the trail crossed Labette Terrace, we came across this scene:

I pumped up the saturation to bring out the colors, but this really was a pretty magnificent view, with yellow flowers filling the prairie, and two lonely trees on the hill.

From there, I had plans to take gravel roads back to Osawatomie (and hit up a minimum-maintenance road along the way).

So we took off towards the south, right into the teeth of a 30+ MPH wind.

We didn’t feel it so much on the trail, but once we were out of the trees and exposed on open road, the wind was just relentless, and the day had heated up into the low 90′s. When the route crossed a paved road that headed back into Rantoul, I elected to take the path of least resistance, and get back to the shelter of the trail.

A few big hills later, another self-service stop in Rantoul, and a short detour to check out the “airplane graveyard” (Dodson International, an airplane salvage yard), we were back on the trail.

We arrived back at John Brown Park fairly well cooked. Between the heat and the wind, it was a tougher ride than I’d anticipated, even if it only ended up being about 30 miles.

I bought a new set of front panniers from a company called Taiga. The bags are an incredible deal at only $19.95 (Canadian dollars), and even with shipping from Canada, it’s an unbeatable value. The panniers appear to be really well-made. The mounting system, using a strap cinch and velcro, is a little fidgety to get attached (and un-attached), but on the bike, the bags are rock solid.

I ended up going with the Blackburn MTF-1 for the front rack. I considered using a low-rider rack, but went with the MTF-1 because I thought the platform might come in handy. Also, it appears to be a good match for the front fork of my Long Haul Trucker.

For the ride, I tagged along with Noah Dunker and Keith Gates, who were headed down to Hillsdale Lake for an overnight bake-camping trip (similar to the one I accompanied them on last year. I wasn’t planning to camp out, since I’ll get plenty of that on my trip, but it’s be a good trial run equipment test.

The plan was to meet them in Olathe, then ride paved roads to Hillsdale, hang out for a bit, then ride on home.

Here our bikes at the meetup in Olathe: cDude’s Kogswell on the left, Noah’s Trek in the middle, and my Long Haul Trucker on the right. Loaded up and ready to roll!

Here are a couple views of my gear. On the front is the Blackburn MTF-1 rack and the Taiga panniers, with a Sunlite C-Sport Bicycle Handlebar Roll Bag and Schwinn Top Tube Bag. In the rear is the Planet Bike Eco Rack and Nashbar ATB panniers, plus a Nashbar seat bag.

I swapped out the Nashbar CO2 Inflator/Pump, which I’ve been using most of the year, in favor of a Topeak Road Morph pump. The inflator works fine, but the pump is next to useless. With just the inflator, I’d have had to haul a bunch of CO2 cartidges, and still would have been screwed if I happened to get a rash of flats. With the regular pump, at least I can never run out of air. It takes quite a few pumps to air up the big tires, but it’s do-able.

We rolled out of Olathe and through Spring Hill on pavement, but elected to take a gravel road south to Hillsdale. Actually, we started out on gravel, but jumped over to a sort of a trail that runs alongside the railroad tracks for a ways. I think it’s an access road for maintenance vehicles, but it has a great surface for about a half mile, then gradually the railroad ballast (think big, rough, loose chunks of flint) replaced the gravel. It was pretty rough by the time we hit the first railroad crossing just east of Columbia Road.

I’m running 1.95″ MTB tires, so it wasn’t too bad for me, but it was tougher on the other guys, rolling with more road-style skinny tires. But we all made it thru unscathed.

At Hillsdale we took a quick break at the c-store, with intentions to ride the next half-dozen miles directly to the campsite. But then I asked the fateful question: “You boys up for some more adventure?”

I explained what I had in mind: basically, a 6-mile detour to hit up the minimum-maintenance section of Woodland Road. They agreed. But they had no idea what they were getting into.

Pushing against a strong and gusty south wind, and being exposed on open roads for much of the distance, the 6 miles to the start of the MMR was slow going.

When we reached 287th and Woodland, where the MMR began, I pointed up to the “Minimum Maintenance – Travel At Your Own Risk” sign. Nervous jokes and laughter, but I led on.

The first half mile is pretty tame — slightly overgrown, but very rideable. But this soon gives way to a long downhill, which I’ve described as “a rocky, rutted, overgrown memory of a road”, which I think fits pretty well.

The grass gets taller, the trees start to close in, the doubletrack starts to get deeper, until it’s really just two ruts with tall grass growing in the middle. Soon we reached the first puddles. We’d had rain earlier in the weak, and while the gravel and most of the MMR was bone dry, there were a few tacky spots and outright bogs. I rolled through or around these, picking up a bit of mud on the tread, but no big deal.

But Keith and Noah’s fendered road bikes clogged up quickly. After navigating a rocky downhill, I stopped and looked back to find them picking mud out of their fenders. Their wheels had completely clogged up and stopped turning.

Soon enough they were back in business and making their way down the rocky decline. The road passes across solid bedrock here, with some rough loose stuff on top. It’s not a smooth ride, and they approached it cautiously, but made it through without incident.

The road turns west at 295th, and the surface actually gets worse — much rockier, more rutted out, and more likely to hold moisture.

This picture is from last year, and it doesn’t really do it justice, but it should give you some idea of the level of “road” this is.

Again, with my bigger tires, I could ride most of this stuff, but the skinny-tired boys had to walk quite a bit of it, with several more episodes of mud-clearing. But they kept going without complaint. Kudos!

By the time we reached the next cross street — the accurately-named “Victory Road”! — the gravel road, which under most circumstances would have seemed sketchy at best, felt luxuriously smooth and easy.

We needed more water by this point (and the day was heating up), so we headed on over to Lake Miola, where we found this potable water for drinking, bike-cleaning, and dousing. Perfect.

From there, we went by back roads north and west to Hillsdale. Just a few miles from the state park, the boys thought they were in the clear, but I had one more MMR to throw at them — 271st, between Lone Star Road and Lookout Road.

This section is comparatively easy — it’s more dirt than rock, and it doesn’t get too much traffic so the ruts are not as deep (though the weeds are taller). Here’s Keith and Noah navigating the last little bit of rough riding.

From there, it was just a mile or so to the entrance to Hillsdale Lake State Park. We parted ways at this point, with Keith and Noah headed off to the campsite, and me headed home.

Here’s the Trucker at Hillsdale Lake, with the marina in the background, where I stocked up on drink and snacks before rolling out.

I ended up with about 56 miles. I’m not quite sure of the distance or speed because my cyclocomputer wasn’t working.

But everything else worked flawlessly. I had no equipment issues, with either the bike or the gear, and if it can handle that rocky ride, it should be able to handle my upcoming tour with no problems.

And I got to introduce two roadies to the joys of rough riding, the rewards of venturing off the pavement.

You did great, guys! Hope I haven’t scared you away from further off-road adventures. I have plenty of other routes to torture you with …

So I headed off on gravel with a few specific fences in mind, just to see what else I’d stumble across:

This is a very cool fence made up of old steel wheels from vintage farm implements — tractors, wagons, etc. It goes on like this for about a quarter mile. 207th & Pflumm Road.

This is a very well-kept double fence bordering a horse farm at 207th & Switzer. A row of trees is maintained between a solid metal fence along the road and a wire-cable fence along the pasture. Beautiful!

I call this a “plastic fence”, but I think it’s actually vinyl-shielded fiberglass or particle board or something similar. It makes for a neat and tidy appearance. This one is at about 215th and Switzer, bordering another horse farm.

This is a barbed wire fence bordering a row of weathered round hay bales along the edge of a field of corn. Approximately 241st and Rockville Road.

This wooden fence is located along Rogers Road southwest of Louisburg, Kansas. The bridge glimpsed in the background is the 95-year-old Branch Rabbit Creek Bridge.

This huge Oak tree is located just west of the South Wea Creek Bridge on 303rd Street. This is an old rotting-but-still-functional wire mesh fence topped by a single strand of barbed wire. A nice place to take a little break on a hot day…

Ah, now we get to the real reason I chose this route and theme: the “Bicycle Fence” at 311th and Beaver Creek Road.

I’d first come across this a couple years back, and was hoping that the landowner had finished this project, but sadly, things haven’t progressed. It’s kind of a cool concept: use old bicycles as decorative components of a fence. The handlebars, saddles, cranks, and tires are removed, and the wheels, seat tubes, and head tubes are attached to crossbars. Seems pretty sturdy.

I don’t think any really valuable bikes were sacrificed for this fence — a Schwinn, a Magna mountain bike, a Huffy 924, and an AMF Roadmaster Scorcher.

Hope they get around to finishing this one day!

Beaver Creek Schoolhouse, located on 299th Street south of Somerset, KS. Now private property (apparently), but bordered by a sturdy wooden fence.

This ragged barbed wire fence is located at 295th and Woodland Road, just east of Paola. It’s been overgrown by these cool old vines.

This ranch gate and fence is located on a hilltop at 269th and Columbia road, south of Hillsdale, KS. There’s a nice view from here, overlooking the valley below.

The final stop on our Tour of Rural Fences is a ranch gate decorated with cowboy boots and other horsey paraphernalia. This is located on Columbia road just north of Hillsdale, KS. “Pondering Practiced Here”

A few other photos from the ride:

Adding to my collection of water tower photos … this one’s at 303rd & Spring Valley Road SW of Louisburg, KS.

Stopped at Somerset Ridge Vineyard & Winery for water, and picked up a bottle of Buffalo White for later. Those little panniers are handy!

This is a sweet 100-year-old wood-deck bridge over a (currently dry) branch of Wea Creek, southwest of Somerset, KS.

No, this isn’t a trail. This is Woodland Road south of 287th Street, where it becomes a rocky, deeply-rutted, overgrown memory of a road, unsuitable for cars, 2WD trucks, or even most SUVs. But it’s a heckuva lot of fun on a bike.

A train passes by on an un-gated railroad crossing on 271st Street southeast of Hillsdale, KS. I love how this photo turned out!

I ended up with about 64 miles of mostly gravel. It was much hotter than I expected — mid-90′s with a stiff and gusty south wind. I went through 9 bottles of water, two 12-oz Cokes, and a bottle of chocolate milk. It was a day when even three water bottle cages wasn’t really enough…

Here was the route, approximately:

The route started off on the Flint Hills Nature Trail for a mile or so, then it was onto gravel. (Click the image for an interactive map.)

Virginia Road heading south out of Rantoul has a couple of really fun, tough hills that I always enjoy. I usually take a left at John Brown Highway, but this time I kept going on Virginia Road for another half mile, until it turned west and became John Brown Drive. This turned out to be a really nice little road — well-shaded, with several nice curves.

From there it was onto Vermont Road for a mile (a paved road) before hitting gravel again. I ran into a minimum maintenance road at Finney Rd and Utah Rd, but my mapped route led south, so elected to stay with the plan. I’ll have to go back and check out that MMR another day.

As it turns out, Google Maps is a bit out of date, and the road I’d planned to ride doesn’t actually exist. It turned into this:

That’s signed as a minimum maintenance road, but it didn’t look passable, and I didn’t want to do any hike-a-bike in the woods. The shade would have felt nice, but with no wind it would have been stifling.

I took Ellis Terrace west to Texas Road, then south to Douglas Road. This was my first time on this road, and it’s a fun one as well, with some nice dips and twists. I always love it when I see the “Curves Ahead” sign!

After Douglas Road it was back onto pavement for about a mile, before heading south on gravel again. As soon as I turned onto Utah Road, I was passed by three vehicles — two pickups and a kid on an ATV — coating me in a fine limestone dust. I think those were the only times I was passed for the entire ride, and they all happened at one time. Weird.

As I turned west on Butler Terrace, I stopped to takes some flower pictures. With all the recent rain, I expected more variety. Perhaps that’s still a few weeks away. But these were spectacular:

Thickspike Gayfeather, also known as the “Prairie Blazing Star”, and amazingly enough, a member of the sunflower family.

This is a “Red-Spotted Purple” butterfly (Limenitis arthemis astyanax). I saw quite a lot of these along the route. Very pretty. This one was kind enough to sit still for a photo.

After that it was time for a nice stretch of minimum maintenance road — first on Texas Road, from Butler Terrace to Cloud Road. This road starts off tamely enough, running along a ridge top that feels very open and rolling, like the Flint Hills. But then it drops into a creek valley, with a very rough and rocky curving downhill that always feels a little scary and on the verge of being out of control. This time though was especially so, since a road grader had recently come through, making the surface loose and treacherous.

This is the start of the downhill — just past the curve the road drops sharply. Lots of big, loose rocks to navigate around, with soft sections mixed in. I made it to the bottom without crashing, but it was touch-and-go for a bit!

The next MMR section was Tennessee Road, followed by Douglas Road. Tennessee Road follows alongside the north fork of Sac Branch Creek, and it’s tree-lined for most of its length, with some big rocks on a couple of short ups and downs. At the northern end of the road is a nice little pond that always makes me wish I’d brought fishing gear, just to give it a few casts and see what happens.

Here’s the entrance to Douglas Road … it looks easy enough.

But then there’s a low-water crossing at the bottom of the first hill (the north fork of Sac Branch Creek again). I’ve been through here several times. Once I was able to ride through. Once the water was up and the weather was cold, so I turned back. On this trip the water was up a bit, but not too bad. Too much for me to want to ride through, but I carried the bike across the deepest section, and walked it around the rest. The water felt nice!

Following the creek there’s a sharp, rocky rise, and I set up there for some riding shots. This was the best of the bunch. The photo doesn’t really do the scene justice — the road is much rougher than it looks here. And it was hard to get the photos — only 10 seconds to press the shutter, run to the bike, climb on, and start pedaling!

Sometimes, when you don’t have a tripod, you have to make do with what you have…

I’m generally a big advocate for helmets, but on this ride, 98°F with full sunshine, a black helmet wasn’t the best choice. It felt much better after I took it off!

A cemetery is a nice, shady place to take a little break from the heat, but you have to be careful not to get too comfortable!

I made it back to Rantoul for just over 31 miles. On a hot day, that was enough.

But dang, I enjoy riding this area!

I rode from my house to Baldwin City, where I met up with some friends who were riding BAK, then I rode with them to the overnight stop in Eudora.

All of this was familiar territory for me, but I just enjoy the atmosphere of being with 800+ other cyclists. Maybe I’ll get to ride BAK or another tour again some year.

This was actually only the second time I’d done any loaded touring. The previous one was last year (Bike Camping, July 25-26) when i used a trailer (a one-wheel BOB-style design) to carry my gear.

This time I used panniers, and I was pleasantly surprised. I liked the panniers much better. They seemed to affect handling much less than the trailer did. I honestly couldn’t feel them except when I stopped.

Here are some pictures from the trip:

Here’s the Long Haul Trucker loaded for a quick overnight tour. I’m traveling pretty light — sleeping bag and pillow in the left pannier, tent on top of the rack, and sleeping pad and clothes in the right pannier. The only real problem is the sleeping bag — it pretty much takes up the whole pannier.

By the way, these are just inexpensive Nashbar panniers I got on sale. Nothing special, but they work. Could be a little larger.

I took gravel from my house all the way to Baldwin City, and at one point came across these road graders grooming the road after several recent rains. It was rough riding in places, but not too bad.

Didn’t need any KP (Kansas Petroleum) on this trip…

Every time I ride by this pasture, the dairy cattle chase me … always good for a laugh.

The entrance to Baker University campus in Baldwin City, Kansas.

This is the Osborne Memorial Chapel at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas. The structure was built in Sproxton, England in 1864, but dismantled, shipped to America, and re-assembled at Baker University in 1995. Services are still held here.

Here are the friends I met for lunch at Hickory Creek Bar-&-Que in Baldwin City: Robert Garcia, Tim Oberle, Randy Rasa, Mark Rainey, David Rainey, Ed Eroe.

Heading north out of Baldwin City, there’s a great downhill run towards Vinland, Kansas. The official BAK photographer was stationed on this hill, and caught an image of me on this screaming 42 MPH downhill. Love this picture!

Here’s a glimpse of the gymnasium at Eudora Middle School, filled with BAK’ers escaping the heat and humidity. Someone said it looked like a disaster refugee camp; that’s not too far off from the truth.

For some reason, the Eudora Middle School placed the bike racks near the “handicapped parking” area, and in this view, it looks like the racks are what the signs refer to. Don’t think it applies …

Pure on-the-bike energy from a bottle of honey. Sweet!

Heading home the next day, I got caught in a downpour and thoroughly soaked. At least I got a chance to find out that my panniers are not particularly waterproof. Either I need better panniers, or pack gear in trash bags in case of rain.

This little trip really makes me want to do some more loaded touring. Maybe later this summer…

So not finishing the ride wasn’t a surprise. But calling it quits at 65 miles was a bit of a disappointment.

This is me prior to rolling up to the starting line, about 5:45 am. The motion blur was totally unintentional, but I kinda like it. It lends a surreal quality to the image (which matched the entire experience).

Here’s a look at riders gathering in front of the Granada Theater in downtown Emporia, Kansas for the start of the Dirty Kanza 200. Reports said 160-170 riders started the race.

We were off promptly at 6am. It was fun rolling through the deserted streets. I hung around towards the back of the pack. No sense in getting passed by everyone…

This is the turnoff from pavement to gravel at the start of the Dirty Kanza 200. The folks up front cranked up the power and were soon gone, never to be seen again by me…

The first few miles were smooth and flat, but soon the hills picked up. I was feeling really good at this point, not pushing the pace at all, but spinning freely, just happy to be riding this great event.

To my surprise, I began to pick off riders. Not sure how many I passed, maybe a couple dozen.

There was a fairly high flat tire rate as well. I lost count of how many, but it was certainly more than ten. I paused to talk with one fellow, and he said it was his 3rd flat of the day, just within the first 15 miles. That must have been incredibly frustrating. With my new tires, I had no troubles of that sort.

Flowers lined much of the route. These are Pricklypoppies (I think), but I also saw plenty of other species, including Western Yarrow, Milkweed, Carolina Horsenettle, Tall Thistle, and I’m sure many more.

I wanted to stop for pictures, but well, this was a race, and there were other riders around me much of the time, so I just kept going.

Here’s a nice vista about 20 miles in to the Dirty Kanza. Hills were lush green, but not a lot to see other than grass, cattle, fenceposts and the occasional tree. Still, spectacular.

I loved this rugged open rangeland. Rocks were large in places, and the roads were rutted in places, but it was fun riding.

Just over the ridge ahead, at the bottom of the hill there was a cattle grate crossing the road. It was a rough crossing, and I found two tail lights that’d bounced off bikes as they crossed. I stopped and picked them up. Not high-end lights, but hey, they were just lying there free for the taking…

A lone rider climbs a white road through green pasture. The country here was really remote. No houses for miles and miles, Just open country and cattle.

In retrospect, this part of the course was fairly hilly. Lots of ups and downs. But I didn’t find the hills particularly difficult. Long, in places, but not too steep.

There were a number of low-water crossings on the route. Some were muddy, some (like this one) were rocky. This was probably the biggest of the bunch. Maybe 8-12 inches deep where I went through it.

After this point, things got difficult. The wind had increased throughout the morning, and now we were riding right into the teeth of it. The wind was strong — at least 20+ MPH — and gusty. And with no trees or buildings to baffle it, we got the full force of it.

I was spinning in granny gear for what felt like 10 miles. I haven’t ridden that far in the small chainring for a long time. Some of it was due to the hills, but mostly the relentless wind.

And it was getting hotter. Quickly.

By the time the route turned north, I thought I’d made it through the worst of it. It was hot, and it was windy, but now I had a tailwind that would push me all the way through to the third checkpoint. Bliss!

And for a little while, it was. The route began a downhill trend, and I was cruising at 20 MPH on the flats, and 30+ on the downhills.

Then I came across a rider changing a flat. I asked if he needed anything, and he asked if I had a pump. His wasn’t working. I used a CO2 cartridge on his tube, but it wouldn’t hold air.

This was the third tube he’d tried, and none would hold air. He didn’t have a patch kit, so I gave him one of my patches. He peeled it off and tried to stick it onto the tube. “No,” I said, “it needs glue.”

He’d never patched a tire before. That’s a little unbelievable. Someone who’s an experienced enough rider to attempt a race like this, and he’d never patched a tube.

The first patch we tried didn’t hold. It held at first, but popped off as soon as he pressurized the tire. Rather than patch that tube again (a patch on a patch doesn’t work too well), we moved on to one of his other tubes. I patched this one for him. This one held.

I’m glad I stopped, but by the time we got moving, we’d been passed by pretty much everyone. And pretty soon I was alone, as the guy I’d helped moved on at a faster pace. He still had hopes of doing the full 200 miles. I forgot to ask his name or get his race number, so I don’t know if he made it. Hope so.

The last 10-15 miles into the first checkpoint were a slog. There was a tailwind, but it didn’t seem to be helping much. My speed was decent — 14-15 MPH — but with the wind at my back and moving at nearly the same speed as the wind, the air felt dead. The temperature was rising noticeably as well. It was really hot and humid.

I rolled into the first checkpoint unsure if I wanted to continue. But my wife met me there and we had a little picnic in the shade, and that was really nice. I felt better.

A little before noon I took off. Apparently I was the last one to leave from the checkpoint. No one passed me, and I couldn’t see anyone up ahead. I’d seen quite a few people drop out at the first checkpoint, but I figured there would be a few keep going. But no.

The first checkpoint was at 58.5 miles. The next was at 101. So 42.5 miles. Do-able.

I checked myself — no cramps, no chills, not lightheaded, still thinking clearly, not weaving all over the road. I was OK, I could do this. Not fast maybe, but I could do it.

The first few miles, between Cottonwood Falls (the first checkpoint) and Elmdale, were paved. One big long hill, but easy rolling. It was due west, with a wicked crosswind.

By the time I reached Elmdale, I’d decided to give it up.

I was alone. There would probably be sweepers coming along later to check the route, but no other riders. What’s the fun of doing a group ride with no group?

Another factor was the heat. It wasn’t so bad with the crosswind, but I knew as soon as I turned north again, the heat would drop over me like a shroud. Another 35+ miles of that wasn’t too appealing.

The other factor that led me to bail was concern about my wife. She was unfamiliar with the area, and not good at reading maps or taking directions. She was really nervous about the idea of having to go “off-road” to find me. I didn’t want her getting lost. At Elmdale, I was on a paved road. It was easy to find. Once I turned off onto gravel, if I had to abandon, it’d be really stressful for her to find me.

So I pulled the plug.

It’s tough to make that call, but it had to be done.

I bought a coke from a machine, found shelter in a little park, and picked up the phone. No answer. OK, she’s driving, and doesn’t want to answer the phone while she’s on the road, that’s cool. Tried again a few minutes later. Still no answer.

I kept this up for awhile. Feeling better, I decided to ride back to Cottonwood Falls. It’d be even easier for her to find me there.

This is the courthouse in Cottonwood Falls. It was built in 1873 of native limestone, and is the oldest courthouse still in use in the state. Look at that flag — the wind’s really blowing!

Turns out this was the weekend for the annual Flint Hills Rodeo, and downtown Cottonwood was packed with people to watch the parade. I hung around for awhile at the courthouse, enjoying the atmosphere, talking with a few locals interested in the race, and trying to get hold of my wife.

Eventually I got through. Turns out she was already in Council Grove (the site of checkpoint number two) and had been waiting inside a cool store, and had forgotten to take her phone with her. Oh well.

She picked me up just as the parade was getting started, so I just got to see a little of it. Old cars, old tractors, horses, lots of cowboy hats. It’d be nice to go back one day to see that for real.

So I ended up with about 72 miles — 65 to Elmdale, then another few back to Cottonwood Falls.

I didn’t meet my own expectations, but I had fun. The first half of the first leg was some of the best riding I’d had all year. And I didn’t end up in the hospital (as a few riders did).

Disappointed, but no regrets.

Will I try it again? Not next year, for sure (already have plans for this time of the year). After that? Probably not. Not absolutely saying “no”, but probably not.

Take-aways:

1. I’ve found I don’t enjoy training. Not that my training was all that regimented, but I found myself despising the schedule. I want to ride when I want to ride, not when I’m supposed to ride to meet some arbitrary mileage goal. Riding should be a goal in and of itself, not a means to an end.
2. The bike was OK. If I was serious about competing, I’d need a faster bike. The Long Haul Trucker is just too heavy and ponderous. Not that it wouldn’t be possible to ride 200 miles on the LHT, but it’d be slow. Even dropping the rack and fenders, the bike was still about 33 pounds. Very heavy for a race bike.
3. If I did this again, I’d need to pay more attention to speed work. I’ve been slow all year. I’d hoped I’d get faster as the weather warmed up, but that hasn’t happened. Is it the bike, or is it lack of training? The latter, I suppose. I just don’t care about riding fast when I ride alone. But a little more speed would make a big difference on long rides like this.
4. Equipment choices were fine. Five water bottles was just enough. I had plenty of room for food and tools in the handlebar bag and seat bag. Tires felt sluggish, but no flats. No saddle problems. Hands and shoulders were a little sore, but not too bad. Knees OK. Was a little worried about wearing sandals, but they worked out fine.
5. I asked my wife to support me on the ride because I wanted to get her involved in my cycling. She doesn’t ride, and really doesn’t understand why I ride. I hoped this ride would bring us closer together. It did, and I think she now has at least a little appreciation for what it’s all about, but it was asking too much of her. It was very stressful for her, and I’m sure her nervousness didn’t help my confidence. Someone who I didn’t have to worry about would have been a better choice.
6. When I signed up for this, I did so planning to ride with several other guys. One had finished the DK. Two others had attempted it more than once. Veterans. None of them actually rode, dropping out for various reasons. Totally understandable, and no hard feelings, but still, I didn’t have a “team”. I didn’t have anyone to ride with, to support each other along the way, to keep up the pace, to keep going out of a sense of obligation to the others. That would have made a big difference, I think. Alone is hard.

Again, no regrets.

I got to experience the Dirty Kanza for the first time, and it was a day to remember. Maybe not a day to be proud of, but worth doing, certainly.

If I never do it again, that’s OK. I definitely want to ride in the area again. It’s beautiful. It’s rugged. It’s remote. It got great history. All the stuff I love.

But maybe not 200 miles in one day. Maybe not in 100+ degree heat index.

Here are some race reports from other riders:

• Corey “Cornbread” Godfrey won the race in 13:38, an hour up on 2nd place: Dirty Kanza 200 race recap – I suffered like a dog and almost cried like a baby, DK200 Finish Line – One of the happiest moments of my life
• Emily Brock won the women’s championship: she rides bikes
• Gravel Grinder News
• Crossing Trails
• octane42
• Matt Brown
• Guitar Ted
• Chainring Tattoo
• Adventure Monkey
• Gnat Likes Bikes
• Reasonable Expectations
• Suffer Inn

Maximum respect for everyone who attempted this race, and kudos, especially for the 60 or so who made it through all 205 miles, some finishing as late as four in the morning. I don’t know how you did it, but you folk are amazing.

I covered 110 miles at a 12.3 MPH pace. The ride really turned into a ramble more than a training ride, and that was fine by me.

The route took me through Johnson, Miami, Franklin, and Douglas counties of Kansas, and I visited the towns of Rantoul, Ottawa, Centropolis, and Baldwin City, as well as the Flint Hills Nature Trail.

The clouds cleared as the day progressed, and a nice stiff tailwind carried me home. Can’t ask for more than that…

This is me on the bridge over the Antioch arm of Hillsdale Lake in Miami County, Kansas. At this point the skies were still completely cloudy and the wind was beginning to pick up.

It had been raining most days for the last few weeks, so I was a little concerned about the condition of the gravel roads, but they turned out to be fine. The road graders were out in force, but freshly-graded roads are the worst for bikes. Luckily, most were kind enough to leave me a semi-smooth strip along one edge or the other…

Rock Creek School, a one-room red brick schoolhouse in northeast Miami County that has stood for 100 years, was built in 1910 and closed in 1966. It was purchased from the school district by volunteers in the community in 1974, and today it is still used for community events. [read more]

I stop here every time I pass by, because I think it’s a really neat place, and I’m glad it’s survived and is still being used.

The Marais des Cygnes River was running high, and I was afraid the Flint Hills Nature Trail would be flooded (as it was last year about this time), but it was in great shape all the way from Osawatomie to Ottawa.

This is Carey’s Ford Bridge near Rantoul, Kansas.

A bit of flooding on the Flint Hills Nature Trail near Rantoul, Kansas. This was the worst of it, and it was easily passable. Last year this section was completely underwater and I wasn’t able to get through. Looks like the trail folk have been clearing out the trailside ditches to allow the water to drain away.

A beautiful old railroad bridge on the Flint Hills Nature Trail.

This carving is located near the courthouse in Ottawa. Tauy Jones was part Chippewa Indian and part white, and was an interpreter, advisor, and minister for the Ottawa tribe. He operated a trading post just south of the Marais des Cygnes, right where downtown Ottawa is today. On an earlier ramble, I visited the hotel he built northeast of Ottawa.

This statue is called “Buffalo Woman” and is located in front of the county courthouse in Ottawa, Kansas. The courthouse was designed by George P. Washburn who was one of the best known 19th century Kansas architects. His symmetrical courthouse designs gave unique character to 13 Kansas county seats. This building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Looking up at a water tower standing alone on the prairie near the site of Globe, Kansas.

This signpost explains the history of Globe, Kansas. The stone below marks the path of the old Santa Fe Trail.

Sunlight, clouds, and shadows playing across the prairie in Douglas County, Kansas. This is my favorite photo from the day.

The Willow Springs Old German Baptist Brethren Church is an offshoot of the Lutheran and Mennonite Churches. This meeting house was built in 1883, and is located in Willow Springs township 12 miles southwest of Lawrence.

This sign marks the site of Brooklyn, Kansas, an early trading center on the Santa Fe Trail. It was by William Quantrill when he sacked Lawrence in 1863. I’ve passed near here several times (on the annual Mullet Ride), but had never been down this particular road. I was glad to have found this finally!

This site memorializes Chinese workers who died here in 1867 while building the railroad from Lawrence to Ottawa. This is located near Baldwin City, Kansas.

Some highlights since last I posted:

On the Flint Hills Nature Trail near Rantoul, KS in early April with Ed Eroe (Ed’s Life Trek).

Two slowpokes on the Flint Hills Nature Trail near Osawatomie, Kansas.

This picture was part of my first solo gravel century, a ride from my house south to the town of Parker and back. It wasn’t a big ride for pictures, and I managed to get bitten by a dog for the first time — the stupid mutt just ran up and bit me for no good reason. I stopped to yell at the pooch, and he just sat there like nothing had happened, suddenly friendly. It wasn’t a bad bite — more like he just grazed me — and it didn’t start bleeding until later. I stopped and put on antiseptic (which I always carry), and called it good.

That probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do — I should have called the sheriff and had the dog tested for rabies — but I seem to have gotten lucky.

Looking for dead bodies in the trunks of these old wrecks near Lane, Kansas. These cars are used as flood-control devices — stacked, in-filled with railroad ballast, with steel cables running thru them. Kinda weird, but at least they’re being put to use.

Below the dam at Cedar Lake in Olathe, KS. This is a really beautiful area along the creek.

Rode the Indian Creek Trail on the way up to a bicycle swap meet. This is the Eilert Fountain along the trail in Corporate Woods in Overland Park, Kansas. Lots of folks were out enjoying the beautiful day. I scored a brand new pair of Lake cycling sandals for a great price.

This picture was taken at Douglas State Fishing Lake near Baldwin City, Kansas.

Hmmm, which steed shall I choose … black horse, white horse, black horse, lion, or Long Haul Trucker? At Pilla Park in Eudora, Kansas.

This picture was from an 85-mile ride I did to Lawrence, Kansas on a very cool and windy day. Had to actually break out the long pants, gloves, and ear-warmers for this ride in late April!

Momma Buffalo & calf at KC Buffalo Company farm near Belton, MO.

Rows of freshly-planted corn growing near Belton, Missouri.

At the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri. This was part of an “urban ramble” I did with Bill Poindexter (carfree American).

It’s interesting — I think riding in the city is just as fun (and almost as easy) as riding in the country. There are lots of cool things to see, and the street grid makes it easy to get around safely and with very little stress. It’s the places between the country and the city — the suburbs, with their high-speed arterial roads and the endless dead-end cul-de-sacs — which are bicycle unfriendly.

So no, “urban ramble” is not an oxymoron.

In Kansas, known as the “Saudi Arabia of Wind”, that’s not far from being classified a miracle. But I’ll take it.

For two month’s I’d been preparing to do my first randonneuring ride, a 200K (125 mile) Brevet running from Kansas City, Kansas to Ottawa, Kansas and back, with the good folks from Kansas City Ultra Cycling. The ride was scheduled for Saturday, March 27th.

On Friday, with the weather forecast calling for rain, wind, and cool temperatures all day, I pulled the plug on the Brevet. Why ride 10+ hours in rain when I don’t have to?

So, I figured my rando shot was done for; the next 200K on the schedule was May 8th, and by then I needed to be riding gravel, not pavement.

But then something unexpected happened — Keith Gates (commuterDude) told me that he wasn’t riding the Brevet, either, but was instead riding a Permanent route on Monday, the 29th. I looked at the forecast, which was for warmish temps and light wind, and I was in.

The only downside to Keith’s ride was an early start — 4am! Yikes.

Oh well. Up at 3am, and out the door shortly before 4, into the darkness. It was cold (about 35°F), but no wind. None.

I met Keith and another rider, Dianna, who was also doing her first rando ride, a couple miles from my house, and we headed off east and then south at a good pace.

The day before, I’d packed and prepared all my stuff for the ride. But I made three mistakes. One, I should’ve worn an extra pair of socks — a pair of wool socks and a stormsock wasn’t enough, and I ended up with cold toes. Two, I should’ve worn heavier gloves — one pair of liner gloves wasn’t enough over short-fingered gloves. Again, cold fingers off and on for the first 3-4 hours.

But my third mistake was the worst — I forgot my glasses. I’d prepared them with clear lenses for the dark start, but had gone off an left them on the table at home. Worse, the glasses had my mirror attached, so I felt like I was riding half blind all day, not being able to see behind me.

The good news was, everything else — head, torso, arms, legs — were spot-on. Very comfortable.

And the other thing that worked out well was my new light worked perfectly. I’d bought a MagicShine LED headlight at the end of last year, but hadn’t ridden with it yet. It put out plenty of light, even at the lowest setting, and didn’t dim at all. I’ll post up a more detailed review at a later time…

The route carried us through Stillwell and then south to Louisburg, where we stopped for a quick break, waiting in the dark for the convenience store to open at 5:30am. Then we were off again, rolling over the hills on Metcalf Road to 335th, then a short jog onto US-69 Highway — a four-lane freeway-style road, but with wide shoulders and light traffic — to 359th, then a quick left onto Jingo Road.

By this time, the big, beautiful full moon was setting, and the horizon was beginning to lighten in the east. This was the first time I’d seen the sunrise on a bike since the Biking Across Kansas tour in 2008.

Dianna and Keith pulled away from me on this long southward stretch, and at one point I stopped to take this photo:

A few minutes before sunrise, looking over La Cygne Lake and the La Cygne Generating Station. You can see there’s almost no wind at lower elevations…

The next stop was the Casey’s convenience store in La Cygne. As we rolled into town, the temperature on the bank sign read 27°F — how did it get colder? Dang…

It was light by the time we left La Cygne, and after a mile or two on K-152 Highway, we were headed south again.

Crossing the Marais des Cygnes River flood plain, looking forward to the hills of Linn County and another 85 miles of pedaling. It looks warm, but it was still plenty chilly at this point!

There are some pretty good hills between La Cygne and Pleasanton, but I didn’t find them too oppressive (nothing compared to the ones I rode the week before in Arkansas). As we hit the c-store in Pleasanton, I was feeling good except that my right foot was numb. I took off the stormsock, and that helped immediately — too much compression! The orange juice, beef jerky, and pecan pie didn’t hurt, either.

Back on the road and headed toward home, we stopped at a historical sign I had noticed on the way out:

This sign marks the nearby location of Paris, Kansas, a pro-slavery settlement that was the first county seat in Linn County, 1856. It was the site of the Battle of Paris in December 1859. At one time there was apparently quite a little community here — the records refer to a courthouse and “principal business blocks” — but there doesn’t seem to be anything to see here now, other than this sign. The gates leading into the property were closed, and we did not attempt to enter and explore (private property, presumably).

This next shot was taken heading north on County Road 1095 across the river bottoms, with a tailwind at our backs:

Stopping again in La Cygne, each of us removed a layer, as the day was heating up. With about 45-50 miles to go, I was feeling pretty good — still strong, but fatigue beginning to show, with just a slight twinge of pain flaring up in my left knee.

By the time I made it back home, I’d ridden 135 miles — about 30 miles longer than I’d ever gone before:

Wow. It felt great to finish, and I still felt decent at the end.

The moderate temperatures and friendly wind — hardly any wind at all heading south, then a nice 5-10 MPH tailwind on the way back north — certainly made it easier than it could have been. Frankly, conditions were pretty well ideal.

And the pace was way faster than I expected: 15MPH average, helped along no doubt by the lack of headwind.

Now, extend the ride out to 200 miles, and gravel instead of pavement. And maybe 25 MPH headwinds and crosswinds. How would I feel then?

Who knows, but I now think that I have a shot at surviving the Dirty Kanza’s 205 miles of misery. It still feels like a long shot, but it’s now at least within the realm of possibility.

Physically, it was a good day. Other than the foot numbness (related to too-tight socks/shoes) and knee pain (not huge, but something to watch out for), everything went well. I was able to drink (water and Accelerade, alternating sips) about every mile, plus an orange juice in the middle. Food intake was probably a bit lacking, but it wasn’t a problem, and I didn’t have any stomach problems or cramping.

Shoulders were a bit sore/tense, but not bad at all, considering. Hands and wrists were good as well, though I’m considering upgrading bars (will write about that at another time).

It turned out to be just a perfect day. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.

Slaughter Pen Hollow offers approximately 16 miles of singletrack mountain bike trails, as well as several mile sof paved multi-use trails, a mountain bike skills course, and a freeride area. The singletrack is arranged in a stacked loop configuration, with four levels of trails, ranging from easy to challenging. I rode the easiest and next-to-easiest, and left the harder trails for another day.

The trails I did ride I found to have great flow. There were quite a few rocks, but most were small and quite manageable. Mixed in with the smooth trail are several sections of more challenging terrain, each labeled appropriately, and, for the more difficult, bypasses.

The freeride area was actually quite fun. With its huge berms, big roller coasters, platforms, and wall rides, it looks rather intimidating at first glance, but it’s actually not bad. Well, at least the roller coasters and berms aren’t bad; I didn’t try the platform drops or the wall rides.

Here’s some pictures:

This is the map for Slaughter Pen Hollow mountain bike trails and skills/freeride park.

This trail at Slaughter Pen Hollow is called “Armadillo’s Last Stand”. It is the next-to-easiest trail in the park.

This is me crossing a short bridge on the “Armadillo’s Last Stand” trail at Slaughter Pen Hollow.

This is part of the roller coasters and bermed turns in the freeride area at Slaughter Pen Hollow.

This is one of several log rides at Slaughter Pen Hollow. Too scary for me to attempt…

There are several platforms of various heights that you can ride off of and drop onto the dirt below. I rode onto the platform, but no, I didn’t actually try the drop…

This is one of the wall rides at Slaughter Pen Hollow. You apparently approach from the right, kick your wheels up onto the wall (see the tread marks?) and then drop it into the dirt landing area.

This is another trick/skills feature at Slaughter Pen Hollow, this one featuring an ad for the local bike shop, Phat Tire.

And finally, here’s a bucolic scene showing the paved multi-use pathway running beside a nice little stream with gurgling mini-waterfalls. Nice.

All in all, I was really quite impressed with Slaughter Pen Hollow, and I’d like to go back and ride the trails and hit up the freeride area again.

Heading out of Berryville, I found county road 501 to be paved for a half-dozen miles of rolling, and then mountainous terrain. It wasn’t until I got into rougher country that the road turned to gravel. This was really beautiful country.

I did great until I got to a point where the road numbers on my printed map didn’t match the numbers on the road signs. Was I lost, or was my map wrong.

First one, then the other…

Turns out I missed a turn on an unmarked road that looked like a private drive. I found out when an oncoming car stopped to ask if I was lost. “Maybe,” I said. “This is a dead-end road,” the driver said. “Then I’m lost,” I replied.

She gave me directions of the “take the first left after the chicken houses, then left again when you come to a Y, then left again at the next Y” variety, or something like that.

Eventually I did get back on track, and found my way to the town of Alabam. Here I had a few choices. I could stay on the planned route, and go on to Huntsville, I could head cross-country towards Withrow Springs State Park, or I could short-cut in an hook up with the return route through the McIlroy Madison County Wildlife Management Area.

I chose the latter. The day was getting away from me and I wanted to get back to Eureka Springs in time for the shop ride at 5:30.

I made the turn-off into the WMA, and after a while came to some unmarked cross roads. Also, I found that (again) the number son my map didn’t match the actual road numbers.

As some point I came across a forest fire (thankfully I was upwind form the smoke, so it didn’t bother me). There were rangers there managing the controlled burn, and I stopped to ask them for directions. Apparently they misunderstood where I was trying to get to, because after following their directions I eventually I found myself headed west. My destination was northeast.

I gave it a few miles, but the general direction didn’t change. I realized that they were sending me out to Highway 23. That would work, but it was a long way around, and I really didn’t want to ride on that fairly high-traffic road.

So I turned around and took the opposite turn a the last cross-road. That was heading in the right direction, at least. Eventually I saw signed for Rockhouse, and I knew I was on the right track. I stopped again and asked someone else, and they confirmed it, just a few more miles until I hit blacktop.

One I hit the paved road, it was another 8 miles or so back to Berryville. I ended up with about 51 miles and 4300 feet of climbing. It was after 5pm when I got back, so the shop ride was out. Oh well.

This was a really enjoyable route. Scenic, rugged, and very little traffic. The last stretch into Berryville was particularly nice — a wide, smooth road with decent shoulders, and stunning views, and yet almost no traffic at all. I don’t think I was passed or met by more than a half-dozen cars on that road (Highway 221).

I’m really looking forward to coming years when I can explore this area some more…

Some pictures from the day:

Streams are so much nicer in the Ozarks than they are in my part of Kansas. Where I live, they’re typically muddy — both muddy bottoms and muddy water. Just not very aesthetically pleasing. In the Ozarks, it’s clear water and rocky bottoms. Just beautiful.

It’s a little hard to make out in this photo, but this entire hillside was covered in dog houses and dog pens. I could hear the non-stop barking a half-mile away, then when I came into sight, they really let loose with a cacophony of sound — hundreds of dogs making as much noise as they could muster. Needless to say, I didn’t stay long. Thank goodness (for me at least) they weren’t all running free!

The rough Arkansas Gravel eventually punched a hole in my rear tire (the second of the week). Later in the ride, I stopped to talk to talk with a woman who told me I was either brave or crazy to ride on these roads — they were constantly getting flat tires on their vehicles from the sharp rocks.

I suppose I was lucky I didn’t have more problems than I did. These tires have nearly 3000 miles on them, and the back tire (the one I flatted on) doesn’t have much tread left. I’ve already bought some new rubber, but plan to get as many miles as I can out of these…

This road grader was coming uphill as I was going down, so I just pulled over and let him pass. This long downhill was plenty skittish with the freshly-plowed rock, but I made it to the bottom without wiping out.

A scenic bend on the Kings River near Alabam, Arkansas.

Riding through a low-water crossing in the McIlroy Madison County Wildlife Management Area.

A low-water crossing and gravel road in the McIlroy Madison County Wildlife Management Area.

A forest fire (controlled burn) in the McIlroy Madison County Wildlife Management Area.

Here’s the route map (complete with a couple wrong turns):