Earlier, I’d swapping tires, putting on my road slicks (26″x1.5″ WTB Slickasaurus), which hadn’t seen any action since last September. The planned route was nearly all paved, since some of the gravel roads are a bit sloppy around here.

With a southeasterly wind, I first rode east, crossing over the state line into Missouri, until I connected with Route Y, which I took due south for a ways, to the town of Freeman. From there, the plan was to head back west and north. Mileage was going to be in the 65-70 range, with optional cutoffs depending on how I felt.

Turns out I felt OK. Not great — no real “kick” in the legs — but OK. My the time I reached the turnaround, my average speed had slipped under 12 MPH, but by the time I got back home, it had crept up to a 12.75 MPH overall average, over about 68 miles. The weather forecast didn’t really pan out as promised, with the sun giving out shortly after noon, and the temperature never really warming up much.

I still feel really slow and sluggish on the bike, but I’m encouraged that I was able to grind out the miles regardless. It seems I could hold that speed pretty steadily.

In fact, I was still feeling pretty good by the end. The tank wasn’t empty by any means. So that’s a good sign.

Physically, I was in pretty good shape — no saddle issues, no joint pain, no cramps. I was experiencing some shoulder/neck tenseness/fatigue. This seems to crop up on most of my longer rides, and it’s something I need to figure out. I think it’s related to my hand and arm position — I tend to settle into the drops, and have a habit of locking my arms out. I’m supposed to ride with the arms bent to help absorb shocks. Need to work on strengthening the abdominal muscles, I think.

So, I made 68 miles. I have a 200K (125 mile) ride scheduled for late March, and a 200 mile ride scheduled for early June. Could I have made the 200K today (about twice what I did)? Maybe. Could I have made 200 miles today (3 times my distance)? No.

But, given that it’s still early in the year, I’ll take it. I should be able to build up to the 200K in 7 weeks. 200 miles in 17 weeks? Maybe. I’m still having trouble grasping the concept of 200 miles on a bike in one ride…

This being a paved route, and winter, scenery wasn’t great, but I did find a few interesting things to photograph:

Looking down at railroad tracks running straight off into the distance, framed by rock, trees, and water.

An old barn caught in mid-collapse. Given how much of it had already fallen, it was amazing that anything at all was still standing.

West Union Cemetery on Route Y east of Cleveland, Missouri.

New Hope Baptist Church was built here in 1881, and was destroyed by a tornado in 1960.

A plaque on the building says that this is the New Hope Baptist Church, built in 1960 after a tornado destroyed the original structure. It is now home to the Baruch HaShem Jewish-Christian Synagogue. The very concept seems to me an oxymoron, but it’s apparently “a synagogue in which Jewish people can come to know Jesus”, with a connection to the Southern Baptist movement.

This is a shot of the partially-frozen South Grand River, on a twisty and scenic section of Groh Road north of Freeman, Missouri.

Morristown, Missouri once stood here. The town existed from 1858 to the 1870s, and the Civil War Battle of Morristown took place in 1861 (see diorama and video).

This is the strangest thing I’ve encountered in quite some time. It’s a bit of abstract outsider art, located in a field near Freeman, Missouri — hundreds of bowling balls placed randomly throughout a field, suspended on small posts. The landowner, for reasons known only to himself, just one day decided to do this. You can read the story of the bowling ball field here.

I find the most interesting things while riding my bike!

It’s that spirit of discovery and adventure, of never knowing what might appear next, that makes exploring the world by bicycle so appealing.

The day started at just under freezing, and ended just shy of 40°F, though it never really felt that warm, due largely to a whippy wind, even with brilliant sunshine for much of the ride.

A group of a dozen riders rolled out at 10am, and dropped me on the first hill.

Knowing we were going to be facing a tough headwind on the return trip, I determined not to hit it too hard. I tried to catch up for a few miles, but didn’t seem to be reeling them in, so eventually just let them go.

At one point, the lead group made a wrong turn (based on the published map), and I made the correct turn, assuming they’d figure it out and take an alternate route. I pushed it a little for a few miles, hoping to beat the group to the point I thought the routes would converge.

But I reached the spot, with no sign of them. It was at that point I realized that they were riding the route backwards. Actually, I assumed my map was wrong and I was riding the route backwards. At this point, I just proceeded with the plan, figuring we’d cross somewhere down the road.

Eventually we did, at the far southern end of the route. It was then that I learned that I was the only one to have taken the correct direction, and everyone else was riding it backwards.

Oh well. Not having the group up ahead of me made for a far more relaxed ride, since I didn’t have to worry about falling behind and trying to catch up. I could ride at my own plodding pace.

The ride north into that gusty wind was tough, but I settled into a nice cadence and spun it out. By the end, I was tired, but not exhausted. I felt far fresher at the end of this 45-mile ride than i did at the end of the previous weekend’s 37-mile Fog, Mud, and Hills ride.

Amazingly, I finished the ride with the last few stragglers from the main group, having reconnected with them as we wound through town back to the parking lot, so that was cool.

With the easier-paced ride, I did manage to take a few more pictures this time out:

This used to be a schoolhouse (Miami County SD #64), but now it’s used as a cattle shed. (239th & Somerset Rd)

For some reason, I found this “Winding Road” sign hilarious … I would think the fact that the road is not straight would be pretty obvious, and not require labeling. “Oh no, curves! Whatever will we do?”

This is one of my very favorite bridges, but I always marvel that this magnificent old structure is private.

I love the way this little stream meanders through the trees…

Somerset Ridge Vineyard & Winery near Somerset, Kansas (about 295th & Somerset Rd) web site

Another old schoolhouse, though one (apparently) used as a community building of some sort — at least it’s maintained (327th & Somerset Rd)

Old bicycles as part of a new fence … I can never quite decide: Is this paying homage to the bicycle, or are these trophies? (311th & Beaver Creek Rd)

This beautiful little falcon, an American Kestrel, sat still long enough for me to get a decent picture (unfortunately at fairly high zoom, hence the fuzziness).

Here’s the route:

First, the weather didn’t really cooperate. All week long, and as late as Sunday evening, the forecast called for mid-day sunshine and highs in the mid-40’s. What we got was fog — very thick at the beginning of the ride, and gradually thinning as the day wore along, but never quite lifting. The sun never did make an appearance. Temperatures topped out in the upper 30’s.

Secondly, the original route had included the Flint Hills Nature Trail, but I drove down on Friday to check it out, and concluded that it was unrideable. The snow was still too deep to make much progress. We tried it again on Sunday, but no go.

But we did have a great turn-out for the ride, considering the weather:

There were, I believe a dozen that started out — this group (with me in the center in yellow), plus Chris Locke, who took the picture, plus another latecomer.

This photo was taken near the start, rolling along 303rd Street in the fog, just before we hit gravel. We were all still clean and fresh and smiling at this point, but that wouldn’t last for long!

Soon the hills started to take their toll, plus the messy, wheel-sucking mud made going difficult. In all, we ended up with about 37 miles at a 12.1 MPH average (for me). I crashed at the bottom of one hill, as my front tire washed out on some leftover slush. I fell face-first into a snowbank, and my handlebar wanged my top tube pretty good (actually jamming it under the top tube), but neither me or the bike was damaged.

By the end of the ride, I was pretty wore out, and ended up walking parts of two hills (both of which I’d ridden several times before).

Oh well, at least I stayed relatively clean. Only two of us had the foresight to bring full fenders, so most of the group had mud-splattered clothing and a nice brown stripe up their back. My boots were muddy, but not much else. Even the bike was reasonably clean, except for the cranks and the chain, which was filthy.

I had the widest and knobbiest tires, for sure. A few folk were even running road slicks, which were actually a pretty decent choice, as they seemed to slice right through the muck, whereas mine kind of floated and wallowed. I don’t think my normal wide semi-slicks would have been any better, though…

Here are some photos from the rest of the ride, from Chris Locke:

More photos on Facebook: Guru’s Gravel Grinders.

Here’s what the route ended up being:

It’s too bad the fog didn’t allow for better views of the countryside, as I think this area is rather pretty, even in winter.

I’m thinking of running the route again later this year, sometime in Spring or Summer when conditions are more favorable. If and when that happens I’ll try to post up an announcement at least a week or two in advance…

See also: Paola Gravel (Muddy) Grinder from Chris Locke, Mud ‘n’ Fog ‘n’ Hills from Guru’s Gravel Grinders blog.

Roads started off with a muddy lane down the center, but hard-packed snow on either side. This was good riding.

After the snow came the slush, then the muddy slush, then the pure mud, often on different parts of the same road. Here’s where the riding got tough — slow going, messy, and really not much fun. A dozen miles or so of this was all I could endure before I escaped to the paradise of dry pavement.

Later in the ride, I tried the gravel again, and here’s what I found. By this point the snow was all gone on the roads, and they were pure soupy mud. Contrast this with what the road looked like a few days ago: snow-pack.

Again, I only did a short jaunt before I once again abdicated gravel for pavement. Thank goodness for fenders, though. I remained relatively clean, despite the soupy, sloppy mud.

There was one casualty during the ride, though: My bootlaces. This is what I get for forgetting to tuck my laces away. This one got caught in the chainrings and is shredded pretty good.

Do you like my fancy winter cycling boots? Just an old (probably 20+ years old) pair of hiking/work boots, nothing fancy at all. But paired with flat pedals and wool socks (plus StormSock), they’ve worked fine in all but the coldest weather. Not exactly a match to the rest of my cycling attire, but I don’t care. I’ll take comfort over fashion any day.

But now I need new laces!

The first few miles didn’t look that promising. This is about a mile-and-a-half from my house, and the wind was whipping pretty good. It was still cold! And of course the road was still snow-covered, with banks of snow piled high on either side.

The particles you see marring this image are actually snowflakes blown over the bank and across the road. If this had kept up, there would have been drifts in no time.

A little further along, I came across this mailbox peeking out above a snow bank. Looks like they’re lucky it didn’t get ripped away by the snow plow!

This is on the snow-covered shores of iced-over Hillsdale Lake in Miami County, Kansas. The ice was temping, but I didn’t try riding on it. Alone, far from any help, with unknown ice thickness on a large body of water, it just wasn’t a good idea.

Behind me, as I took this picture, was a pile of deer carcasses — at least six of them, mostly just heads and torsos stripped of meat. It was a gruesome scene. I’ll spare you the picture…

Tall prairie grass in the snow. At it’s height, this grass would’ve been five feet tall or so, but it’s been beaten down by wind and rain and ice and snow into a chaotic tangle, but I still love the color.

The road here was in primo condition — smooth but with good traction, and nearly silent as I rolled along. And by this time I had the wind at my back, so it was easy pedaling, and with the bright sun an moderating temperature, it was just a glorious time to be out on the bike.

Actually, I’d snapped this shot in an attempt to capture the image of the flock of geese overhead, but you can just barely make them out at this resolution. They flew right over the top of me, calling out to each other as they passed overhead. It seemed to be a joyous sound, as if they too appreciated the mellow day.

Another magical little moment on the bike!

This is a gravel grinder (may turn out to be more snow than gravel) out of Paola, Kansas on January 17th. The ride is part of the Guru’s Gravel Grinders series, a bunch of rides taking place around the Kansas City area, each led by a local cyclist who knows the back roads well. This ride is my contribution.

Here’s the route:

This is an area that I ride fairly often, and I really love the ruggedness of the land. The combination of the hills and trail are pretty killer, I think. Plus the history associated with the area is really cool, too.

Here are some ride reports and pictures from previous rides along this route:

• Steep Hills and Old Bridges
• Ride ‘Round Rantoul
• Dirty Mudder Trucker

So, if you happen to live within driving distance of this ride, you’re welcome to attend. It’s free, but there’s no support, so bring plenty of food & drink. Knobby tires highly recommended!

But first, a bit of history.

2006 goals: 2000 miles, Biking Across Kansas. I hit the mileage goal with ease (2800 miles), but didn’t make it across Kansas after falling sick on the tour (see story here).

2007 goals: 3000 miles, Katy Trail ride. Successful on both counts (Katy Trail story here).

2008 goals: 4500 miles, Biking Across Kansas. Again, success on both counts. 6000 miles and BAK triumph here.

In 2009, I didn’t plan any big rides. I was reluctant to even pick a mileage goal. For one thing, I was coming off an injury, and wasn’t sure how it would heal. That turned out to be a non-issue, but I didn’t know that then.

At the beginning of the year, the ride I most wanted to do was the Dirty Kanza 200, a 200-mile gravel road race through the rugged Flint Hills of eastern Kansas. But with an early January signup deadline, and injury uncertainties, I passed.

I did end up setting a mileage goal of 5000 miles, and hitting it. But with no big rides planned, I kind of drifted. Not that that was all bad, but there was a lack of focus. I still accomplished my first gravel century — a big stepping-stone — and surpassed the mileage goal.

For 2010, I’m going to keep the 5000 miles mileage goal. That seems like a good round number, without being too much.

And, I have a ride goal. A big, audacious, am-I-crazy-to-even-consider-it goal. I’ve signed up for the Dirty Kanza 200. I’m in.

200 miles of gravel roads, dirt roads, remote places where there are barely roads of any kind. All in one long, endless day. Sun-up to sun-down, and well beyond. Easily 16 hours of saddle time, probably more. In June in Kansas, where it may be 60 degrees or 100 degrees, where there may be hellacious headwinds, rain, hail, lightning. Even a tornado is possible.

Country like this:

I don’t know if I can do it. I’m sure, barring injury, I’ll make it to the 61-mile checkpoint. The 103-mile checkpoint is also a good bet. I’m fairly confident in the 142-mile checkpoint. After that, who knows?

Despite the DK200 being a race, I have no delusions of being competitive. I just want to survive and make it as far as I can. I want to ride that country, and spend a bit of time with the people who are out there on the road with me — amazing people, crazy people, inspiring people.

I’m a little concerned about training. I’ve never trained for anything like this before. Heck, I’ve never even done a race of any kind before. But I have friends I’ll be able to call on, I hope, for wisdom and advice and support. Lord knows I’ll need all three in large quantities.

Wish me luck!

I got out yesterday for a very short ride, just 4 miles. The snow was just too fresh, and the gravel roads hadn’t been plowed at all. It was slow going, with 2-3 inches of fresh fluff atop hard-packed ice/snow, it was extremely slippery. I never went down, the the back wheel was fishtailing constantly.

On the positive site, I was rather comfortable, even at 11°F with a 12 MPH wind. Toes were fine, fingers were cold, but manageable, and everything else — head, torso, arms, legs — were just fine, if not a little too warm in places.

But today I got out for another short ride (this time 8 miles!) and the roads were decent, but the comfort level wasn’t nearly the same, especially with the hands.

I’m trying a three-layer system, actually two of them:

• On my left hand, an UnderArmour ColdGear liner glove, a fluffy fleece glove 40 gram Thinsulate Berber Fleece), and a neoprene windblocker glove/mitten (a fingerless glove with a flip-down cover that turns it into a mitten).
• On my right hand, an UnderArmour ColdGear liner glove, a neoprene windblocker glove, and a fluffy fleece glove on top.

Three miles into the ride, and my fingertips are freezing. I stopped, and added a polypro glove liner over the ColdGear liner. That helped, but it was still cold. The mitten was marginally better than the glove, but not by enough to really matter.

Why such a big difference between the two days? The temperature wasn’t much difference (maybe 3-4 degrees colder), and the wind was about the same.

I think I need a larger outer wind-blocking glove to replace the tight neoprene glove, to hopefully provide a little more space for insulation.

So I guess that’s my next step.

Unless I say to heck with it and wait for a warming trend. Bah.

• 162 rides
• 5203 miles
• Average speed: 13.12 MPH
• Total time: 396 hours, 26 minutes
• Bikes:
  • Surly Long Haul Trucker: 5064 miles (97.3%), 13.3 MPH
  • Balance Mountain Bike: 106 miles (2.0%), 7.8 MPH
  • Other: 33 miles (0.7%), 15.0 MPH
• Surfaces:
  • Paved roads: 1496 miles (28.8%), 14.8 MPH
  • Gravel (or mixed terrain): 3606 miles (69.3%), 12.8 MPH
  • Singletrack: 100 miles (1.9%), 6.9 MPH

Here’s my yearly numbers since I started keeping track:

• 2004: 252 miles — Sun EZ-Sport (Long Wheelbase Recumbent), September through the end of the year
• 2005: 1468 miles — Sun EZ-Sport
• 2006: 2845 miles — Sun EZ-Sport and Burly Django
• 2007: 3924 miles — Burly Django
• 2008: 6001 miles — Burly Django and Balance Mountain Bike
• 2009: 5203 miles — Surly Long Haul Trucker

So, I dropped off a bit this year, compared to 2008. But the mileage feels about right: 5200 miles is 100 miles per week, on average.

But nearly 400 hours in the saddle — now that somehow seems like a big number! That’s ten full 40-hour workweeks spent doing nothing but riding my bike!

But looking at it from another angle, that doesn’t seem so extravagant: That’s just over an hour a day.

Americans, on average, watch about 5 hours of television per day. Yikes! I’d far rather spend my time out in the world rather than passively watching the boob tube.

I didn’t really do any big rides this year. I did do two centuries, including my first gravel century. But I didn’t do many organized rides at all. In 2006 and 2008 I did Biking Across Kansas, and in 2007 I did the Katy Trail Ride, so not doing that felt a little strange.

The vast majority of my rides were solo, with a few small group (2-10) rides as well. I can only think of two rides — the Gravel Conspiracy and the Farmhouse Classic — with more than 10 participants. That’s one thing I do want to change for 2010: I want to do at least a few more large organized rides.

But I’ll leave goal-setting for another post. This is a look back, not forward.

Here’s my favorite picture of the year, or, at least one that is well representative of the year for me:

This picture shows the Long Haul Trucker in a somewhat muscular pose, with mud on its tires, on a remote minimum-maintenance road, with wildflowers blooming along the way. Ah, the flowers! The flowers were so awesome this year, just amazing color and variety from late spring through late fall.

And with that I’ll wrap up. I fully enjoyed 2009, and hope you did, too!

Normally, snows here don’t stick around for long, as there’s typically not more than a few inches, and the temperature soon rises and melts it all away.

This time, we got about 6 inches during the first storm (with strong winds that caused significant drifts), then another 2-3 inches in the last storm of the month.

Here are some photos from December’s snow rides:

First tracks at Lone Elm Park … well, except for the deer, rabbits, and other critters … (2009-12-10)

The Long Haul Trucker, ready to tackle the trails at Lone Elm Park, covered with a couple inches of wet snow. (2009-12-10)

By the time I ventured out after the blizzard, the roads (even the gravel roads!) were well-plowed, but you can see here how deep the snow was.

The gravel roads, though plowed, were snow-packed and slippery in spots. I went down once (and nearly did so several other times), but at slow speed, so no damage to me or the bike. (2009-12-28)

I liked the color of the grass peeking through the snow, and the pattern of the hay bales as they led up the hill. (2009-12-28)

The tire on the left is a Continental Double Fighter II, which I’ve been riding since mid-year. It has about 2300 miles on it, and is getting rather worn. It’s obviously not ideal for snow biking, so I switched over to another wheelset, and mounted Specialized Hardrock’r mountain bike tires on it, hoping for more traction and control in the snow. Both tires are 26″ x 1.95″.

This time out I rode while the snow was falling, and it was a beautiful experience. I was still doing some slipping and sliding (fresh snow atop hardpack is pretty slippery), but the new tires helped a bunch. (2009-12-30)

I came across several snowplows during my ride (or perhaps the same one several times). That is a HUGE blade on the front, and a smaller blade in the center, with chains on the big tires. I made sure to stay well clear of these big machines when I saw them coming! (2009-12-30)

One nice thing about deep snow is that it makes it easy to stand a bike up — just push it down into the drift, and it’ll stand up all by itself! Here’s the Long Haul Trucker next to a neat old stone fence on Cedar Niles Road a few miles from my house. (2009-12-30)

I thought this was an interesting tree, a large Oak with most of its leaves still attached. It was still snowing lightly at this time, and standing beneath the tree, I could actually hear the snowflakes hitting the leaves, which was kind of a magical little sound. (2009-12-30)

Hard-packed snow across the entire width of the road, and piled high on each side. (2009-12-31)

~ ~ ~

Heading into the new year, the forecast is calling for frigid temperatures, and perhaps more snow, for the next week or so, at least.

So it looks like I’ll get more chances to practice my snow-biking skills, and continue to experiment with clothing and equipment choices (which I intend to write up at some point).

This is called “Pork Chop Hill” (known as “Shawnee Mound” during the nineteenth century).

This is an old school building in LeLoup, Kansas, built in 1916. LeLoup (“wolf” in French) is nearly a ghost town, with only a few, mostly dilapidated, houses left. The town prospered in the early 1900’s and was once the home of the Modern Woodmen of America Association picnic, an annual summer event where families gathered for games, contests and picnics in the grove by Wolf Creek.

Brown School is an old country schoolhouse, now used as a community building.

Tauy Creek Baptist Church was organized in 1897, meeting first at Brown School until the church was built in 1900. Alfred F. Richmond, a boy of 11 in 1863, witnessed the escape of William Clarke Quantrill’s raiders from Lawrence and their pursuit by U.S. Cavalry under the command of Preston Plumb in the area where the church now stands.

In 1843 a trading post was located at the ford of Tauy Creek later called “Rock Bottom” to serve travelers on the Fort Scott Road. John Tecumseh Jones, an educated half-blood Chippewa and former interpreter for the Pottawatomies, joined the Ottawa tribe and was later adopted by them. He became their leader, their minister and their storekeeper, besides operating the only hotel in the county, on this site. Jones became known as “Ottaway’ or “Tauy” Jones because of his position with the tribe. The creek’s nickname of Tauy also refers to the Ottawas. The first house of logs was burned by pro-slavers in 1856 who came seeking to kill Tauy Jones who escaped. In 1867 he completed this sandstone house with stone quarried near Ft. Scott and freighted here by wagon. Although Jones was a friend of John Brown, who frequently camped in the grove across the creek, rumors that the house’s cellar served as a station on the underground railway are unsubstantiated. Horace Greeley did visit the Jones’, but Abraham Lincoln never got this far south during his presidential campaign in 1859. The home is listed on the national Register of Historic Places.

Nowhere, KS was originally a stop on the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Fort Gibson railroad, and today the Midland Railway runs on these tracks. This sign is all that’s left of the town.

This abandoned house is located just southeast of Wellsville, KS.

Peoria Cemetery is located near Peoria, Kansas. The cemetery was established in 1857 for the burial of John Taylor, 21. John had preceded his family to Kansas and had settled on land here. John was on the south side of the river when he got word that his family had arrived. He swam through the cold water to greet them and later died of pneumonia from the chill. The parents gave a portion of this land for the cemetery. This is Taylor’s marker, and his parent’s stone is located nearby.

Briles Schoolhouse – Built in 1868 and closed In 1960, the school is now a community center, Through the efforts of the Full O’ Pep 4-H, the State Highway Dept. paid to have the school moved in lieu of paying for the right-of-way when K-68 Highway was widened in 1980.

This stone building was an independent church known as Center Chapel, built around the turn of the century by the men of the community. It is located just northeast of Ottawa, Kansas.

The Ottawa Baptist Indian Mission was the home of the first printing press in Kansas Territory, used to produce Indian language hymnals, prayer books and laws for the Shawnees and the Ottawas. The cemetery here contains Reverend Jotham Meeker, who founded the mission, John T. “Tauy’ Jones (mentioned earlier), Ottawa chiefs Notino and Compchau (shown here), plus many more.

Many Indian graves are marked by piles of native stone.

Note: Most of the historical descriptions here are courtesy of the Franklin County Historical Society, which offers driving tours of Franklin County.

On a minimum-maintenance road near Paola, KS. Just wet enough for the mud to stick to the tires, but not muddy enough to gum up the works. 2009-09-24

On a minimum-maintenance road near Paola, KS. I love that the flower is in focus but the bike is not. 2009-09-24

Early Autumn color at the tree farm across the street from our house. 2009-09-30

Resting at a small pond in a suburban housing development in Overland Park, Kansas on a brilliantly bright sunny autumn day. 2009-10-05

Grasslands near Hillsdale Lake … love the tallgrass, especially the color this time of year (matches my shirt & bike!). 2009-10-18

Fiery fall color in the tree farm near our house. 2009-10-18

A mushroom peeking out of the leaf cover on a wet autumn day on the Hillsdale Lake Nature Trail. 2009-10-22

The trail guide brochure for the Hillsdale Lake Nature Trail refers to this as “snake condo”, a rock formation that is a favorite habitat for many reptiles such as timber rattlesnakes. Didn’t see any of those! 2009-10-22

On a minimum-maintenance road near Rantoul, KS. Despite the name, the road had been recently graded, and it was more dirt than rock, and a bit loose in places, but definitely rideable. 2009-10-24

By late afternoon the sun was replaced by clouds, but there were still sights to see, as on this prairie hilltop on a minimum-maintenance road west of Rantoul, KS. 2009-10-24

After a rainy month, there was a lot of water flowing through Cedar Creek in Olathe, Kansas. 2009-10-26

This is a rough bit of road near Osawatomie, Kansas. One end of the road had a “Minimum Maintenance Road” sign, and the other end said “Road Closed”. Either way, I couldn’t resist exploring it. 2009-11-05

On a hilltop in Miami County, Kansas between Paola and Osawatomie, looking out over the river valley. 2009-11-24

On Windsurfer Beach at Hillsdale Lake … yeah, it’s not exactly Hawaii, but nice enough in its own way. 2009-11-25

Sunset at Lone Elm Park near Olathe, KS (yes, there’s a bike hidden in there; I wanted to crawl up the tree and get a shot from there, but there were too many thorns!), 2009-11-27

The shrine and park is a very interesting place, but totally unexpected; I had no idea it existed. But I’m glad to have found it!

Learn more about the St. Philippine Duchesne Shrine and the Potawatomi Trail of Death.

I stumbled onto this sign in rural Linn County, Kansas and it brought me up short. I’m pretty familiar with all of the state parks and historic sites in the area, but I’d never heard of this one. Oh well, let’s check it out!

This is the entrance to the St. Philippine Duchesne Shrine, designed to look like a frontier fort.

This entrance sign explains that this site was once home to the St. Mary’s Mission (Sugar Creek Mission) from 1839 to 1849, and was at the end of the Potawatomie Trail of Death.

These signs explain the story behind the Potawatomie Trail of Death.

This sign tells the story behind the Potawatomie Trail of Death, the first week, starting at Plymouth, Indiana.

This sign tells the story behind the Potawatomie Trail of Death, the second week, to the Illinois state line.

This sign tells the story behind the Potawatomie Trail of Death, the third and fourth weeks, through Springfield, Illinois.

This sign tells the story behind the Potawatomie Trail of Death, the fifth and sixth weeks, across the Mississippi River and into Missouri.

This sign tells the story behind the Potawatomie Trail of Death, the seventh and eighth weeks, through Lexington, Missouri.

This sign tells the story behind the Potawatomie Trail of Death, the ninth and tenth weeks, into Kansas and to their journey’s end.

This is a rough map of the Potawatomie Trail of Death, from Indiana to Kansas, September 14, 1838 to November 5, 1938, a total of 618 miles over 61 days.

This is a depiction of Rose Philippine Duchesne, a Catholic nun who ministered to the Potawatomi Indians at the Sugar Creek Mission. She was canonized as a saint in 1988, the only one connected to Kansas!

There’s a great nature trail at the St. Philippine Duchesne Memorial Park, winding through some huge rocks.

Here’s me in front of one of the large rock formations – love this pic!

This sign marks the Fort Scott and California Road, used by settlers going to Fort Scott, Kansas, where groups headed to California and New Mexico were escorted by the U.S. Calvary. This is the only section of the road to still exist.

Taking a break at a low-water crossing near the Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge. About lost a water bottle when the bike toppled over shortly after this, and the bottle went skittering off into the creek. Had to fish it out with a tree branch.

Stunning leaves on a gravel road near the Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge.

Visited the Marais des Cygnes Massacre State Historic Site, located just a few hundred yards west of the KS/MO state line. This incident was one of the events of “Bleeding Kansas”, the precursor to the Civil War.

The site features a stone cabin with interpretive displays, as well as signs that tell the story of the massacre.

This tells the story of the Marais des Cygnes Massacre, where on the morning of May 19, 1858, a group of 20 to 30 proslavery men from Missouri captured 11 unarmed freestate men, and marched them to this site, where they were lined up and shot. Five men died from their wounds, five others were injured, and one survived unharmed by pretending to be dead.

The large obelisk in the background is the “Marais du Cygne Martyrs Memorial”, located in the Trading Post Cemetery. learn more

A nice hill heading north out of Pleasanton. The hill continues up around the bend for a ways, rising a couple hundred feet over a third of a mile or so. The road had recently been plowed, and the loose rock made the hill that much tougher.

Gravel road winding through the trees just west of the Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge. The late-afternoon colors were amazing on this stretch.

There’s my road!

This is “John Brown Lookout Park”, located at about 319th & Lookout Road. This tall hill (with a steep climb!) provides a great view over a large area. There’s not really a park here, just the hill…

According to lore, this is where John Brown directed the escape of slaves by his Underground Railroad.

(This photo really doesn’t do it justice at all; it’s much more impressive in real life!)

This is looking toward Paola from the top of the hill at “John Brown Lookout Park”. From here you can also see Osawatomie and the Marais Des Cygnes River valley.

Osawatomie State Hospital in Osawatomie, KS. This was established in 1866 as the “Kansas Insane Asylum”.

This graveyard is unmarked, but I assume it contains the remains of patients who died at the hospital. There are roughly 300 headstones here, each marked with just a number.

Arbors and reflecting pond at the Osawatomie State Hospital. There’s no water in the pond, and the arbors and gardens are in disrepair, but this is still a peaceful setting.

Resting in the arbor.

There is a long set of stone stairs leading from the entrance gate up to the arbor. Again, they’ve seen better days, but still hold some grandeur.

This is the Asylum Bridge that connects Osawatomie to the State Hospital, over the Marais Des Cygnes River.

It’s a shame that Osawatomie is letting this historic bridge fall into ruin. It was built in 1905 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the only known example of a “Reverse Parker Truss” bridge. It is currently closed to all traffic, but would make a great attraction for the town as a bike/ped bridge, and provide Hospital workers who live in Osawatomie a convenient path to walk or bike to work.

The next day, I parked at the Wal-Mart in Paola, and again rode south and east, this time through Block and Fontana.

Both rides covered nearly the same territory, and shared many of the same elements — some rolling hills, some quiet gravel roads, some lush farm country, some rugged terrain.

The obligatory sunflower photo, I just can’t get over how abundant and beautiful the roadside flowers are this year. Just stunning.

Me on a small bridge just southwest of Somerset.

There are some good-sized hills in Miami County. Here’s just a quick look at one nice roller-coaster.

Checking the map … now where the heck am I?

Sunflowers lining a gravel road near New Lancaster, KS.

This photo, along withe the next few, are from the Wea Mission Site near Paola, KS. In 1833, Presbyterian missionaries established the Wea Mission on this site to serve the Miami, Wea, Piankeshaw, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Potawatomie, and Shawnee Indian tribes who’d been relocated to this area from their native lands in the Great Lakes region.

I’ve driven (and even biked) by this site many times, but have never noticed it. But for some reason this time it caught my eye. There’s no really anything here, except for the informational signs, but it’s still pretty cool. I love this kind of historical stuff…

An old (and tiny) one-room schoolhouse near Osawatomie, KS. In surprisingly good shape foe a structure that obviously hasn’t been used for quite some time.

Vickers School, 1869 to 1966, near Paola, KS

Lickskillet Schoolhouse near Overbrook, KS, built in 1905. What a cool name for a school!

Overbrook, KS mural: “Don’t Overlook Overbrook”. The Long Haul Trucker just seems to fit right into that scene, doesn’t it?

A gravel road just south of Overbrook, KS. Nice and rugged.

A prairie hillside near Overbrook, KS. Wow, I love this picture!

A minimum maintenance road in Franklin County, KS.

St. Patrick’s Church in Emerald, KS. There’s not really a town here, just the church and cenetary, but it’s a beautiful structure, situated on a hill with great views in every direction. The town was founded in the 1850’s by immigrants from Ireland (the Emerald Isle).

A dry creekbed in Anderson County, KS.

Pleasantview Cemetery in Anderson County, KS near Garnett.

Middle Creek Bridge southeast of Ottawa. This was another case where the signs indicated the road was closed, but I just had to go and see for myself. Sure enough, the bridge was not only closed, but had no deck left at all. Oddly, Google Maps still showed this as a through road…

Taking a break at a low-water crossing in Franklin County, KS.

Picking Chickasaw Plums in Anderson County, KS. They weren’t quite ripe, but I gathered a few and carried them home. Good eating!

Fording a low-water crossing in Anderson County, KS. The water was just a bit too deep to ride across. To get this picture I had to ford the creek three times!

Interesting bicycle art at a junkyard near Lane, KS.

This was a really strange collection of old cars I found near Greeley, KS. The vintage (probably 1950s) Detroit steel was situated between a railroad and a creek, half-buried by rocks, with a long steel cable running through the frames. I’m guessing that there was a junkyard located nearby, and they were using the rusted-out old vehicles as part of a sort of levy. Very odd.

This is Spencer’s Crossing Bridge near Greeley, KS. It was built in 1885 over Pottawatomie Creek, and closed in 2001. The new bridge is located right next to the old one (you can see it to the left). This is a rare instance when a beautiful old bridge was spared, but to what end? The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The landmark behind my bike is a huge natural mound near Greeley, KS, rising 150 feet from the Pottawatomie Creek floodplain. I believe it’s called “Wadsworth Mound”, and was used a lookout by Indians, and later by soldiers during the Civil War struggles between Missouri and Kansas.

The architecture on the Ruhamah Baptist Church near Rantoul, KS is very interesting, with a long, sloping roof extending nearly to the ground.

This is a railroad underpass just east of state line on 215th Street.

An old bridge near Harrisonville. The sign on the road had said “Road Closed”, but I’ve learned that signs can’t always be trusted. In this case, it was correct. The bridge was largely intact, but impassable due to being overgrown with vines and weeds.

I liked this flower, a Compassplant, I think.

I own both a trailer (the Nashbar knockoff of the famous BOB trailer) and panniers (Nashbar again), but I went with the trailer for this trip. I rode with a group that met up in Olathe, then rode together to Hillsdale Lake State Park, where we camped overnight in tents, then packed ‘em up and rode back the next day. A nice little overnighter:

More info: KC Bike Commuting, commuterDude, Jason Brown

Thanks Noah for putting this ride together!

Lets start off with the weather, which was amazing for mid-July — low 60°s to start, and mid-70°s by the end. There was a bit of wind, but it was light to start the day, as we were heading into it, and by the time it picked up strength, it provided a nice tailwind.

The route was at least 90% gravel (see map), heading northwest from Lathrop to Easton, then northeast past Stewartsville, then back south to the start.

The website for the ride showed big, chunky gravel, more like railroad ballast than the gravel I’m used to. I figured there was just a short isolated section of that stuff, but no, there was at least 20 miles of this — huge, freshly-laid, loose, walnut-sized hunks of rock across the entire width of the road, with no smooth parts to choose from. All you could do was hold on tight and grind through the stuff.

Once, as I was bouncing through a particularly rough section, I looked down at my arms as they held the handlebars, and the flesh on my arms was flying every which way — and I don’t have fat arms!

The sections with rough gravel were just brutal. There may have been nice scenery there, but if so I didn’t notice much of it. Keeping the bike upright and moving forward took all my concentration.

And interspersed with the chunky gravel were several miles of minimum-maintenance dirt roads. Mostly, these were a relief from the relentless pounding of the gravel, but there were some rough parts here, too. One mile-long piece had ruts that were at least two feet deep. I was able to ride between the ruts, but one little slip and I’ll have crashed hard.

I did manage to crash once on these dirt roads. Silly me, trying to ride one-handed as I took pictures with my right hand. Hit a little rut across the road, and off-kilter I went. I tried to hang on and righten it, but ended up veering off into the ditch. A few bruises and abrasions, but otherwise no damage.

The first SAG was at the city park in Easton, with a nice spread of energy bars and gels and such. The next SAG was at a convenience store in Stewartsville where I refueled with beef jerky & Coke.

The next section of road was paved for awhile, then smooth gravel, then paved again. After so much rough rock (and with a tailwind to boot), it was just incredibly sweet to be rolling on smooth roads. My average speed, which was 14.4 MPH at the first SAG, and 13.2 at the next SAG, gradually started to climb.

We got lost a few times along the route, but nothing serious. But with the extra miles, we decided to short-cut the last leg of the route, and I rolled into the end with 101.3 miles, at an average speed of 13.7 MPH. A welcoming party at the end, with an awesome spread of food, was a great way to end the ride.

I especially appreciated the applause and congratulations from the previous finishers as I rolled in. The ends of previous centuries have been kind of anti-climactic, with hardly anyone left to share my sense of accomplishment. Having folk stick around to welcome the stragglers back home was a really classy touch.

The other cool thing about this ride was that I actually felt great at the end, better than I’d felt at any of my previous paved centuries. No saddle pain, no knee pain, no shoulder pain. I felt really strong at the end, and still had plenty of kick in the legs.

Considering the terrain — which, in addition to the rough roads, featured some tough little hills — that’s pretty amazing.

Given the difficulty of the ride, and the distance, it wasn’t a great day for pictures, but I managed a few:

Preparing to launch: Micah Bicker, Randy Gregorcyk, Mark Moerner

An old country church and cemetery

Cyclists getting buzzed by a crop-duster. Thankfully we didn’t get sprayed with chemicals.

Our first section of dirt road – nice and smooth and dusty.

Pleasant Grove School, 1910 to 1941

Taking a break before our next section of gravel (Randy R & Mark).

Taking a picture of Mark & Randy G. over my shoulder, seconds before I crashed.

Randy G, his Litespeed, and my Long Haul Trucker, on one of the only old bridges we crossed on the route.

Walking a particularly rough piece before hitting the dirt again.

Climbing some chunky gravel on a hill just north of Stewartsville.

The c-store in Stewartsville. It was called the “Finish Line”, but we had another 40+ miles to go after this.

Thanks for Joe Fox and family for organizing this great event, and thanks to Mark and Randy and Micah for riding along with me.

I had a great little route map all printed up and ready to go, but when I went off and left it setting on my desk at home. So I winged it. I though I had a half-way decent map in my head, and that turned out to be about right. I did fine for the first 20 miles or so, then got off track as I began to see road names that didn’t sound familiar.

At one point I stopped at the Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge office to ask for directions, but they weren’t too helpful. The only routes they knew were on paved roads, and I was looking for back roads.

Oh well, I bumbled through. I got onto US-69 Highway for a few miles until I hit gravel again. This is a 4-lane semi-limited-access highway, but it had wide shoulders. It wasn’t too bad.

I ended up going too far west on the gravel roads, until I hit a north-south paved road, but I eventually found my way back to La Cygne. The total ride was about 53 miles.

Friends have been bugging me for awhile to get a GPS, but I’ve been reluctant to spend the dough (I’m a Frugal Cyclist), but perhaps this is the ride that’ll push me over the edge. It certainly would have been handy today…

Some pictures from the ride:

La Cygne City Park. La Cygne is the "City of the Swans". It’s located along the Marais des Cygnes River (French for "Marsh of the Swans").

The is the Church of the Angels in rural Linn County, KS.

A roadside sunflower in Linn County, KS.

This is the La Cygne Lake Bridge. Beautiful old bridge, but unfortunately it seems to be popular with graffiti vandals.

I heart my Long Haul Trucker.

A view of the La Cygne Powerplant from the La Cygne Lake dam. The plant appeared to be idle today.

Trading Post Cemetery. The monument in the background is a memorial to the victims of the Marais Du Cygne Massacre of 1858, when 11 Free State men were killed by border ruffians.

Brooklyn Cemetery west of La Cygne, KS.

I’ll need to go back sometime, as I was unable to find several of the attractions I’d picked out on my map. Oh well, I don’t mind — this is a nice area to ride and explore!

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

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

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

Here are a few pictures from the ride:

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

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

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

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

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

Another view of Stranger Creek Bridge.

Me looking down at the muddy waters of Stranger Creek.

The wheat harvest is in progress in Leavenworth County.

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is the Chase County Courthouse in Cottonwood Falls, built in 1873 our of native limestone and the oldest operating courthouse in Kansas

This is me at the entrance to the Chase State Fishing Lake

The view from the top of a hill just west of Cottonwood Falls

Elmdale City Hall, built in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration (WAP), Elmdale, KS

A twisted tree, rocky hill, and recently-burned grass make for a stark, but somehow compelling scene

An abandoned one-room schoolhouse in Chase County, KS

Me inside the schoolhouse: “Step away form the light…”

A sample of Flint Hills gravel road: steep, rough, rugged scenery

After the ride we stopped for lunch at the Emma Chase Cafe in Cottonwood Falls

I find the landscape here to be both stark and beautiful. I can’t wait to go back and explore this area in more detail, get even further off into the country, and see it during other seasons.

This was taken at the lake at Kill Creek Park on a cool but sunny day.

This is from Lone Elm Park (which I’ve written about before). The “Lone Elm” lamppost signs are new. There are three different designs: a wagon train, an Indian, and this soldier. Impressive.

This is me on a bridge in Miami County. You can’t really see it from that image, but the trees are starting to bud and the land is starting to green up. And it’s warm enough for shorts!

I’m not sure what these tiny purple flowers are called, but they entirely cover some fields. Very pretty.

Like my “kickstand”? That’s just the bike leaning against a stick stuck in the ground. The Long Haul Trucker’s back triangle has a nice place to prop a stick against. Works great (as long as there are surdy sticks to be found nearby).

Somehow, when taking the bike-in-the-field shot, I managed to walk through a patch of cuckleburrs…

Hopefully, I’ll have some rides coming up that’ll be more post-worthy!

A late-season snow gave me an opportunity to ride the Long Haul Trucker in a few inches of the white stuff, and the bike (and fenders) worked great.

The same wasn’t the case a week later, on a Miami County gravel ride. The ride started off nice enough, despite stiff wind and relentless hills. This picture was taken just west of Paola, on a hill with Osawatomie in the distance:

East of Paola, I led us to the abandoned bridge across Victory Road. Once we’d dodged the barricades and picked out way across the old structure, which was missing a few too many deck boards for comfort, but otherwise sound, we took to the old road leading north.

It was solid enough for about a quarter mile, then it turned into a mud pit, an absolute quagmire. The center of the road was covered with water and gooey mud, and only the shoulders were solid. I took the left shoulder while my riding partners took the right shoulder.

After a hundred yards or so, my shoulder all but disappeared, while theirs was still solid. Oh well, soldier on.

Ultimately, I ended up walking on a soggy shoulder and pushing the bike through the mud. The knobby tires proved adept at catching and holding mud, and the fenders were soon jammed full, and the wheels would no longer turn. I had to stop at least twice to clear out the fenders as best I could, but I eventually made it to the end of the mud.

The picture below doesn’t begin to do it justice. That was after cleaning off everything I could…

The rest of the ride was a slog. I just couldn’t get all the mud off, and my bike felt about ten pounds heavier than normal.

The picture below is from the next day, just before I gave the dirty mudder trucker a bath:

So in this case, the fenders, although they kept the rest of the bike reasonably clean, didn’t really work out. They’ve worked well otherwise, and I don’t plan to take them off, but I’ll try to stay out of mudholes in the future.

The first picture shows a bit of that: the grass more green than brown, cows grazing, but the tree still naked. Just a few more days, now …

This picture was taken on the North Wea Creek Bridge on 263rd Street. This is a sweet old bridge, spanning 80 feet with a nice wooden deck.

This is a similar bridge, though smaller (only 60 feet). It spans the South Wea Creek at about 299th and Oak Grove Road.

The final picture was from a section of “minimum maintenance” road near Paola. The road seems to be popular with mudders — it’s tore up in several places, and quite rocky in others. It’s very rough, but passable. The only places I had to walk were where the ruts were too deep, and my pedals were hitting the sides. But this was a fun little mile-and-a-half of road.

The sharp-eyed among you will notice a couple changes to the Long Haul Trucker — new fenders, and a new saddle. More on these at a later time. For now, suffice it to say that the LHT performed perfectly, and the new additions seem to fit right in.

The LHT is not exactly a mountain bike, but it performed admirably on the trails at Dornwood Park and MacLennan Park in Topeka. These trails are more fast-and-flowy than technical, but there were still plenty of rocks and roots to challenge my limited mountain biking skills.

The main thing was that I didn’t fall. This was my first return to singletrack since my crash last December, and I definitely played it safe, keeping the speed in check and walking the bike whenever it got too sketchy. I still ended up riding a number of sections that were pretty scary, but I made it through unscathed.

I had the LHT set up with knobby mountain bike tires (which is the same thing I’ve been using on recent gravel road rides), and they gave me really secure traction on downhills, uphills, and corners.

The LHT’s drop bars actually worked quite well. I found them comfortable, and they provided great control under all conditions.

Shifting was something of a problem, though. The bar-end shifters were just too difficult to reach on short notice. On terrain with lots of ups and downs, a good deal of shifting is required, and the bar-ends are pretty obviously not the right choice for this type of riding.

The brakes, which I’ve been somewhat unhappy with on road rides, actually worked just fine on singletrack. They’re a little wearying for long descents, but I found them adequate.

All in all, the Long Haul Trucker was a pleasant surprise — it worked better than I expected, and as well as I could have hoped. It’s obviously no match for a real mountain bike — the lack of suspension is especially missed — but it did work.

I wouldn’t want to use this bike on a purely singletrack tour, but it could certainly handle a tour that includes short sections of singletrack or rough roads.

The LHT at Dornwood Park in Topeka, KS, within the crumbling ruins of an old dairy barn.