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The Last Blast of Summer |
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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by M. Longhofer
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Monday, 24 September 2007 |
The Last Blast of Summer
 | | Attacked by cobwebs |
I returned from a trip “back home” nearly one month ago so am a bit delayed in writing this up. On August 20, I left Maine in a jacket and 50 degree weather to deplane in Kansas and be greeted by triple digit heat and high humidity – welcome to the Midwest in August! I only return home about every two years and this time the excuse was a really good one – to see a good friend of mine get married (in addition to seeing my family of course).
 | | Hondo on the fixie |
I am surprised every time I return by the continued growth and sprawl. My hometown of Lawrence, Kansas, used to be a small, hippy town but it has grown so much in the last 30+ years that it nearly annexes with the Kansas City metro area. But enough of that and onto the road and trail.
 | | Me and my steed |
I recently got back in touch with a former high school classmate who has also turned out to be a cycling freak like myself. When I contacted him earlier in the month to let him know I would be in town and hoped to hook up for a ride, he went the extra mile and hooked me up with Paul at the local shop in Lawrence, who let me borrow his custom Independent Fabrication Single Speed mountain bike for the week – pretty phenomenal!! I picked up the steed on Monday after my arrival. Based on the scheduled temps. and heat index for the week, I would be relegated to riding early mornings or evenings as the day time heat would reduce me to a worthless riding state.
 | | Me and the guys |
On Tuesday morning, I planned to ride the River Trail – the MTB trail that skirts the Kansas River that runs through town. It used to be a riding haunt of mine when I originally took up mountain biking in the early 90s and I hadn’t been back in 13 years. So, I was anxious to check it out. As I am heading out the door, my sister decides to mention that a woman recently had a mountain lion sighting while running on the levee next to where the trail runs. Living in Maine and having had a black bear sighting while running once myself a few years back, I wasn’t about to let this bit of info. prohibit my planned fun so off I went!
 | | River Trail |
The trail was as I remembered but way more fun. This time I was on a sweet mt. bike that was geared to perfection (34-17) for this trail, compared to the 90s when I was on my fully rigid, day glow yellow Trek 830 Antelope. The trail is accessed from the gravel trail along the levee. This levee was built in the 1940s, I believe, to assist in damming up the mighty, muddy Kansas river following a catastrophic flood that damaged a lot of homes, farms, etc. It runs for few miles and is a popular walking, running and biking path.  | | click to enlarge |
So, off the levee about a mile spin down from the bridge over the dam, is the trailhead. The trail is hard packed dirt (with a few soft, sandy areas thrown in for excitement in the corners), no climbing, a lot of twists and turns (some tight), some fun whoops, bermed up areas, no rocks, no roots. Essentially the two “Fs” – FLAT and FAST. The thing I wasn’t expecting, however, was all the cobwebs. I broke through so many that I spent much of that ride distracted by picking them off of my face. Apparently this is the price one pays for breaking first trail in the morning. I took a photo of my helmet after the ride that probably doesn’t do this sensation any justice. The helmet felt lightly cemented on my head when I pulled it off – pretty weird.
 | | click to enlarge |
So, I had so much fun Tuesday that I went back for more on Wednesday morning with my previously mentioned friend from high school, Mark. He is primarily a roady and was on his fixey cross bike with barely a knob on the tire (tires akin to slicks). I had him set the pace which was a fun, conversational ride with a couple of near crashes for him in the loose corners that he saved impressively while wracking up some serious dismount style points. I think being a former running back in high school and college lends well to agility on the trail.  | | click to enlarge |
That evening Mark and I both joined up with the shop guys for their Wednesday night road ride. The shop guys kindly found a small enough road bike for me to borrow to ride. We headed out of town toward Lone Star Lake, which brought back memories of parties past from high school. It was a nice social pace going out of town which kicked up several notches when we hit the flat smooth country roads and barreling wind that seemed relentless and is ever present on the plains of Kansas. The ride was completed by a cold Kansas City Boulevard Brewery beverage that topped off a thoroughly fine day and evening. It just doesn’t get much better.
 | | click to enlarge |
Thursday I headed to the Kansas City area for my friend’s wedding, the purpose of my trip. My riding adventures continued with a steady 90 minute spin that evening on the single speed on the paved walking path that runs for many miles through the neighborhoods of the KC suburbs. I had one high-speed, hopefully unwitnessed crash. I took a really smooth, apparently slick curve with too much speed and laid the bike and myself down thereby sliding a few feet on my hip – ouch!  | | The Kaw from the levee |
After I did a quick damage assessment of myself and knew I was fine, I was most concerned about the idea of completing the remainder of the ride with half my backside hanging out but the Verge Team Bikeman shorts held up with barely a snag! Whew. Anyway, these paved trails also hold fond memories for me as I used to run and train on them with my former Kansas City Road Runner team members back in the days of racing 5 and 10Ks. It is great to see such paved trails continue to grow in length and use in suburban areas. It was fairly busy with walkers, runner, and cyclists that evening.
 | | The levee |
To wrap up the week of riding (I skipped a couple of days due to wedding activities), I rounded out a fine week on Sunday with a 2 hour road ride with my buddy Mark and a friend and team mate of his. We road more of the flat roads around Lawrence in blistering 100+ heat. I wilted like a small flower in the heat while they weren’t even fazed by it. I tried to do my best to do my share of work and pulling at the front while keeping my whining about how miserably and ridiculously hot it was to a minimum. Thank goodness I packed some Hammer Heed for the trip as it came to good use during my week of riding in the hot and humid August Kansas days!
 | | The mighty Kaw |
In summary, what a great vacation week. I had short but quality time with family and friends, some really awesome riding, and I got to be a part of one of my best friend’s wedding experience and very joyous time. A HUGE shout out goes out to my friend Mark for helping me have such a great week. His hook up with the cycling scene in Lawrence absolutely made my week complete. He races for Free State Racing team – check them out at freestateracing.com. Also a big thanks to Paul and the guys at Sunflower Outdoor and Bikes – check them out at sunfloweroutdoorandbike.com.
Until next time, ride on, ride safe, and ride happy. And remember, even a bad day on the bike, is still a pretty good day!
Mary
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; "Attacked by cobwebs")
; "Hondo on the fixie")
; "Me and my steed")
; "Me and the guys")
; "River Trail")
; "click to enlarge")
; "click to enlarge")
; "click to enlarge")
; "click to enlarge")
; "The Kaw from the levee")
; "The levee")
; "The mighty Kaw")
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