Weekend Bike Rides...

Today is Monday June 8 2026 and i rode my bike outdoors last Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday was a sweaty (dew point was 70) early morning Mountain Bike ride that did include single track.

Sunday was a relatively chill ride on mountain bikes thru the soggy streets of Kansas City, with X (my wife).

Saturday i was out the door around 8:25 and on the single track 27 minutes later. i took the 'A to B' trail north into Swope Park and kept the pace high. So high that multiple times i involuntarily cursed out loud, spontaneously verbalizing my shock at how depleting the efforts were. Mountain biking at Swope is no joke. But i was also moving at a good pace and riding sections that have given me trouble in the past... which is nice.

After maybe an hour of single track i abandoned ship and headed back to the pavement and took the long way home, which included stopping for a coffee.

Sunday it was raining pretty good so i waited that out and then X and i headed out together for about an hour and a half of casual(ish) riding to Westport and back. Including a coffee stop. 

X exercises a ton and is currently training to do a marathon on roller skates (this event takes place June 20 on Madeline Island in Lake Superior) but she doesn't ride much anymore. Despite that lack of bicycle time she can still punch it when she needs to. Multiple times i had to dig deeper than desiredto keep up with her.

Saturday Ride...

Sunday Ride...

Group Ride.

Today is Thursday June 4 2026 and yesterday i did the Johnny's Ride.

It was very hard.

Ultimately i got dropped and my comments a few weeks ago about truly becoming one with the new road bike felt like a distant memory but there were a few positive takeaways from the night. i hung on for almost an hour despite skipping this ride the last two weeks and during that almost hour i spent a lot of time on the limit yet still game and focused.

Operating in that opaque, abstract, liminal space is exciting.

Also i felt like i perfectly executed getting dropped. The body spoke and i listened. i trusted in the force and eased off the throttle at what i perceived to be exactly the right time and from there i chased hard all the way.

i've been practicing getting dropped for a long time and it shows!

Did i mention that BK (One Star Bicycles) did the ride. Him and his bum finger peeled off about halfway thru the ride so tbd on his fitness level.

As i approached home i took some magic hour glamor shots of myself.

Upon arriving home the not so little man and myself hung outside for a bit and caught a few lightning bugs (no pics of that).

Great day.

Weekend Bike Rides... if it rains you get wet.

Today is Monday June 1 2026 and i rode my bicycle outdoors last Saturday and Sunday.

It was a rainy weekend - it was a single speed weekend - it was a pretty fu*cking great weekend.

Saturday - Left the house around10:15am for 2 hours, including a coffee stop.

Sunday - Left the house around 9:45am for about 2 hours and 45 minutes, including a coffee stop.

All told it was 62 miles of single speed riding. That bike deserves a cake. Thru thick and thin its always been there for me. It doesn't ask for much and it never complains. My other bikes breakdown, require attention, are sidelined for months... not the single speed. 

At the drop of a hat that bike is ready to rock and roll.

What a machine.

Pre ride on Saturday i watched live coverage of the Unbound Gravel race and found it extremely entertaining. It's amazing we can watch good coverage of an event like that from the comfort of our couch. What a world. Then i threw a rear fender on the bike, donned my rain jacket, put a cycling cap on beneath my helmet, and headed out. After maybe 30 minutes the rain died down, the jacket came off, the pace ramped up.

(Important point, it was warm. If this had been a cold rain i would have hid inside under a blanket.)

At the coffee shop i checked back in with the race and then headed home. Once home i checked in with the race again and upon seeing that the fine folks racing in and around Emporia, KS were on hour 7 of about 10 i no longer felt like such a bad a*s for riding my single speed for 2 hours in a light drizzle.

The ride window on Sunday was an early one so i was ready by 7am but Mother Nature had other plans. She put her foot down in the form of heavy storms. For the next two hours i basically sat in a comfy chair in my garage drinking coffee and becoming an expert weather man.

Then the rain cleared and i headed out, with a rear fender attached but no jacket and no hat.

36 miles and one coffee stop later i returned home, fully cooked. 

i kind of think i was flying. Steep hills were ridden. Long out of the saddle accelerations were plentiful. Seated climbs were confidently conquered. 

Fitness is coming. Leg strength is good. Lung strength needs some work.

The Little Sugar mountain bike race is a just over 4 months away and that's plenty of time to whip the lungs into shape... but that doesn't mean i'm going to actually do that.

i make the rules around here and i'll do what i want.

Because for me... the action is the juice.

Saturday Ride...

Sunday Ride...

Weekend Bike Rides... have you ever heard of the healing power of laughter?

Today is Tuesday May 26 2026 and i rode my bike outside twice this (long holiday) weekend.

i was pretty sick all week. Doing hard sleep deprived bike rides catches up with you, and then you get sick.

On Saturday i reluctantly attended a BBQ with old friends and by the end of that my reluctance, which was caused by the lingering effect of a nasty head cold, was replaced by a new lease on life. 

Maybe it was the change of scenery, maybe it was getting up and moving around, maybe it was the fresh air, maybe it was the joy of old friends getting together and the healing power of laughter, maybe it was the two hot dogs i ate... but whatever it was by the end of that BBQ i was cured.

So the next day (Sunday) i found a ride widow around 4pm and headed out on the road bike.

Despite hacking up phlegm every 20 minutes i pushed hard. i didn't want to... i had to. If you feel halfway decent then that road bike has one gear, the attack gear, and i felt halfway decent. By the time i got to the coffee shop i was feeling the bonk so i ordered a coke in addition to the espresso and on the ride back home i think i saw god. 

Holy cow it felt like i was flying!

This was one of those magical rides. Where, like a character bonding with a creature in those overstuffed Avatar movies, i became one with the bike.

Corny? Yes! 

Totally bad a*s? Yes!

Upon arriving home i did a lightning fast shower and dinner and then headed out on the town for a concert and late night drinks at my favorite dive bar. (Full disclosure i only know two dive bars)

When old friends are in from out of town you pony up.

(That reminds me of the Sound Pony, so correction, i know three dive bars)

The late night dive bar drinks were so good (2 for 1 Miller Lite's... you ever dance with the devil in the pale moon light?) that i left my car in Westport overnight so when i woke up at 6am the next day, Monday, Memorial Day, no work, i pedaled to get the car. 

That sounds terrible (another early morning bike ride after a late night out) but it was actually kind of awesome. Sure my body would be happier if i got more sleep and took life a little easier but sometimes you gotta get nuts.

Now you wanna get nuts?!? Come on! lets get nuts.

Sunday Ride...

Sunday Night...

Monday Morning go get the Car Ride...