Group Ride... on a Single Speed

Today is Thursday March 26 2026 and yesterday i did the Wednesday group ride.

It was pretty awesome.

My road bike situation is currently complicated so i went on the single speed. Not the ideal bike choice but i like to keep things interesting, plus it would be a good excuse to bail once the ride got to hard.

And the ride did get too hard and i did bail, but that was all part of the plan and i had a great time. Including the near vomiting.

The group was big, maybe 25, and i hung on for about 25 minutes. The single speed forces you to ride smarter and that was a nice experience. i didn't always execute, but it was fun trying to ride as smooth as possible. 

After getting dropped i turned off and stopped by the ice cream spot where X and the not so little man were getting a treat.

Then i got home and took the dog for a walk. She's a good girl.

Then this morning i was up bright and early for a casual morning spin on a 70 degree March morning.

i need to stop doing these night ride / morning ride back to back's. 

i'm getting too old for this sh*t.

48 Miles (Again!)

Today is Monday March 23 2026 and yesterday i rode 48 miles on my mountain bike.

It was totally awesome.

It was all pavement.

That's a little weird (considering the trails were good to go), but hey i make the rules around here.

i was a little tired from my ride the night before so that partially explains my avoidance of the single track. This weekend, just like last weekend, i did a hard(ish) ride Saturday evening followed by a long ride early Sunday morning. 

The Saturday ride was kind of magical. The sun was setting, the weather was warm, the legs were firing on all cylinders. I've been cautions since getting sick on Monday but i seem to have made a quick recovery so despite wanting to ride easy i felt so good that i couldn't help but hammer some sections. My strength surprised me.

i need to do a group ride asap to squelch these delusions of grandeur.

Back to yesterdays Sunday ride... i knew i had a big ride window to work with so i was up early to maximize it. i was on the road around 6:50 am and got home 11:15.

First i headed to the loose park area to retrieve the saddle bag i left on the curb the night before as i was fiddling with my saddle position. Then i headed to the East Bottoms to do the full Rocky route. Then i stopped at my new favorite coffee spot, Cafe Ca Phe in Columbus Park. Then i headed towards home but decided to get crazy and tack on a loop of the Old Leawood North bike route.

For the Old Leawood North loop i timed myself and pushed myself and put up a 39:07. Not great but by this point i already had about 3.5 hours in my legs, and they wanted to cramp. But they didn't.

Then i got home, chugged a ton of coconut water, and got some Whataburger.

2026 is shaping up to be a great bike year.

Honestly the biggest challenge may be learning how to not let my promising cycling fitness distract me from what's most important, and that's being a husband and father and a contributing member of our family.

Will i cause a mini fracture within my family unit as i purse my goal of being an amazing mediocre local cyclist?

Tune in to find out!

48 Miles on my (Almost) 46th Birthday

Today is Tuesday March 17 2026 and last Saturday i rode 48 miles on my Mountain bike. 

It was great.

Then immediately after finishing that ride X and i went out to celebrate my birthday then Sunday i got up early to beat the cold front and did about 2 hours on my single speed. In hindsight that single speed ride was not a wise move because on Monday (my birthday) i woke up with a wicked cold. 

I tried to do too much.

But you only live once!

Glass half full... due to this cold i'm now getting the forced rest i need after back to back hard days on my bicycle.

Winning!

The Saturday ride was amazing. The single-track was too wet but the roads were perfect. And so was the weather. Shorts, short sleeves, no gloves. Yeah baby.

i even rode by a parade.

What a day!

Big Monday Ride

Today is Tuesday March 10 2026 and yesterday i took the day off work and did a big bike ride.

It was hot and windy and awesome and i was completely spent by the time i got home.

I had done about 2 hours on Saturday and then a hard hour on Sunday on the single speed so this being my third ride in a row, after two pretty hard days, i intended to start slow. But i had a tail wind to start, plus it was sunny and warm and for the first time in a while it felt like winter was over... so i punched it from the get go. 

Which explains why my legs were shaky from exhausting half way thru.

Thankfully i brought a lot of food because i ate it all.

Sweet Saturday Ride

Today is Monday March 2 2026 and last Saturday i did a sweet Saturday ride on my Mountain Bike.

From my house i rode due east until i hit the Blue River trails. From there i headed South as far as South goes, or at least as far as the single-track goes, which to my knowledge is 139th st.

i haven't been that far south in a while and there appear to be some new trails since my last visit. After reaching 139th st i headed West and then Southco and took the paved roads back home.

This was a big ride and i was spent by the time i got home. i should have brought more food. 

The weather was amazing and the single-track was just about perfect.

Trying to ride a lot

Today is Friday February 20 2026 and i have been riding my bike lately.

i'm not riding as consistently as i'd like but compared to winters past i'm basically Lance fricking Armstrong right now.

The weather has been pretty sweet, it's the dead of winter and i've done multiple rides in shorts!

Registration for the Little Sugar MTB race opens up soon, i think i'll sign up. 

Besides that i'm not really motivated to race. I'm sure that will change but i think i can get faster by just focusing on riding a lot. And if that works out and i do get faster then the thought of racing becomes more appealing. Because racing is a lot of work, you have to register, pack up a bunch of gear, get the bike in order, drive someplace, do the race, drive home. 

At the moment i'm thrilled at the idea of simply pedaling to and from my house and doing whatever kind of ride i want. And doing that a lot.

We'll see how it al pans out.

Sunday Ride

Today is Monday February 2 2026 and yesterday i did a nice outdoor bike ride.

It was cold, but not too cold. 

I guess dressing appropriately makes all the difference in the world because a few years ago i had convinced myself i was no longer a cold weather rider but now here i am getting excited about riding outdoors when the temps are below freezing.

Credit to the new cycling jeans, proper shoes, down mittens, and neck gaiters. Plus the amazing Chrome cycling jacket i've had for ever. It's just a shell but when paired with a few warmer layers underneath its the ultimate winter jacket. It has lots of zipper vents, options reflective spots, easy to grab zipper, huge back storage pocket. It's the best.

Yesterdays ride was great, i went where the road lead me including my new favorite spot which is the big rock bluff in Roanoke Park.

The moon was full, or almost full.

2026 is off to a good start.