Sheila's Place in Fair Grove

The Red Ribbon Ride was this past Saturday, but it did not start until 8:30AM and some of us needed to be back by noon. So, Rae, Doug, Tom and I rode to Fair Grove and had a late breakfast at Sheila's Place. Sheila's is on the west side of US65. just north of CC Hwy. We left Doug and Rae's at 7:00AM, and I was back home by 11:40, even though service was a little slow at Sheila's. It was about 46 miles round trip.

Downtown Fair Grove
Sign on the door says "Keep Out"















Minor adjustments after breakfast















Fellows Lake

Kansas City 400K

Eight riders left Grandview shortly after 5:00AM into a wind that was blowing out of the ESE at about five mph. The temperature was about 52 degrees. The 400K generally runs east through Lees Summit Greenwood, Lone Jack, south to Strasburg, east to Holden, Warrensburg, Sedalia, and finally southwest to Windsor, which is the turnaround.

Two riders pulled ahead and were at the Holden control (49 miles) at 8:15AM when I arrived with three other riders. Five of us left about 15 minutes later into a ESE wind that was blowing about 10 mph. I was able to hang with them for a few miles, but the last I saw of them until Windsor was when they were climbing the hill about a mile ahead of me just before the turn to the northeast on BB Hwy. I stopped at the turn to take off my jacket because the temperature had climbed a few degrees and I was working hard riding on my own.

I rolled into the Casey's in Sedalia (99 miles) at about 12:40PM for a brief stop before heading on to Windsor. The clerk told me the lead riders were about 20-30 minutes ahead. I ran into a cold hard rain storm on B Hwy about three miles north of Hwy 52. The road was pockmarked with small potholes that were almost impossible to see in the rain making for a rough ride. The rain only lasted about ten minutes. I kept expecting the lead riders to come charging towards me on their return, but they were still in Windsor (125 miles) when I arrived about 2:00PM. I had planned to eat something substantial in Windsor, but they said we could eat in Sedalia if I wanted to ride with them. I bought bottles of chocolate milk and water at the Casey's, and we headed out again. After about six miles I fell behind and that was the last I saw of them. I probably should have eaten in Windsor like I had planned because I was losing energy fast. Just north of Green Ridge, I passed the last rider heading out to Windsor. She was at least an hour behind me.

In Sedalia, I looked for the lead riders at the fast food restaurants along US 65 and finally stopped to eat at the last one at Y Hwy where I needed to turn west again. I rode into the control at Casey's about 5:45PM. The clerk told me the lead riders were about 15 minutes ahead of me and he did not think the would make Warrensburg before the cold front hit. The wind was now out of the south at about 10 mph. The temperature was about 62 degrees. I took off for Warrensburg hoping the clerk was wrong about the cold front.

I slammed into the front coming down the hill at Knob Noster at about 7:30PM. Fortunately the lightning was to the north of me. I continued to ride for about 10 minutes until I found a building with a covered porch to duck under. A couple of drivers slowed as they passed me on the road in the rain and asked if I needed a ride. Since I had not given up yet, I said no. After the rain subsided, I rode to the Casey's on Hwy 13, and the clerk told me the lead riders were about 30 minutes ahead of me. Since I was soaking wet from the storm, the west wind was picking up (20 mph with gusts up to 50 mph) and the temperature was dropping, I decided to check into a motel with the idea of getting up at 2:00AM and trying to ride in before 8:00AM. My gore-tex socks each had about a cup of water in them when I dumped them at the motel. I don't know how that much water got in them, but it wasn't leaking out.

At 2:00AM, my clothes were still damp, it was still cold (45 degrees) and the wind was still blowing out of the west (25 mph with gusts to 40 mph), so I went back to bed. I called Bob Burns, the RBA, just before 8:00AM to tell him where I was. He said he could not pick me up then, but could later in the morning. I told him I would call him about 11:00AM and let him know my status. We also laid out a shorter route that basically had me ride most of the way back to Grandview on MO 58.

I left the motel at 9:00AM. The sun was out, but the wind was out of the WNW at 15 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph. I headed west out of Warrensburg on Division Rd. It shorten the ride by several miles, but there was about a 3-mile climb up a hill to MO 58. The 4-mile ride south on MO 58 with the wind somewhat at my back made up for it. I made it to Holden a little before 11:00AM and had a pizza at the Subway before calling Bob. Bob picked me up a little after noon and drove me back. I am glad he did because there seemed to be a lot of traffic of MO58 in Raymore and Belton. Thanks Bob!

Three riders completed the brevet. Two abandoned in Lone Jack, and the rider behind me abandoned in Holden.

As I noted above, I probably should not have tried to ride back to Sedalia with the lead riders because I was pretty low on energy after riding through the storm heading into Windsor. I also should have ridden into Knob Noster and found shelter before the front hit. If I had been dry, I might have been able to continue on. I thought about waiting for the woman rider behind me when I was in Warrensburg, but I had no idea if she was still riding. Also, I could miss her in the dark if she rode by quickly and I was not paying attention. Each ride teaches me something to use the next time similar situations occur.

Riding east at dawn towards Holden















Casey's in Holden, MO















Antique car on road to Sedalia















Windsor, MO















Division Road looking east to Warrensburg

Dogwood Metric Century

This annual Springbike Bicycle Club ride is always held on the first weekend in May. This year and last, the ride has been on a new route starting in Republic on Saturday. The old route started in Sparta on Sunday and was much more challenging. The route was changed because of the increased traffic on the roads.

This year saw a good turn out even though the day started cold, cloudy and windy. Although there was some sprinkles on the drive to Republic, it never rained on the ride. The wind was another issue. It blew out of the west to northwest at 12 to 18 mph the entire ride. The route generally goes southwest to Billings, west to Aurora, northwest to Mt. Vernon, east to Billings and then back to Republic. So the wind gave us a great push on the return. There were rest stops in each of the communities.

I met Doug and Tom at the sign-in at 7:00AM, and we started a little early because we were cold. I rode my new commuter/shopping bike since the ride is short and relatively flat. The bike worked great considering it is set up for short commutes and shopping. I had a little problem with the shifting, but that was fixed after I adjusted the cable, which had stretched, at the rest stop in Mt. Vernon. I also tightened up the chain. I rode with MKS sneaker pedals and Keen-type sandals, rather than my normal crank pedals and Shimano-cleated sandals. The MKS pedals and the sandals have plenty of grip, and I had no problems with slipping. The lack of different positions on the albatross handle bar was uncomfortable after about 30 miles. I would not want to ride more than 100K with this handle bar setup.

We were back in Republic at 12:30PM for the cookout. Thanks to Bill Hill and everyone else involved in organizing and supporting the ride!

New Commuter/Shopping Bike

Last night, I finished building up a new commuter/shopping bike on a steel Fuji Sagres frame that I used for my first randonneuring bike when I bought the frame about four years ago from Queen City Cycles. I replaced the Fuji with a new Rivendell Canti-Rom three years ago. I don't know the age of the Fuji frame.

I stripped the paint from the frame and had it powdercoated clear. Rather than a crystal-clear coat, it came out a soft steel gray with tan highlights where solder is exposed. The highlights are visible on the fork in the image of the head tube. I had put Boeshield in the frame when I first built it up for randonneuring, and the Boeshield may have had an effect on the powdercoat when it was heated.

The drive train is a Shimano 105 crank driving a Shimano Nexus 8-speed red band hub. The shifting on the hub is quite smooth, although the jump between the gears seems greater than my normal 7-speed freewheel.

The Nitto Abatross bar has shellacked cork grips. I put a Pletscher rack and a large Wald basket on the rear for shopping trips. The headlight is a Cateye EL-300 for those winter-evening commutes. I live less than a mile from work, so my commute is pretty quick and I can wear my work clothes. With the more upright riding position than my former commuter bike with drop bars, I will really be styling in my sports coat and tie.

300K in Edwardsville, IL (St. Louis)

I drove up to Edwardsville on Friday evening. Actually, I stopped at Granite City, IL, where I camped at the KOA. The radio said a front would be moving through soon, so I located a tent site and went to dinner at Ravanelli's. The front had still not come through when I finished dinner, but it looked like it would start pouring any minute and there was some lightning. I stopped at K-Mart for a gallon of water and sat inside the store for about 15 minutes until the front finally passed. By the time I got back to the KOA, the rain had stopped and I set up my tent. It rained some more during the night, but when the alarm went off at 5:00AM the sky was clear, the tent was dry and it was definitely cooler.

I was at the start in Edwardsville about 6:05AM. John Jost, the RBA, and one other rider were there. There were about 14 riders at the 7:00AM start. Five or six were riding a 200K. I left with the first riders that were all riding the 300k. I hung with them as we headed east through town and along the Quercus Grove Bicycle Trail, but as soon as we hit the first farm road (Fruit Road), they stepped it up and pulled away. With a 10 mph wind out of the west and the flat terrain, I was able to speed along at 20+ mph, but the lead group kept increasing the gap.

I stopped in Pocahontas (16 miles) for a bottle of water to mix more chocolate Spiz and to remove some clothing. On this ride, I rotated through bottles of Spiz, HEED and Perpetuem. On future rides, I am going to drop the Perpetuem. I have a hard time getting it down late in the ride. When I made the turn south at 8:43AM in Stubblefield (30 miles), I was averaging 19.3 mph! Too bad I could not maintain it. At the first control in Breese (51 miles) after riding generally south, my average was down to 18 mph.

There are not many picture opportunities because most of the route passes through farm fields. There has been a lot of rain in the area, and the route had to be revised because one of the roads had been under water for several weeks. At Queen's Lake, there were a number of houses on stilts that were surrounded by water. The last two years I rode that segment, the houses were high and dry. I am not sure how the septic systems work in the wet conditions. I hit one of the expansion joints on a bridge at about 15 mph and my camera popped out of the Bento Box. It hit the deck and a car almost ran over it, but the camera continued to worked.

At the 3rd control in Okawville, after riding mostly west and south, my average was down to 17 mph. The next 15 miles out of Okawville were due east, so I had a good push from the wind that was up to 13-15 mph. That was the last segment to the east, but about the time I turned south, the west wind slowly began to decrease.

The 4th control was in Oakdale (121 miles), home of the Easter Eggstravaganza. As I was heading into town, one of the other riders was coming back towards me. I was passing a small c-store and I stopped in the parking lot.The rider told me it was the control. I used the restroom and bought some water and a V-8. When I asked the clerk to sign my card, she said we had the wrong place. So we rode up the road to the actual control.

The other rider pulled away a few miles outside of Oakdale. He was in a hurry to get back because he did not have any reflective gear. I stopped again in New Baden (151 miles) for water and V-8. I finished off a bag of potato chips I bought in Okawville. I was feeling sleepy, so I also popped a caffeine pill. My final stop was in St. Jacob (166 miles) for water and to put on reflective gear. I pulled into the final control at 9:22PM. The fast group was back 2.5 hours earlier. I spent the night again in Granite City; this time in a motel.

200K Brevet in Liberty MO

John and I went up to Liberty for the 200K brevet on Saturday, April 5. We left at 1:00PM on Friday to scout out a new permanent route from Strafford to Humansville. The original route I mapped out had some gravel roads west of Buffalo, but after driving around the area, we found a paved route.

We were at the Perkins Restaurant, the start of the brevet, at 6:00AM. John ordered a big breakfast, but did not finish it because he was feeling queasy. I gave him a couple of antacids to try to calm it down.

There were 28 cyclists when Bob Burns, the RBA, sent us off at 7:00AM. There were more cyclists than I expected to see following a PBP year, but the weather was predicted to be nice (high around 65 degrees and sunny) except for a stiff south wind later in the day.

The route is hilly with 8,580 feet of climb (profile) and meanders around generally north and west of Liberty (map). Shortly after the start, John dropped behind the group and I slowed so he could catch me. He had dropped his chain and said he was doing okay and not to wait for him. That was the last I saw him until after the ride.

As we climbed to the northeast towards Prathersville, I connected with three other riders: Jack, Eric and Brian, who I rode with off and on most of the day. The ride was generally uneventful until I turned south on B Highway just outside Ridgely rather than heading straight west on E Highway. Eric was with me, and we ended up riding an extra 5 miles, about half on gravel roads. Jack and Brian were behind us when we left the route and were surprised when we later pulled into the halfway control at Platte City.

The first part of the return ride went well because we were generally heading north and east. We turned into the wind for the last 25 miles from Plattsburg back to Liberty. It took almost 2.5 hours to complete that last leg. I am not sure how strong the wind was blowing, but the Perkins' flag was straight out when I returned. The ride took about 10 hours and 20 minutes, 40 minutes less than last year even though I rode 5 more miles.

Meanwhile, John's stomach had gotten worse, and he heaved his breakfast on the front of his bike. He had to abandon the ride about 9:30AM and checked into a motel in Kearney, the hometown of Jesse James. He was only about 10 miles from the start as the crow flies, but since I had the truck keys, he did not have anyplace to go. He tried to call my cellphone to let me know his situation, but my phone was off. I called my wife after I returned, and she called back about an hour later after John called her. For some reason, John's voice mail message was not registering. I drove up to Kearney to get him, and we dropped his brevet card back at the Perkins before heading back to Springfield.

Cold, Wet Ride; Hot Pancakes

The Ladies' Auxiliary cooks pancakes at the VFW in Strafford on the 5th Saturday of the month. Since it only happens a few times a year, the weather has to be really harsh to call off the ride. It was about 44 degrees, but not raining, when I left the house. It started to sprinkle when Rae, Doug and Tom met me downtown at 7:30AM. We had to be at the VFW before it closed at 9:00, so we headed east into the headwind (about 11 mph) that made the rain seem more intense. The rain stopped outside of Springfield, but picked up again just outside Strafford. When we crossed MO744, we passed a stream of runners and walkers doing a 5K. As usual the pancakes were great. For some reason the women make better pancakes than the men who cook them the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month. Since it looked like we were going to get more rain, we decided to head back to Springfield after breakfast. The rain started again after we crossed I-44, but with the wind at our backs it was not bad. Instead of a 50-mile ride, I only did about 33 miles. More than enough in the cold and rain.