Weekend Bike Rides...

Today is Monday September 28 2026 and i rode my bicycle outdoors twice this weekend.

Saturday i did the Rocky Route on the Mountain Bike (trails were too wet to ride).

Sunday i did the Crown Center Water Fountain route on the Mountain Bike (trails were too wet to ride).

i felt pretty good both days.

On Saturday i was pedaling by 6:15 on a very nice morning. This was the morning of the Steve Tilford Foundation Gravel race in Lawrence, KS which i decided to skip because of a rainy forecast. The race started at 8am and about 8:20 on my ride i thought to myself "wow this weather is just about perfect for bike riding", i did get rained on significantly starting around 9:15 but i had a rain jacket and was home around 9:45 so it was fine. Hopefully the racers had decent conditions.

i started this ride in the dark with a full moon present... which was bad a*s.

Later that day we enjoyed a nice evening outside while messing with Halloween decorations.

Sunday i had planned to ride during the chiefs game but i woke up early so decided for a short ride starting at 8:15. i went hard when i felt good and went slow when i didn't and by the end of the ride it felt like i was flying. 

Later that day i watched Brandon Mcnulty of the USA win the elite men's world championship road race!

Hot diggity!

Little Sugar is in 14 days so its time to start thinking about pulling back on the throttle. Having said that i plan to ride tomorrow am and then do the Johnnys group ride on Wednesday evening. After that i'll reduce things significantly before we leave for Bentonville on October 8th.

Bicycles!

Saturday...

Sunday...

Johnny's Ride... finished in the front group

Today is Thursday September 24 2026 and last night i did the Johnny's group ride.

It was great.

Every once in a while everything clicks and last night was one of those nights.

The weather was perfect. The entire day leading up to the ride was perfect. The food and drink prep was perfect. The legs were (ultimately) perfect. i finished in the front group.

10 riders started and i did some pulling early and then got dropped early but chased back on. My chase was epic and probably the most exciting 5 - 10 minutes of bike riding i've had this year, i rode smart, i rode aggressive, i rode aero, i cornered like a boss, i got lucky with the lights, i caught back on.

What a workout.

i think i got dropped again at some point but that time i caught back on quickly.

My 45 mile ride the day before probably played a factor in my early struggles but the longer the ride went the better i felt. There was power in there i just had to access it. For the last 20 minutes i was in the zone. i wasn't strong enough to entertain the idea of pulling thru but i was having no trouble following the wheels.

5 of us finished in the front group and we finished in the dark, which was exciting, nothing like hauling ass down Mission Road with blinking bike lights all around and cars coming and going to get your blood pumping.

Upon arriving home i took a sweet pic of my bike by our Halloween decorations... much more to come in that department.

This Saturday is the Steve Tilford Foundation gravel race but rain is in the forecast so i'm a maybe. 

After that it's time to cram in some quality time on my mountain bike because counting today the Little Sugar race is 18 days away.

Ohh baby.

Day off Bike Ride... do a wheelie for us

Today is Wednesday September 23 2026 and yesterday i took the day off work and rode my bicycle.

i'm not sure if i rode fast or slow or if i felt good or bad but i make the rules around here and i'm declaring that it was a great ride.

i did do 45 miles with very little stopping and that's not nothing.

At one point, while preparing to walk across the under construction 83rd street, i asked a construction worker for permission to cross and he said "sure come on thru, do a wheelie for us".

i said "i would if i could'.

Towards the end of the ride i realized that if i kept going as fast as possible i could make the 2:30 showing of Resident Evil at the Town Center AMC. So i put 'March of the Swivel Heads' on the Bluetooth speaker and hustled home where i took the worlds quickest shower, grabbed 3 small sticks of beef jerky and two granola bars, plus one coconut water, one protein drink, and two sparkling waters and headed out.

i missed the first 1-2 minutes of the movie but it didn't matter, the movie was totally bad a*s and gets two big thumbs up from me.

Tonight i'm planning to do the Johnny's group ride. Last week i had to skip it and the week before that i felt great but then got a flat, so i'm excited to see how i feel tonight.

Weekend Bike Rides... cx bike version

Today is Monday September 21 2026 and last weekend i rode my bike outdoors, twice.

It's all king of a blur... but it was good.

Saturday i did 61 miles on my cx bike and Sunday i did 23 miles on my cx bike.

This upcoming Saturday i'm hoping to do the 55 miles distance at the Steve Tilford Foundation Epic gravel race in Lawrence, KS so i figured i'd better spend some quality time on the cx bike first.

Saturday i was up early and i had to be very quiet because the not so little man had a few friends sleeping over and they were in the back living room right off the kitchen with no door between them and the rest of the house. i prepped the night before so i could quickly and quietly get out the door, it worked and i was pedaling by 6am.

Temperature at departure was 77 and it felt glorious. i did the Rocky route (i think i pushed hard, its a blur) and then happened upon the Bike MS ride going thru midtown so i hooked up with them for a bit. i ended up crossing the Bike MS route again and this time joined them for maybe 45 minutes complete with an aid station and official photos!

Ultimately i ended up close to Avila University before turning around for home. On the way home Andre from One Star Bicycle passed me so i turned around and rode with him and his wife for a few minutes before turning around again and truly going home.

With the exception of red lights and stop signs i didn't stop on this ride. No water stops, no bathroom stops, no coffee stops. Okay, technically i briefly stopped at the Bike MS aid station but once that official photographer took my picture i was out of there!

Riding unobstructed rural roads would i'm sure have served me better as prep for a 55 mile gravel race... but at least i didn't stop.

(i took no pictures of the ms ride or of Andre, but i swear they really happened.)

Later that day i saw a cool butterfly while walking the dog.

Sunday i was out the door around 8:30 am for a quick ride to Crown Center and back.

A cold front blew thru overnight and i started the ride with a wind jacket but that quickly came off because the dew point was still pretty high. Later in the ride it started misting and just like that it felt like fall. We had a very hot and very extended end of summer here in KC so hopefully that's done for the year. 

My legs were tired on this ride but there was still power to be had, it felt like the floor of my fitness had been raised and i could push one or two gears harder than normal.

Later that day i cooked some steaks on the grill and watched the Chiefs win in OT.

The Little Sugar mountain bike race is close, my fitness is good, i'm getting nervous!

Saturday...

Sunday...

Evening Ride... wow is it dewey out here.

Today is Thursday September 17 2026 and last night i rode my bicycle outside.

It felt like i was flying... which is a good thing.

i couldn't make the Johnny's ride but by 6:45 i was on my single speed bike headed towards Crown Center. It was extremely sweaty and extremely awesome. My legs felt great. it felt like i was setting single speed pr's on several sections. That's the great thing about the single speed, since its only one gear you can compare efforts via the force easier than on a geared bike. Several times last night i was spun out on long sections that have given me trouble in the past. 

So that was bad a*s.

During the ride i also swallowed a bug and saw a fox.

This recent heat wave should break by Sunday but i get the sense the bugs realize the party is coming to an end because they were everywhere last night. 

Upon returning home i looked down at my Garmin and sweat poured out of my helmet.

Wow was it dewey out there.

(Editors note: 'dewey' refers to the dew point, which is a great indicator of how sweaty the outdoors is going to be. Last night the dew point was 73, which is high.)