Cruisin' the Blue Moose w/ Lawn Chair Larry & Speed Racer

Blue Moose ride again, sort of. We bypassed the northern run into KCK. I was going to do that part, not that I'm fast, but I can generally climb any hill as long as there's not a time limit on it. But it does mean going a bit into the 'hood, and it's dark when we set out, and I was told there's some adventurous terrain in terms of badly maintained road on the descent. Flying downhill on badly maintained and unfamiliar roads in the dark with barely adequate headlights, meh, I'll pass.

Roj showed up, and we fell in with Lawn Chair Larry, the recumbent guy I rode with last week. I forgot my gloves at first and went back for them, and Roger and Larry were the only people who held up for me, so that kind of settled it.



We actually added a fourth when we found a rider with a flat tire in Mission Hills. He kept saying, 'I don't want to hold you guys up.'



I said, 'A lunatic on a BMX, a fat guy in a Hawaiian shirt, and an old guy on a recumbent who refuses to be in a hurry or follow a set route. Who are you holding up?'

And really, this is the reason to ride in a group if you're going to ride in the dark. And if you're riding past November 1, after work, you're riding in the dark. Headlights and taillights are great, but you want at least a riding buddy for night runs because it's someone to bear witness and render aid.

The fourth guy was still losing pressure even with his new tube, and ended up bailing out and taking a shortcut back to the Moose, so there was never any question we'd catch up to the peloton. Not that we really would, best case scenario, our shortcut allows us to see them a second time as they once again pass us like we were standing still.



Even Lawn Chair Larry bailed when we got to 79th and me and Roger finished the ride together, then went into the Moose for some beer and fried pickles. Well, I had fried pickles, Roger saw some bullshit thing about how pickles give you stomach cancer, so he wouldn't eat any.



So I have freelance work this weekend but no daughters. Anyone up for a 20-30 mile ride? I'd be game for a hybrid Blue Moose/Brewery Ride, take the whole Blue Moose all the way into KCK and take Lamar down to Town Center to Mission Road, etc... A daylight run on Saturday, maybe start in the late morning, supposed to be a high of 55º, only a 20% chance of rain.