Flèche Lives

I rode my first Flèche on April 23 and 24. The route went from St. Joe to Grain Valley, MO (about 228 miles). The name of the team was "Flèche Lives", and the other riders were: Spencer Klaassen, Bob Burns (KC RBA) and Brian Bettis. Spencer organized the team.

A Flèche is a 24-hour ride held in the spring. The traditional event date is Easter weekend, but it can be held from one week before Easter until seven weeks after. Flèches are regional events where teams of cyclists all head to a common destination from various starting points. No individual entries are allowed. The RBA in each region establishes the finishing destination each year. Each team must start its ride between noon Thursday and 10:00 AM on Saturday. The minimum distance required for the 24-hour period is 360K (224 miles). No rest stop may exceed two hours in any one location. Each team is limited to a maximum of five and a minimum of three members. The ride is patterned after the Flèche Vélocio held by the Audax Club Parisien (ACP) in France.

We left St. Joe in the rain, which continued until just before we crossed the Missouri River into Leavenworth, KS (2nd control). We also had an 8 to 10 mph wind out of the SSE. Spencer had three flats just before the river. They appeared to be caused by road debris.

Brian began to slow on the hills between Eudora and Wellsville because of knee pain. He decided to abandon in Wellsville. He made a wise decision because even though we soon turned east and only had a crosswind, there were several long, uphill pulls. This was the toughest part of the ride for me. The sky was completely clear, and the temperature had risen to about 76 degrees. While that temperature will not seem very hot later in the summer, it was too hot for me on Friday. I was glad when we pulled into Louisburg, KS for a break.

We made good time the rest of the evening and into the morning. The temperature stayed in the 60s the remainder of the ride, but whenever we stopped I would get chilled and bundled up in all the clothes I had. Of course, I would warm up again when we started riding and had to take clothes off. We pulled into the 22-hour control in Odessa just after 2:00, which gave us to two hours to rest before riding the final 25K (about 17 miles) into Grain Valley. Spencer had a pinch flat that he fixed before we left. We pulled into the Casey's at Grain Valley about 5:30. Brian and Arlys Minear showed up a short time later, but we had to wait until 6:00, when the Casey's open, before we could go to breakfast at IHOP, complements of Bob Burns.

I did not have any mechanical problems the entire ride, and my new, homemade LED light worked great.

More pictures and video from the ride taken by Spencer.

Flèche Lives at the start:
Spencer, Brian, Bob & Ralph
Photo by Arlys Minear

Brian & Spencer heading south out of St. Joe

Fixing one of Spencer's flat tires

Crossing the Missouri at Leavenworth, KS

Drexel control

Heading east out of Drexel

Springfield, MO, 300K Brevet

Nine riders started the 300K brevet from York Elementary School at 6:00 on April 17. This was four more riders than last year. Skies were partly cloudy with a NE wind. The wind got us off to a good start, and I rode the first 100K in just over four hours. I started out with two of the faster riders, but they pulled ahead before we got to Hood's on I-44. One of the riders needed to get home for his wedding anniversary.

I had to alter the route from last year due to a road closure between Alba and Webb City. The new route was slightly longer, but much more enjoyable because it followed lower-traffic-volume roads, including portions of Historic Route 66. An interesting sight between Carterville and Webb City was the old bridge retaining walls for Route 66 where the road bridged a former rail yard. The bridges and tracks are all gone, and so is the dirt, leaving just the retaining walls.

All of the riders, except one, caught up with me at the control in Pierce City, so I waited and left with three of them. One of the riders stopped on MO 14, but he said he was okay so Dan Pfaff and I went on. We stopped and waited for a while at the turn onto MM Hwy. They did not show up, and we went on. Apparently one rider had a tire problem, and while they were working on it, the last rider caught up with them.

I completed the brevet just before 22:00. This gives me ten months towards the RUSA R-12 award.

Rae and Doug Nickell and Tom Barnett were at the final control again this year to greet and sign in riders. Much thanks to them.

Rail trestle along Historic Route 66














Former Route 66 bridge retaining wall














Brian Hawkins & Wayne Hanno














Dan Pfaff














The following photos by Doug Nickell

Rae & friend at last control














Mike & Nancy Meyers














Ralph checking Dan's brevet card

Springfield, MO, 200K Brevet

After a week delay due to icy weather, the 200K brevet was held. Eleven riders started at 7:00 under partly-cloudy skies and a strong wind out of the southeast (25 mph, gusts to 30 mph). The forecast was for a 60% chance of rain.

By the time we were leaving Republic, we had broken into several groups. I rode with Cliff Jacobs, a PBP ancien, to Miller (35.9 miles). We got there at 9:10 as the three lead riders were getting ready to leave the control. Cliff left with them, and I was about ten minutes behind. As I was approaching the turn north at MO 37, about four miles outside of Golden City, four riders rode north on MO 37. At first I thought the lead group had gotten lost, but then I saw more riders further south. At MO 37 and MO 126 I passed a rest stop for the ride. I got to the control at 10:28 (62.9 miles) as the lead riders were getting ready to leave.

I passed the other six riders strung out on MO 37, just south of Golden City and about 20 to 25 minutes behind me. As I was still heading south calculating how long it would take to get back to Springfield at seven to eight mph, a car slowed down next to me, and a woman asked if I was on the Maple Leaf (AKA Spring Fling Century) since I was obviously going the wrong direction. I responded no. So you are just riding on your own? Yes. Are you okay? Yes, which was not the complete truth. If I was okay, I would be at home reading a book. She said she was just checking and drove on.

About four miles outside Miller, on UU Highway, my rear tire started going flat. As I was pumping it up, I noticed the rim was cracked around one of the spoke holes. The cracks were new because I had checked the rims after my last ride. Something to repair later. I pumped the tire up after another two miles. In Miller, I changed the tube and several riders caught up with me. It had taken as long to ride from Golden City to Miller (26.9 miles) as it had taken to ride from Springfield to Golden City (62.9 miles). We all left Miller together but were soon separated, with the tandem recumbent ahead of me and the recumbent behind.

As I crossed I-44, I was hit by a brief downpour of pea-size hail. I quickly pulled into an abandoned gas station. There were four SUVs in the parking lot with electronic and weather equipment hanging off of them and signed: Tornado Chasers. Fortunately, I did not see any tornadoes. I put my rain gear back on and headed out. I had worn my rain gear from the start until Miller on the return and took it off when it got warmer and it looked like we had avoided the storms. It was noticeably cooler after the hail storm.

The remainder of the route was east bound and the wind had shifted to the south, so it was easier going. I rode into the final control at 17:45. The toughest 100K I have ever ridden. The last two riders came in at 18:39, and the sky immediately busted open with a mix of rain and hail. One rider abandoned in Miller, exhausted from fighting the wind.

Riders getting ready at the start














Mike & Nancy Myers and Dan Pfaff
in Miller on the return

March 20th Springfield 200K Brevet Postponed

The 200K brevet has been postponed until Saturday, March 27, because the forecast has changed from snow to ice pellets. Thunderstorms are also in the forecast.

The brevet will still be ACP sanctioned and will be treated as if it were held on March 20. The start time is still 7:00, with registration from 6:00 to 6:45.

Route 66 & Cooky's Pie 205K Permanent

I rode this permanent last weekend with Tamara Mitchell and Nancy and Mike Myers. The brevets start this month, but the first one is not until March 20th, and I wanted to make sure I got a 200K in this month. There is always a chance of snow in late March and even early April. Tamara recently joined RUSA, and this was her first event. It was a lovely day to ride even with the strong wind out of the south. Fortunately, it did not shift to the southeast as had been predicted. Once we got to Miller on the return, it was not much of a problem. The Myers had a flat just west of Miller on the outbound. Otherwise, the ride went well. The most remarkable sight was the number of robins throughout the country side. If there had been an equal number of other species of birds, it would have looked like a scene out of the movie The Birds. This gives me nine months of 200Ks or better. Only three more months for the RUSA R-12 award. It is good to get the winter months out of the way and to have 600K in events before starting the brevet season.

Tamara inbound just west of Miller

New LED Headlight

About a year ago, I started to build a LED headlight to run off my Schmidt generator hub. I have been running two Busch and Muller Lumotec halogen headlights wired in series. Most of the time I only have one turned on. For backup, I have a battery-powered Cateye HL-EL500. I primarily use the Cateye in town when I have to stop frequently because the Lumotecs do not have a stand light and require a little speed to begin to illuminate. I also have a small white LED button light affixed to the front of the trunk that I run at night to make me more visible from the front when I am stopped. I have a Princeton helmet light that I wear at night as well, but I usually only have it on to read the que sheet or street signs.

The design I started with was based on the Joe Gross Special, but I lost interest in the project when I ran into some problems understanding the schematics for the nFlex board. I do not know anything about electronics. I recently ran across a simpler design (Circuit 2), which got me interested again. I intended to go back to the Joe Gross Special, but I did not have all the electrical parts. I went to Radio Shack, and they did not have the parts I needed. They did have the parts to build Circuit 2, although the silicon diodes are 1N4005 rather than 1N4007. The capaciter is 1,000uF, 35V, which is the largest they had. Radio Shack is no longer the goto place for electronic components.

The light went together without any problems, and I rode around for about 10 minutes before I glued the back plate on with J-B Weld. I could not feel any heat on the outside of the light, so I assume it will continue to work without melting down. I intend to test it for an extended period of time before I ride a 300K brevet scheduled for April. When I did the test ride, I had both lighting systems on the bike and was able to compare them. The LED light beam is not as focused as the halogen, but it is a lot brighter. The halogen bulb has a few hours on it, so a new bulb would probably be brighter, but with the LED, I do not have to worry about the bulb browning out and having to be replaced. The LED beam also seems to falloff quicker than the halogen, but it may just appear that way because the beam is wider. The light does flicker at walking speed, but as soon as I start pedaling the beam is steady.

I do not think I saved any money building the light, in part because I bought some extra parts that I had to mail order because I did not want to have to order again if I screwed something up. If the first light continues to work, I will use the extra parts to build another one.

Old lighting system on the Romulus
(button LED is partially behind the left headlight)



















New LED light














New lighting system



















Side view

L'Eroica 2009