• Rear Rack: The rear rack is a Planet Bike Eco Rack, a basic but functional rack that came with my EZ-Sport. There are fancier and more rugged racks, but this should do for now. In fact, I’m not even sure I’ll be keeping it on the bike. For local rides, it’s not really needed, and it just adds weight (about 1.25 pounds).

• Pedals: I swiped the Shimano PD-M520 pedals off the mountain bike (and prior to that they’d been on the recumbents). At some point I’ll probably have to break down and get a new pair, but these still seem to work perfectly, so why change?

• Cyclocomputer: The E3 F11c Cycle Computer w/Cadence is something I picked up on super-special at Nashbar. It seems pretty decent, though it’s bigger and less elegant than the Cateye Strada I have on the Django. Getting it installed on the bike however, took an embarrassingly long time. I had no trouble setting up the cadence sensor, but the hangup was the speed sensor. Being able to fit fat tires, the distance between the chainstay and the spokes on the rear wheel is quite large, and I had a tough time finding a way to shim the speed sensor out far enough to reach the spoke magnet. Eventually, I cannibalized part of an old handlebar mirror mount, and figured out a way to mount the sensor on the end of that. It’s not particularly elegant, but it works, and seems solid. I’m still not entirely happy with the wire routing, but the computer is at least working reliably now.

• Frame Bag: The Frame Pack bag is another Nashbar special, but I’m rather happy with the way this worked out. In a nice little bit of serendipity, my Blackburn Mountain Air pump from the mountain bike fit perfectly in the long side of the frame bag, with ample room for a tube, multi-tool, and various other small items.

  However, the frame bag does have two significant problems. One, it covers up one of the bottle cage mounts, and two, it’s in the way if I ever try to load the bike onto a car rack. I don’t plan on doing that for awhile, so it’s no big deal, but eventually this will become an issue. At that time, I can either just take the bag on and off each time I put it on the rack, or just switch back to a seat bag. The bottle mount may ultimately be the bigger issue, as the third bottle may be needed for long remote rides.

• Bottle Cages: These are just a couple cages I had lying around. Nothing special.

The only other additions I’m planning to make at some point are a pair of fenders and possibly a front rack. Still looking at options for those items.

Here’s a picture from today’s ride, a short jaunt to Gardner Lake and back. This picture was taken at one of the picnic shelters.

I’m still getting a feel for the bike, and haven’t really put any serious miles on it yet, but so far so good. I’ll report more as I figure things out.

I got this on January 3rd, and have had it out for two rides so far, a 9-mile gravel grind on its maiden voyage, and a 17-mile paved ride today. On the ride today, I intended to get a good picture, but the sun disappeared as soon as I hit the road, and this was the best I could come up with. If it wasn’t for the guardrail, the bike would almost disappear into the brown grass and leafless trees.

I’ve been thinking about this bike for quite a while, at least since late summer. Here were my selection parameters:

• A bike I could ride on both paved roads and gravel roads
• A bike I could ride on weekly club rides
• A bike I could ride on longer events of 100+ miles
• A bike I could ride with on cross-state tours
• A bike I could ride on self-supported tours
• I didn’t want to spend more than about $1000 (hopefully less)

The mountain bike I’ve been riding hard for the last six months handled all of that, to greater or lesser extents, but it really wasn’t the right tool for the job, and for some of the tasks, such as the cross-state tours and long single-day events, it was particularly ill-suited.

Looking at different types of bikes, I could dismiss some immediately. Recumbents were out because they didn’t handle gravel roads well. Pure road bikes were out because they didn’t handle gravel or loaded touring.

I seriously considered a cyclocross bike. It would be light and fast, well-suited for club rides. It could handle gravel with ease. It could handle light touring. I could get a basic model for just under $1K. I could even use ir for racing, if I wanted. But it wasn’t really the right bike for extended tours or loaded tours.

One bike that piqued my interest was the Salsa Fargo. It could handle the loaded touring, it could handle gravel and even some pretty rough singletrack, it would be great for long single-day events. It had disc brakes.

However, it wasn’t available (as a complete bike) until February. It used 29″ wheels (which meant having to stock another size of wheels, tires, and tubes). It was a brand new design (i.e. not heavily field-tested). It was $2000.

So I ended up with the Surly Long Haul Trucker, a touring bike that could take skinny tires for reasonably fast local rides and supported touring, or could take fat tires for gravel and dirt roads. It could handle a heavy load for self-supported touring. It has been field-tested for at least a half-dozen years, with nearly unanimous positive reviews. It used 26″ wheels (in my frame size). It listed for $1100.

On the downside, it used cantilever brakes — OK, but not as solid as disc or V-brakes. It was heavy — about 26-27 pounds stock. And while it could take fat tires and handle gravel and perhaps even some easy singletrack, it is primarily a road bike.

On the balance, the positives far outweighed the negatives, and the decision was made.

At that point, the main issue was frame sizing. Not having ridden a road bike since I was a teenager (and that just a department store 10-speed), I had no clue what size I needed. People of similar height rode everything from 50cm to 56cm frames, and every brand of bike seemed to measure their frames differently, so that a 54cm from one company wasn’t the same as a 54cm from another company. And even worse, I no longer knew what felt right.

In the end, I was fortunate to find two Long Haul Truckers in stock locally — a 50cm in Kansas City, and a 54cm in Lawrence, and both shops were kind enough to let me test-ride them and ask a few questions. Both sizes felt foreign to one degree or another. But I got the impression that the 50cm was too small, and the 54cm too big, so that gave me the answer right there: 52cm frame.

I placed the order with my most local of shops, Bike America in Olathe, on my birthday, just before the end of the year. Thanks to Kevin and, especially, Mark, for getting me a great deal.

Not having any particular preferences on specific components, I went with the Long Haul Trucker “complete”. My understanding is that most of Surly’s component choices are pretty decent, and should serve me well until I learn more about my road bike likes and dislikes.

That’s enough for now. I’ll discuss the particulars of the bike, and what I’ve added so far, in the next post…

January 2008

A January 6th ride with Ron and Jerry of the Wednesday ride group. 36 miles of warm temps, light wind, and good company.

February 2008

On February 4th, an unseasonably warm day had me riding 50 miles, hitting both Gardner Lake and Hillsdale Lake. There were a few minutes there, taking a break along the shores of Hillsdale, where time seemed to stand still. It was as close as I can imagine getting to a perfect moment. [ ride report ]

March 2008

On March 1st I met up with Dave and his friend Chris for a warm, hilly, and terribly windy ride through northern Johnson County. [ ride report from Dave ]

On the 12th, the first Mid-Week BikeSource ride of the year. On this day it was just Ron and I on a run to Brookside, with the ride back turning into a slog against a strong and gusty wind.

On the 28th I headed over to Lawrence, where I purchased my mountain bike. It was a short test ride, but the bike felt pretty natural almost immediately.

April 2008

A ride with Reed from home up to the Kansas River on the 14th was my first metric century of the year. [ ride report ]

The annual Spring Classic ride took place on the 19th, and it was a frigid start to a somewhat grey day. But I finished up 72 miles later, tired but happy to have ridden the “long” route for the first time.

On the 29th I did my first gravel grind, a 32-mile ride through Miami County with Reed — just a beautiful day, hitting Osawatomie, Rantoul, and the Flint Hills Nature Trail.

May 2008

On the 4th I did a 73-mile Sunday ride with Dave and Reed through southern Johnson County, into Missouri, through northern Miami County, finishing up with the Twisted Sisters hills in Olathe.

On the 24th, 9Toes and I did a 50-mile gravel grind south to Louisburg on the mountain bike. Muddy roads, threats of rain, and a strong pace left me exhausted, but the ride yielded one of of my favorite photos of the year.

June 2008

June 1st was the Lone Star Century. I’d planned to do the full 100 miles, but family obligations called, so I only did 66 miles.

Biking Across Kansas ran June 6-14. I’d attempted this in 2006, but had to abort due to illness. No problems this time. Great rides throughout the week. Most memorable: The longest day of the tour — 85 miles of a brutal crosswind. It was glorious.

After BAK, I pretty much put the recumbent out to pasture, and rode the mountain bike for the rest of the year. I did two really cool rides in June: An 80-mile solo ride on the 25th and the Mullet Ride in Baldwin City on the 28th.

I ended with over 1000 miles for the month. Amazing.

July 2008

July featured a lot of local rides with Reed, most in the 30-40 mile range. My favorites were the Ride ‘Round Rantoul gravel grind on the 17th, and a re-ride of part of the Mullet route on the 24th.

August 2008

August 3rd I did my first century on the mountain bike, accompanied by Reed and Dave. It was a hot, hot day, and everyone said I was crazy to attempt it on a mountain bike, but I accomplished it, and at quite a good pace, even though I faded significantly at the end. [ ride report ]

September 2008

September opened but a hard-and-fast gravel grind with some folk from Lawrence. This ride showed me that I could almost keep up with cyclocross bikes on gravel, but not quite. This ride cooked 9Toes’ goose, and I didn’t see him back on the bike for another month-and-a-half. [ ride report ]

That ride was followed with the Tour of Missouri Pre-Pre-Ride with the fellows from the Wednesday ride group. It was nearly the same route as the previous year, with lotsa hills. But this time I was riding the mountain bike rather than the recumbent, and it was far easier (and faster). [ ride report ]

The highlight of the month, though, was a re-running of the private century Reed and I rode last year. This year, however, we opened it up to more friends, and ended up riding with a nice little group. I dubbed it the Tour de Detour do to the number of re-scheduling and re-routing required.

October 2008

The high point of October was the Steep Hills and Old Bridges ride I did with 9Toes, a gravel grind, trail ride, and bridge tour of western Miami County.

Also of note was the Dark Side Ride I did with a bunch of local riders I’ve admired for years, but never had a chance to ride with. Riding in the dark on one of the last, best nights of the year made it even more special. [ ride report ]

November 2008

November featured a bunch of solo rides, most of the gravel grind adventuring sort. I love to ride and explore new roads and trails, and I got to do a lot of that this month, particularly in Miami and Linn Counties. I want to go back there again in 2009 for sure.

The other highlight of the month was the KanBikeWalk urban ride through Topeka on the 22nd, exploring city streets and neighborhoods, as well as the Shunga Trail. [ ride report ]

December 2008

December was a lost month. I was hurt on the 7th [ see Dirt Bumbler ], and didn’t get back on the bike until the 26th. But I did make 6000 miles for the year!

Jeez, that’s a lot of “favorite” rides, isn’t it? And believe me, there are many more great rides that didn’t make the list, but are still fond memories.

Hoping for more great riding in 2009!

The shoulder’s getting better. I have good range of movement, and it doesn’t hurt much at all, except for a few isolated movements. I still have a big old bump on the top of the shoulder, but that’s probably permanent.

Although I set up the recumbent on the trainer, I never actually convinced myself to ride it (I really hate riding a stationary bike).

Then, the day after Christmas, with the temperature topping out at about 65°F, I ventured out onto the road for the first time in 18 days.

I won’t say it was worth the wait, because I would’ve just as soon skipped this episode entirely, but dang, it felt good to be back on the bike again.

Never mind that I took it very easy. Never mind that I rode very slowly. Never mind that the wind was blowing 20 MPH. It was still a grinfest.

I ended up going about 20 miles, and the shoulder felt fine. Not good-as-new fine, but good enough. Leaning over the handlebars wasn’t a problem. Putting weight on the shoulder wasn’t a problem. Hitting bumps was a bit of a problem, but that was manageable.

On the 29th I did another 20 miles. On the 30th I did another 10.

Bingo, bango, that’s 6000 miles for the year. 6000.7 to be exact — about 2575 on the recumbent and 3425 on the mountain bike.

Considering my goal was only 4500 miles, I think that turned out rather well.

I haven’t decided on a goal for 2009. I may not even set one. I wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up with fewer than 6000. That’s an awful lot of riding.

One last picture from 2008, this one taken on the last ride, on the trail at Lone Elm Park:

And finally, a picture that sums up my mountain biking accident:

Image courtesy of Sir Bikes-a-lot, Professional Dirt Bum

Ineptitude. Yup.

Sunday afternoon I drove to Lawrence, KS to ride the Clinton Lake Trails with 9Toes. Neither of us had ridden these trails, so we didn’t really know our way around. I lead out, and right away we hit some rather rocky sections, followed by a twisty section with freshly-worked dirt.

I was riding somewhat faster than my normal pace, and after bouncing through some dirt-covered rocks, there was a sharp left, then a sharp right. I made the first turn, but on the second turn my front wheel got a little too close to the loose dirt on the edge of the trail. The wheel slipped downhill off the trail, and I went over hard onto my right shoulder.

As I sat there taking stock. 9Toes asked if I was all right.

“Yeah, I think so,” I said, “unless I broke my shoulder.”

I stood up and examined the shoulder, and felt a sharp bump on top. Showed it to 9Toes, and he confirmed. “I can see it from here,” he said.

Having broken my left clavicle 9 years ago playing softball, I figured that’s what this was as well — a broken clavicle (collarbone).

Pain wasn’t terrible, but it was definitely there.

We walked the bikes back to the truck — luckily we were only about 0.4 miles into a 13-mile trail, so the trip back was short. He drove me home to my wife, and off to the hospital we went. A few hours later I was back home with an arm sling and pain meds.

The diagnosis: A grade 2 A-C joint sprain (separated shoulder). Here’s the details from an online medical site:

Next day was a trip to see an orthopedic doctor. He confirmed the diagnosis, and said that there’s nothing to be done except to let it heal. Keep the arm in the sling for a few days, then gradually lose the sling. Do some exercises to rebuild the strength and range of motion of the shoulder. Stay off the bike.

The obvious follow-up to the last question: How long?

4-to-6 weeks was his best guess.

Bummer. Not unexpected, but discouraging nonetheless.

So my cycling season’s done with. I ended up with 5950 miles (only 50 miles short of 6000!). 2575 of those on the recumbent, and 3375 on the mountain bike.

My goal for the year was 4500 miles, so I’m hardly dissatisfied with the total, though obviously I would’ve like to hit that next big round number.

I’ve kept track of my miles on BikeJournal, which lets you compare your mileage with other riders. It currently shows me as #1 in the city of Olathe, and #4 in the state of Kansas, with a pretty secure hold on those positions, unless someone adds 300 miles in next few weeks.

Sitewide, I’m at #514. I had hoped to stay in the top 500 for the year, but that’s not going to happen. Not sure how far I’ll slip, but I’ll probably end up in the 600-700 range. Not bad.

So for now I’ll take it relatively easy. I can still work on the computer, using my left hand for mousing and hunt-and-peck typing. It’s slow going, but it works. I’ll probably take up walking to get a bit of exercise, and maybe set up the recumbent on the trainer to do some easy spins. I’ll also likely hit the road on the recumbent to begin with, since that’ll keep any pressure off my shoulder. The only issue there will be whether I can hold my arm outstretched for long periods, and have the hand strength to turn the grip-shifter.

Next year: Back on the bike!

I stayed close to home, heading up the road a couple miles to Lone Elm Park, where I hit the gravel and grass trails for a few loops. With the temperature just under freezing, the roads were clear but wet, and the gravel trails were mostly clear, though the wooden bridges were snow-covered, and there were a few water puddles on the trail. The grass trails, however, were pretty well snowed in, and it was slow riding breaking trail through the fresh snow and 3-inch tall grass.

In all, I did 2.5 loops — two complete loops including both gravel and grass, each about 1.4 miles long, and one gravel-only loop of about 0.7 miles.

That and riding roads there-and-back got me about 8.5 miles. That was enough.

Clothing-wise, I’m still trying to work it out. Today, the problem was my feet. With a base layer cotton sock, a Seirus stormsock, and wool sock, in my Shimano MTB shoes, I ended up with cold toes. I’m thinking the stormsock (a windproof, water resistant layer) should have gone on the outer layer, providing more airspace within. The other problem is that my shoes are really too tight with all the sock layers, further limiting the insulating airspace.

Other than that, the Amfib tights were great on the legs, wool + polypro + rain jacket was actually too warm on the torso, and liner glove + fleece glove was great on the hands.

The other problem was glasses — I was using a fleece neck gaitor, which works fine keeping the neck and face comfy, but warm air rises and fogs the glasses. Never did really work that out, other than the lower the gaiter below my mouth.

Finally, my camera crapped out on me, or I’d have some nice photos. That thing is eating batteries like candy. Time for a new one, I suppose.

But now, as the year winds down and the weather becomes a bigger factor, I’ve been reduced to mostly “short and slow” rides.

In November so far, I’ve only logged 267 miles, at an anemic 12.4 MPH average pace. And that’s even including a wind-aided 36-mile, 16.5 MPH ride.

Yesterday was more of the same: 23.6 miles, 10.6 MPH average.

It didn’t help that I took a detour and rode a bit of singletrack that required — for me at least — a good amount of hike-a-bike. Pushing a bike up a steep and rocky trail at 2 MPH can pull your average down in a hurry.

But despite the death-slog average speed, I count it as a great ride.

In late November, getting out on a 50°F day with light wind and brilliant sunshine can’t help but being a great ride.

I drove down to Hillsdale, KS and parked at the Lake-and-Dale c-store before heading east for a few miles, then making my first-ever visit to the village of Wagstaff, followed by 15 miles or so of gravel, including a short-but-very-steep little climb that I went out of my way to try.

This thing was crazy, just insanely steep, but I put the bike in the little ring, shifted down, and climbed right to the top. I figured my back wheel would slip out on the gravel, but it hung in there.

Getting down the hill, though, was something else. With a tight little corner at the bottom of the hill, I couldn’t just turn it loose and coast, so I had to ride the brakes all the way down.

After a few more miles of gravel, I found myself on the edges of Hillsdale Lake park, and turned onto the singletrack there.

Actually, calling some of these trails “singletrack” is being generous. They’re primarily equestrian trails, and the horses make a hell of a mess, gouging deep, rough cuts in the trail, and leaving behind lots of organic material. Thankfully, the trail didn’t appear to have seen much use recently, and most of that stuff was dry.

Still, bouncing from hoofprint to hoofprint can make for a rough ride, and I was glad to finally reach a side-trail that received less traffic. This was a trail I’d never ridden before, and I was rolling along on mostly-smooth dirt when I came to this:

That’s a nasty little rock-infested uphill. When I first caught sight of it, I rolled up to the base, stopped, and said “no way.” I pushed the bike up through the minefield, then turned around and road it downhill. Hell yeah! That’s more like it — bumpedy-bump and bouncedy-bounce, but it was a hell of a ride.

Back at the bottom, I looked up at that rocky climb, and thought that if I could get enough speed, and picked just the right line, maybe, just maybe I could clear it.

And damned if it didn’t work. Spun right up it. No prob. Wow.

A little later, further down the trail, I scared up a deer, and it went bounding off into the brush, white tail blazing. That was cool.

When I reached the horse-trailer parking area, I found it completely deserted, where as usually it’s crawling with people and beasts. I took my time and explored the area a bit before connecting to a trail and the western end of the site, and quickly found myself on a wide, smooth trail that clearly saw a lot of use — a veritable horse superhighway.

Eventually the trail split off in several directions, and I took the spur headed off into the woods.

This was some of the sweetest trail I’ve ever ridden, no kidding. Just gorgeous in the late afternoon, crunching through leaves, winding among the trees, bouncing off rocks hidden by the leaf cover. Just a sweet, sweet bit of trail.

After a bit of off-the-bike action, as I had to dismount to negotiate an especially steep and rocky downhill, I found myself along the shore of Hillsdale Lake. After picking my way through the trees, I arrived on a small beach, and leaned the bike against some driftwood. Nice shot:

One more shot from the same beach, a self-protrait from a different angle:

By that time, as you can tell from that last shot, it was getting along toward dark, so I got moving. On the way back, I hit one final bit of trail, and managed to crash. All that twisty, rocky, muddy trail I’d ridden, and I wipe out on a straight and open section of trail.

I was rolling along on a horse-track, and it just cut deeper and deeper into the ground the farther it went. The walls along the foot-wide track got to be about a foot high, and there was no way to get out. Eventually, my pedal snagged on the sidewall, and over I went, thankfully into soft grass. No harm, no foul.

I pulled back into Hillsdale town a few minutes after five, cutting it close as I didn’t have a headlight on the bike.

Great ride.

My route took me east to Cold Creek Road, then south to Drexel, then south some more on State Line Road. I originally mapped out my route to totally encircle LaCygne Lake, but I ended up cutting the ride short, and just clipped the upper end of the lake.

The ride southward turned into a slog. A combination of a stiff headwind, freshly-graveled roads, more traffic than I expected, and some saddle issues caused me to me to not particularly enjoy this part of the ride. That doesn’t happen to me very often, but it did on this day, and I was happy to take the shortcut on 399th Street.

399th wasn’t much better for a mile or so, then the road dropped into a nice long curvy downhill to the lake, and suddenly, it was fun again!

I messed around a little at a neat old bridge crossing the lake, then headed north. Within a mile or so I took another detour, heading off-road onto what was apparently a backwoods road that quickly turned from doubletrack into barely-visible track, but it was fun and scenic as the trail wrapped around a hill and passed between a heavily-wooded bluff and a creek.

On the way back up the trail, I flatted — my first one in several months! I never did find the cause of the flat, but patched the tube and was on my way.

The trip back north to Rutlader was nicer than the trip south, due primarily to the tailwind, but also to smoother roads and very light traffic. I pulled into Rutlader after only about 26 miles, but I was glad to be finished.

I definitely want to go back and explore the LaCygne Lake area some more. What I saw of it looked very promising!

Some photos from the ride:

A fancy gate on a farm on Cold Water Road near Drexel, MO.

This is a nice old bridge crossing LaCygne Lake. Too bad about all the graffiti.

DirtBum on LaCygne Lake Bridge

This was just too much to resist…

The following are a few pictures from the ride:

There are a lot of these just south of the cider mill — I think this is pretty big horse country.

A strange object on the horizon — turned out to be a water tower under construction. Workers were welding on the bottom section, and when it’s done a crane will lift it to the top of the tower.

Yes, it’s good old 311 Kickyerbutt Road

Taking a break on a bridge near New Lancaster, KS

A feisty little milk snake

The (minimum maintenance) road not taken…

A low-water creek crossing in lieu of a bridge; you don’t see that too often around here

Wow, that’s a big Sunflower head!

Indian Grass Prairie Restoration near Somerset, KS

Late afternoon at the Louisburg Cider Mill

Some days are just too nice to pay attention to stupid signs.

The weather was great. The temperature was in the uppers 50s at the start of the ride (about 9:30pm), the wind was light, and the sky was crystal clear with millions of stars. The ride set a pretty good pace, and it wasn’t that far — about 30 miles — but the tandem was plagued with flat-itis, and the group stopped several times to help them try to fix the problem. In the end, it was too dark to find the culprit, so they ended up sagging in the last few miles.

It was after midnight by the time I got back home, and it was getting to be pretty nippy. I wore two layers of socks, but still ended up with cold toes.

I’ve realized that there’s a big difference between riding the recumbent and the upright in terms of the feet getting cold. On the ‘bent, you’re reclined, with your feet leading the way, and the wind is blocked by the soles of the shoes. On the upright, the wind just cuts right on through. Thicker socks are in order, I suspect.

My lighting, including the Coleman headlamp plus a nice little LED flashlight I picked up, worked out well. This was the first time I’d ridden with them more than just around the block. With the group or riders, we were throwing down quite a bit of light, so I was able to run both the flashlight and headlamp at low brightness most of the time. It’s nice being able to have both the fixed light and the light that follows your gaze (though I had to be careful to to blind folk as I looked into their faces).

Read Noah’s blog for a write-up and some great pics: Welcome… to the Dark Side.

I’m already looking forward to next summer and the return of warm nights for more dark side riding opportunities.

The Good Life Gravel Adventure was a 135-mile gravel grinder on the gravel and dirt roads surrounding Lincoln, Nebraska. It was put on by the Pirate Cycling League, a crew of Lincoln-area gravel freaks headed up by Corey “Cornbread” Godfrey.

Read the Wrap-Up from the PCL, plus race reports from Dale Rabideau, Joe Fox, and Matt Gersib, and great photos from Corey Godfrey (plus earlier recon photos).

Good stuff indeed.

It looks like several folks from Lawrence and KC made the trip up for the race … wonder if there’d be any interest in forming a similar gravel-grinding club around here?

The Lawrence Cycling Yahoo Group kind of serves that purpose, but they don’t seem to have an internet presence, other than Yahoo…

The route followed 183rd Street due west, following the same path I rode in September (Hard Forty), with the first stop at Gardner Junction:

Gardner Junction near Gardner, KS

With a strong cross-wind, I was still pedaling fairly strong, and after crossing into Douglas County and bypassing the county lake, I reached the Ivan Boyd Woodlands Nature Trail just south of the lake with a 14.9 MPH average.

Nature Trail at Ivan Boyd Woodlands near Baldwin City, KS

I spent some time walking the trail through the woods, admiring the old oaks on the property, and gathering some hickory nuts to take home for later. I even saw a deer, though I was too slow with the camera to get a shot off.

After saddling back up, the road took me around a winding curve and up a long, loosely-graveled climb:

Winding gravel road near Baldwin City, KS

At the top of the hill is Signal Oak park. According to the sign: “On this quarter-acre site, overlooking three valleys — Coal Creek, Wakarusa, and Kansas — stood the famous Signal Oak Tree, a stately white oak at the time of the Civil War, whose branches were used to hold signal lanterns.”

It’s a cool little place, with a nice view of the land to the north, with Lawrence in the distance:

Signal Oak Overlook near Baldwin City, KS

Signal Oak Overlook near Baldwin City, KS

The ride back, after a quick stop at the Santa Fe Market in Baldwin City, wasn’t nearly as pleasant as the ride out.

First, clouds had moved in, and the world changed from sunshine into gray. Then the wind, which had been coming out of the north-northeast as I rode west, had switched to the east-northeast, so I had a strong and gusty headwind all the way home.

Ugh. With 20+ miles of pumping against the wind, I was lucky to hold a 13 MPH average, even on the relatively flat homeward route.

I ended up with 47 miles at a 13.6 MPH average. Not quite the 15+ pace I was looking for.

Still, the first half of the ride was great, and the nature trail was wonderful. The ride home, though, I think I’ll just forget about….

After a short road trip to Paola’s Wallace Park, we headed west on 303rd Street, which is paved for a few miles before it turns to gravel.

The first hill, just past the appropriately-named “Lookout Road”, was a doozy, a long steady climb, followed by a small downhill, then a long series of ups and downs, including a nice gravity-fueled plunge around a blind curve, a flat run across a narrow valley, then a curvy ascent before we hit Pressonville Road and turned south.

The next miles had a few more ups and downs before we reached the Marais des Cygnes River valley. We crossed it once just south of 327th Street, on a new concrete bridge, then again a short while later on 335th Street.

In contrast to the bland concrete slab architecture of the new bridge, Carey’s Ford Bridge, built in 1909, is elegant and beautiful, and still functional, though too narrow for two-way car traffic. It’s amazing to think that a bridge built nearly 100 years ago inspires awe, while my only reaction to the new structure is “blah”. How is it our forefathers could afford to make something both beautiful and useful, while today, with vastly improved wealth and technology, we settle for functional-but-ugly?

Carey’s Ford Bridge near Rantoul, KS

Down the road a bit, near the town of Rantoul, is what I call an airplane graveyard, though it’s actually the home of Dodson International, a business that takes apart old airplanes and sells the parts. It’s always fun to see the variety of planes around there, both large and small.

Dodson International Airplane Salvage near Rantoul, KS

In Rantoul, we picked up the Flint Hills Nature Trail, a rails-to-trail conversion that will ultimately be 117 miles long, but today is made up of a number of isolated and partially-completed sections.

We followed the trail west of town, and it looked like the trail had been worked on recently, with new rock spread across the ground. It wasn’t really ready to ride, as the rock was huge railroad ballast rock, and it was hard going, but we made it through. The trail ended at a dirt-pile after a half mile or so. We climbed the pile and looked beyond, but all we saw was a farm field.

Flint Hills Nature Trail west of Rantoul, KS

East of Rantoul is a similar situation. The trail here is finished (and judging by the tire tracks, footprints, and horse tracks, well used), but again it peters out after a half mile or so, ending in a grass field.

Flint Hills Nature Trail east of Rantoul, KS

This time we kept going, following the faint line of the old railroad bed across the field, the recently-mowed stubble crunching beneath our tires. Again, it was slow going, but soon enough we crossed the field and re-entered the trail proper at the Virginia Road entrance.

Flint Hills Nature Trail at Virginia Road

A few minutes later we stopped for a break at a well-built trail bridge, before continuing along the trail, with the river on our left and tree-covered bluffs on our right, it didn’t feel like Kansas. This part of the trail feels much like Missouri’s Katy Trail — very scenic and serene.

Bridge on Flint Hills Nature Trail - DirtBum & 9Toes

After reaching Pressonville Road, we continued on the trail heading east. Though I’d ridden the previous section before, this part was new to me. I don’t think it was open the last time I came through.

In fact it may not be officially open yet. The trail itself is in great shape, but after a mile or so, the bridge over Indianapolis Road is missing — completely gone. You have to walk down a steep sidepath, cross the road, and push the bike up another steep path before getting back onto the trail.

Missing Bridge on Flint Hills Nature Trail near Osawatomie

From there, the trail goes another quarter-mile before it crosses John Brown Highway, follows the road for a short distance, then abruptly ends just before it reaches the Osawatomie city limits.

The Pottawatomie Creek Bridge is located just south of Osawatomie. Again, it’s a beautiful old bridge, built in 1932. It’s made of concrete, but with its three elegant arches, it’s far from ordinary.

Pottawatomie Creek Bridge south of Osawatomie

The Creamery Bridge just north of Osawatomie is nearly the Pottawatomie’s twin, built two year earlier.

Creamery Bridge north of Osawatomie

After leaving Osawatomie we headed back to Paola, encountering another round of knee-buckling hills in the process, before rolling back into Wallace Park.

It was a slow ride, but it was a gloriously sunny and calm day, and the pace was just fine. The roads near Paola are some of my favorite places to ride, and with the steepness and frequency of the hills west (and east) of town, it’s certainly a good place to get in some hill work.

I bought a pair of Chiba on eBay. Haven’t ridden with them yet, so I can’t comment on their ride qualities, but they have one feature that just kicks butt.

Between the first and second fingers, and between the third and fourth fingers, there’s a little fabric loop. This bit of material doesn’t seem to get in the way, and doesn’t restrict finger movement at all, but it makes it very easy to take the gloves off.

Most short-fingered cycling gloves are kind of a pain to take off. You either have to turn the glove inside out, or individually scootch each finger through the glove.

No more! Just pull in the little loops, and the glove comes right off! Quick and easy.

OK, you still have to scootch the thumb, but at least the fingers are easy!

Yah, I am easily impressed…

We parked in Louisburg and headed east on Highway 68. Thankfully, the traffic was fairly light, as this section of road has no shoulder. But still, after being passed by several trucks in 4 miles, we were glad to cross into Missouri and head south on MO Route D.

Even after the road surface turned to hell (way to keep up with road maintenance, MODOT), and we realized there was a noticeable headwind, we were still happy, because the day was bright and beautiful, the countryside was scenic, and there was very little traffic.

It was a nice ride to our first pit stop at the Casey’s Store in Drexel, Missouri, and a short break before we were off again. The route took us due west on 359th Street, into the southwesterly wind. We soon crossed paths with the Cider Mill Century route, catching it at Jingo road and following it west to Block Junction, where we took another short break. Once stopped, the wind didn’t feel like much, but it definitely got your attention when you were pedaling into it.

Soon enough we reached Osawatomie and made our way through town to the Whistle Stop Cafe. This is a great place to eat in Osawatomie, with a lunch buffet with really good fried chicken.

After eating our fill we were off once more, heading north on Old KC Road, once again on familiar roads. We took Old KC Road Up to 327th, east to Hospital Drive, then north to 311th Street and back east towards Louisburg.

This is a road I’d ridden before, but it was new to Reed. As we crossed the flat Wea Creek valley, I said to Reed, “Ready or not, here they come.”

“What,” he asked.

“Hills,” I replied, grinning.

“Great.”

The first few hills weren’t too bad, but they just kept coming. For the next 10 miles or so, one after another, with a couple pretty healthy ones in the middle. Not granny-gear tough — I was able to stay in my middle chainring — but tough enough.

And traffic, on this straight-but-hilly backroad, while not exactly heavy, was more than I expected. As always, most drivers were polite, but there’s always a few that push the jerk envelope, in a hurry to get somewhere fast.

After eight miles of up and down on 311th, we headed north on Metcalf for a few more hills and a few more miles, until we arrived back at the truck with right at 60 miles under our wheels. I was surprised, when I entered the mileage into my log later, that it ended up being a 15.2 MPH average. With the wind for the first half, and hills on the last half, it didn’t seem that fast.

But it was a great route, one I’d like to do again sometime. Once in a while it’s good to get yer butt kicked like that.

I got a late start, not getting away until about 12:30pm. With a strong and gusty wind from the southwest, I had mapped out a 74-mile route heading southwest towards Rantoul. The first and last part of the ride would be on familiar roads, but I was hoping to see some new sites along the way.

In the end, I rode 68.75 miles, and about 30 of it was on roads I’d never ridden before, so that’s a pretty good percentage.

Heading into the wind, I wasn’t out to set any speed records, so I made it a point to take it easy. Rather than fighting the wind, I acquiesced, just keeping moving, but not pushing it at all. It was a comfortable and relaxing way to ride, with no stress about keeping up to some arbitrary speed goal.

Midway through the ride, just before I turned north and caught the tailwind, I had about a 10.9 MPH average. Yeah, turtle slow. But that was fine by me.

Once I did get the tailwind, though, my speed picked up without much additional effort, and I ended the ride with a 12.34 MPH average. Still very slow, but so what?

The route had some flat sections and some hilly sections. Google Maps let me down once again. Part of the route near Rantoul showed a road, but when I got there, the road didn’t look like much, and there was a steel cable stretched across the road with a “No Trespassing” Sign.

The map also mislead me with regards to a place called “Mears Park” in Franklin County. Google Maps (and Yahoo Maps as well) shows it as a substantial park, covering about an eight of a square mile. When I got there all I found was an overgrown field, a few rotting light poles, and “Private Property - Keep Out” signs. It looks like there might have been something there at one time, but nothing any time recently.

The clouds moved in towards sundown, robbing me of the chance for some good dusk shots, and by the time I reached home, it was nearly dark, and I ran with lights for the last half hour or so, just to play it safe.

The following are a few photos from the ride:

Taking a break on a secluded bridge near Hillsdale Lake

At Hillsdale Lake - Yes, the wind was blowing pretty good

I was sorely tempted, but I stuck to the plan…

A good crop of hay from this field

Kansas does indeed have some nice vistas

Whee! Curves ahead (and a downhill)!

A tough little hill in Franklin County

Mmmm, soybeans (they really are quite tasty)

Note that this is a far different route than Adventure Cycling’s TransAmerica Trail, which is routed on paved roads from Yorktown, Virginia to Astoria, Oregon.

This route starts in Northeastern Tennessee and ends at the Pacific Ocean in southwestern Oregon, and features about 4,800 miles of mostly off-pavement riding.

Sounds cool, but there are a few caveats.

First, the routes are set up for motorcycle travel, with distances and resupply points far different than what would be feasible for bicycles. They estimate an average of 200 miles a day. On much of the route, a bicycle would probably be doing good to average 50 miles a day. Not an insurmountable problem, but you’d need to be able to carry many days worth of food and water over some very rough terrain.

Secondly, the maps aren’t free (neither are Adventure Cycling’s, for that matter). They’re not too expensive, though — $290.00 for all the maps, or you can purchase individual state maps for a lower price. The maps are provided as both folded maps and as roll charts.

Thirdly, the route doesn’t go through Kansas — a huge oversight! However, it does cover 472 miles in Arkansas, 750 miles in Oklahoma, and 775 miles in Colorado, as well as other states. Obviously, with those mileages, you can see that they’re not taking the most direct route through each state…

Still, this looks to be an outstanding resource for offroad touring, and definitely something to consider if you’d like to venture off into the wild on two wheels.

Also, to get a feel for the route, check out some of the YouTube videos related to the trail…

My parents live on a farm in Lafayette County, MO, just south of the Missouri River in the west-central part of the state. Located on the southern bluffs of the river, the country is lush farmland, flat-to-rolling in places, but rougher as you approach the river.

My ride took me east through the tiny town of Dover, north on MO Route P, then onto gravel for the hilly backroads journey to the even-tinier town of Hodge, situated on the edge of the bluffs and the river floodplain.

This photo shows the intersection of Edwards Mills Road and Hodge Road, and you can see how the road just kind of drops away and disappears. It was like that the rest of the way into Hodge, with some steep downhills punctuated by some shorter, but equally-steep uphills, before the road crossed the railroad tracks at the foot of the bluffs, and followed the tracks for a half mile or so east.

The road then turned into a paved road as it passed through the village of Hodge, then a long climb, up the bluffs. The road was twisty and fairly steep, but not unmanageable, and it was uphill for about two miles, until I emerged on the top of a ridge, and was able to take a gravel road back west.

There were some good views to be had, but most of them were obscured by the trees and brush lining the road. This is one representative shot, showing a recently-mowed and lightly-traveled road running along a ridge.

After a short westward jog, the route then headed predominantly southward, and the land smoothed out a bit, and became far richer. I like the photo above, taken just south and east of Dover, showing the hills, a winding road, green, yellow, and brown soybeans, bright green grass, and golden brown corn ready for harvest.

I like this shot as well, as I’m a sucker for old, dilapidated buildings, and this rusted-and-worn old barn fit in perfectly with the ripened corn.

After riding about five miles south, I headed back west for a few miles, then north again. This old Walnut tree was situated at the crest of a small rise, with falling nuts littering the road, and my bike nestled in the deep shadows beneath it.

It was good to ride some of the old roads I remember from my youth, seeing them from the saddle of a bicycle bringing a fresh perspective to familiar landscapes.

View route…

We picked a route, picked the date — September 13th — and sent out the invites. We got a really good response, and were looking forward to a nice little group of about 10-15 people.

Then we hit a few detours along the road…

Detour #1: The rains came. And it rained, and rained, and rained some more. Saturday was washed out. Sunday (the fall-back day) was soggy as well.

We rescheduled the ride for the next weekend — September 21st. Unfortunately, along the way we lost many of the original riders due to family commitments and scheduling conflicts with other events.

Well, to all those who couldn’t make it: you missed out on a great ride!

Early-Morning Ground Fog

Five of us — me, Reed, Jon, Kevin, and Scott — gathered in Gardner at first light, heading out into a cool and foggy morning, tail lights blinking, with few cars on the roads. With the bridge over I-35 closed for repair, there was a slight detour to the east, then we were headed south towards Hillsdale Lake.

As we passed the lake and headed north toward Edgerton, the fog burned off and we were left with a beautiful crystal morning, clear and bright and nearly windless. The miles passed quickly, and we were soon taking a short break at Dee’s Mini Mart in Edgerton.

A short westward jog on US-56, then a few miles south on K-33, then into Franklin County, past Wellsville, then west on Shawnee Road through LeLoup.

Reed, Scott, Kevin, and Jon on Shawnee Road

The next stop was in Baldwin City, where we encountered another short detour that took us past the city cemetery, then through downtown before hitting the Santa Fe Market on the north end of town.

While most of us took a break there, Scott headed off down the road, shortening his ride to attend to family business later that morning. A strong rider, he ended up with something like 55 miles for the day, at what I am sure was a very good pace. Thanks for joining us, Scott!

After consuming a few calories in Baldwin City, we were off again, with a short climb followed by a long, exhilarating, 40+ MPH downhill run into Vinland. From there, we took a winding route north and then west to Wells Overlook Park.

The park is situated on a high hill south of Lawrence, and the road leading to the park offers something rare in Kansas: switchbacks. There’s only two set of switchbacks, and the distance is not that great, but the grade is significant, and it’s certainly a big change from the relatively flat roads preceding it.

Kevin won the King of the Mountain for the paved portion of the road, but I was just behind him, and was first up the last steep little dirt segment to the observation tower. The others followed shortly, and after we caught our breath, we ascended the three flights of stairs to the top of the tower, to be rewarded with a nice view of farmland laid out below us, and the city of Lawrence in the distance.

Kevin at Wells Overlook with Lawrence in the Distance

Randy, Reed, Jon, and Kevin at Wells Overlook

After a few minutes admiring the view and reading the graffiti scrawled on the tower, thoughts of lunch (plus the promise of a downhill) lured us off the tower and back onto our bikes for the short jaunt north to Lawrence.

In town, we encountered yet another detour, but this one we just rode on through, since it was short and we could see the end of it. After another mile of so of city traffic, we arrived at our destination, the Free State Brewery. We had to wait a bit, as they didn’t open until noon, but we eventually got our beers and sandwiches, and an hour-and-a-half later or so we were on our way. Yes, it was a long wait for lunch, but it was worth it.

Across the Kansas River and into North Lawrence, we encountered still another section of road closed for reconstruction. However, having learned from our last episode, we just rode on through it, under I-70, and onto US-24 headed east.

I led for the next 10 miles or so, as we climbed onto the bluffs along the river, first on US-24, then on K-32. By this time, the wind had started to pick up as well, and the downhill into Linwood, and the convenience store that awaited, was a welcome sight.

The next few miles were mostly flat, as we made our way onto Golden Road and then across the river bottoms to the Kansas River bridge at DeSoto. After snaking our way through town and taking another short rest at the c-store, I proposed that we shorten the route, heading through DeSoto’s main drag, rather than through the bottomland northwest of town. No one objected to that idea, so off we went, onto the last detour of the day.

One good thing about the reroute was that it took us past the old Sunflower Munitions plant near DeSoto, which, even years after it was closed, is still an impressive, daunting, almost spooky presence, with it’s huge, empty buildings and mysterious secrets hidden behind high fences and No Trespassing signs.

The westward run into Eudora was our last chance to taste a tailwind, and we made the most of it, pumping up the pace before turning south for our final c-store stop, a very short break at the aptly-named Kwik Stop in Eudora.

For the rest of the ride, the wind, though not terribly strong, was in our faces, and I for one felt it. The group stayed together for the first five miles or so of this final leg, then split apart as we made our way east, south, and then east once more back to Gardner.

At this point, though I’d been riding strong all day long, I was bringing up the rear. The same thing happened to me on the Cider Mill ride. I still felt reasonably strong, and felt like I was pedaling smoothly, but the others were soon lost in the distance ahead of me.

I rode the rest of the way alone, reaching Gardner to find Reed and Kevin waiting for me, but no Jon.

We loaded up the bikes, and Reed and I took off in the truck to find him. We searched the entire last section of the ride, but no Jon. So we went back to the starting point and waited. Sure enough, he rolled in a few minutes later, after losing his way not just once, but twice. Too tired to navigate!

Some dummy went off and left his cyclocomputer at home, but here are the ride stats, courtesy of Reed: 102.5 miles, 6 hours and 36 minutes ride time, and a 15.4 MPH average speed.

Since Reed made it back before I did, I added a few minutes to his time and called it close enough, giving me about a 15.25 MPH average.

I’m satisfied with that, and I still felt fine at the end of the ride, not nearly as exhausted as I was at the end of the Cider Mill Century. Of course, I think the milder temperatures were a big part of that.

The weather for the day turned out beautifully, topping out at around 80 degrees. The wind, though it was annoying the last 15 miles, was relatively light. The route, other than the climb up to Well Overlook, was flat-to-rolling, with no really big uphills. Traffic, with only one or two exceptions, was light and easy-going.

All in all, despite the many detours, it turned out to be a great day and a great ride.

9Toes, Dave, Noah, and everyone else who couldn’t make it, I hope you’re kicking yourselves! You couldn’t have asked for a better day for it! Maybe next year…

View route map

The name of the site is Backroads Touring - Kansas, and the screenshot from the site should give you a pretty good idea of what they’re about. Here’s how they describe themselves:

We visit places rarely seen by motorists. There are over 100,000 miles of secondary and unpaved roads throughout Kansas, and many run through pristine ranch and hill country. These are the roads and places we will explore and chronicle on this site. It is not unusual to ride fifty miles or more without encountering a single motorist, and the solitude permits us many opportunities to stop and enjoy some impressive views.

The site has an extensive gallery of ride reports and photos, and you can literally spend hours just browsing through their history of rides. Amazing stuff.

First, I wanted to check out the new rain jacket I bought (a Specialized Deflect Jacket). This seemed to work fine, though with warm temperatures and heavy humidity, I think I was nearly as wet inside the jacket as I was outside. The jacket didn’t feel terribly breathable, but I’m not sure this was a valid test case. It did seem to do a fine job of keeping rain out, however.

Second, in anticipation of riding the century on wet roads, I’d purchased a set of fenders. The Planet Bike Freddy Fenders aren’t full fenders, but are of the clip-on variety. They don’t fit terribly well on the mountain bike — the rear fender’s clip, in particular, interferes with my front derailleur cable — but I eventually got them installed. And despite a bit of interference on the front fender during tight turns, they worked great.

Third, I rigged a helmet mount for my Planet Bike Superflash. This blinky light comes with a seatpost mount and a built-in clip mount, but no obvious way to mount it to a handlebar. Normally, I run this on my seatpost, but I was concerned that its visibility would be blocked by the read fender and expanded seat bag. Plus, higher is better, I think. So I came up with a simple solution, using just a tie-wrap and a hunk of old inner tube. Basically, the tie-wrap connects the inner tube (which acts as a fat rubber band) to the helmet’s internal webbing, and the light’s clip is inserted into the inner tube. I’m not sure how well I explained that, but it seems to work very well, allowing me to position the Superflash securely onto the helmet, yet still allowing for some adjustability.

The ride itself was just a quick 23-mile loop. The rain, as I left, was light but steady. Later on, it stopped entirely (and the sun even came out of the clouds for a few moments), before resuming just before I returned home. A few minutes thereafter, the rain started pouring down.

The title of this post, and the photo (which is not mine, as I neglected to bring my camera), refers to what I saw when I crossed a low spot on a lightly-traveled road — crawdads walking across the paved road. As I stopped and rolled near them, they’d rear up onto their tails, raising their claws toward me in a defensive posture. The little buggers are so ugly they’re kind of cute, and the claw-waving “salute” behavior is really funny, especially when they lose their balance and topple over on their backs.

It was an rather warm and humid day, but overcast with a wind form the east at 10 MPH or so.

The first mile or so was easy, then I hit some freshly-plowed gravel. It was big, chunky stuff the full width of the road, which made the going slow and painful:

Chunky Gravel Road

This crud lasted for three miles, then I got a break for a few miles, then I hit another four-mile stretch of this. Must be the season for fixing up gravel roads for winter traffic (while making them rather torturous for bicycles).

My next stop was Douglas State Fishing Lake (which ironically, is currently closed for fishing). It’s a nice little lake, but there was no one around except for me.

Douglas State Fishing Lake - No Fishing Allowed

As I crossed the dam, I noticed that the wind had picked up, and I began to feel an occasional droplet of rain.

Wind-blown grass on the dam at Douglas State Fishing Lake

As I turned north and began the homeward trek, I came across this scene:

Elk Farm?

Those are what, elk? It’s kind of sad to see such beautiful creatures fenced in and farmed like cattle.

The remainder of the route back home was uneventful. At some point it began to rain a bit harder, and I stopped to pack away my phone and camera in a plastic bag, and to switch on my blinky light.

By the time I reached home, the ride had really turned into a slog. It wasn’t that great of a distance — a little over 42 miles — and the pace wasn’t that hot — 13.3 MPH. There were a few hills, and I was fighting the wind on the way back, but what I think did it was the rough gravel on the outbound leg. That beat me up pretty bad, I guess.

At least it never really let loose with the rain. I was damp, but not soaked.

I was, however, really tired by the time I pulled into the garage, and I was not feeling a lot of love from the new Pure V saddle, either. Even with my best shorts, it still felt too firm to me.

I think with a century coming up this weekend, I’ll switch back to the Speed V, and switch back to sandals as well (I’m feeling a bit of knee pain). I’m still dialing in the new shoes and cleats…

The park’s web site lists it as 0.7 miles, but it certainly feels like more. That may cover the gravel portion of the trail, but there is another section of trails mown through the remnant prairie, and this easily doubles the distance, if not more.

It’s still not a huge trail system, but it’s certainly more than I expected. Nor is it a particularly tough trail, though there are a few dips and rises, and the trail through the grass is slow going. It’s definitely not a mountain bike trail. But it’s fun.

And judging by the condition of the trails, not many people know about them. I saw very little evidence that anyone had biked or even walked there recently.

The park is built on land that was once called The Lone Elm Campground, one of the most famous frontier trail campsites and rendezvous points. In the almost four decades of its use starting in 1821, thousands of Santa Fe traders, Oregon and California emigrants, mountain men, missionaries, soldiers and ‘49ers passed through or camped at Lone Elm.

Here are some photos from my little jaunt:

Informational sign at Lone Elm Park

Picnic shelter at Lone Elm Park

The Sante Fe Trail, Oregon Trail, and California Trail came through Lone Elm Park

Oxen and Wagon at Lone Elm Park

The gravel trail at Lone Elm Park

A bridge at Lone Elm Park

One of the grass trails at Lone Elm Park

Spider at Lone Elm Park

Grasshopper at Lone Elm Park

Sunflower at Lone Elm Park

I’ve been on a bit of an eBay kick lately (a dangerous thing!), and most of the items alluded to in the title relate directly to that:

• The “something old” is a pair of Lake MX220 mountain bike shoes I bought off of eBay. They’re in fine shape for used shoes, and as a bonus, they came with SPD cleats (albeit Ritchey, rather than Shimano, brand). I paid $22 plus shipping, which seems like a good deal given that they ran about $120 new. These are a size 43, which Lake says correspond to 9 to 9.5 in US sizing. I normally wear a 9.5 in shoes, sometimes a 10. These seem to fit me plenty tight. Too tight? That’s what I was trying to find out.

• The “some things new” are two other eBay scores: a new saddle and a new long-sleeve jersey.

  The Saddle is a WTB Pure V, which WTB classifies as a “performance” saddle. The one I’ve been using for several months is a WTB Speed V, which falls into the “recreational” category. I’ve been rather satisfied with the Speed V, but it’s developed two small tears — one on the bottom of the saddle, and the other on the tail end. The one on the rear, which it’s not serious yet, will eventually become worse and worse. So my $25 (plus shipping) purchase of a new saddle was preemptive. That, and I wanted to see what the differences between the Speed and the Pure were…

  The jersey is a Louis Garneau Roadster 3, which retails for $80, and which I got for $11.50 (plus shipping) — a steal! It’s a brand new jersey, and it seems to fit me fine. Here’s the manufacturer’s description: “This ripstop finish fabric has amazing moisture transfer properties and provides breathability with a soft brushed back for comfort and warmth. 9″/23 cm zip for good ventilation, elastics at wrists and hem.” This is my first “real” long-sleeve cycling jersey.

• The “something broken” is my cyclocomputer, a Cateye Cordless 7. It’s been on the fritz for the last few rides, and today it worked sporatically for a mile or so, then stopped working entirely.

• The “something blue” is the Louis Garneau Roadster 3 jersey, of course.

OK, so how did everything perform on this little test flight?

It was a cool morning, in the upper 50’s, and the jersey did OK. It definitely didn’t do much to block the wind, but on this morning tha