Then Again, Maybe Not

I'd been toying with the idea of riding to the River Market from home next Saturday. My brother, who I have to admit is way smarter than me, asked me, 'Why do you want to spend a whole day on the bike this early in the season?'

He was Voice of Experiencing about overdoing it, and I didn't seem to be hearing him.

'Try 25 miles,' he said. That's what I aimed to do today. I did a bit more than that, though not on purpose.

I headed down Merriam Lane to check out these hills the Animals take on the Blue Moose ride that I always skip, cutting across Roland Park to be passed by these freaks coming up Lamar despite my shortcut.

I couldn't remember what hill they went up, but I remembered they went down 14th Street which becomes Roe Lane when it gets back into Johnson County. I climbed 18th to Steele and came down 14th.



14th Street will be a great little downhill run if anyone ever gets a notion to pave it. I hit 38.1 mph going down it (according to the max speed on my puter), while trying to duck the small chuck holes. I didn't have to dodge the big ones, because the bigger holes on this road have been filled by SUVs that fell in, and I was able to ride over their roofs as the people trapped inside screamed for help.

If I had it to do over, I'd climb up 14th and take the much, much smoother, but still insanely steep 18th street back down.

My bike has an Ultimate Granny Gear but the derailleur doesn't like to put my front sprocket to the lowest front gear. The result is my 21 speed hybrid normally functions as a 14 speed, and using 8th as 'low' is normally close enough for jazz. I climbed the 12th Street Bridge in November in 8th, and I've often thought if I ever get that Silvio I'll only put to sprockets up front.



Climbing 18th Street, I kept trying to shift all the way down to UGG, but the chain wasn't getting there. I was cussing at it for awhile and eventually, maybe two thirds of the way to the top, I had to stop and move the chain by hand. This gear is so low, when I started to finish the climb, I popped a wheelie and almost went over backward.

I stopped to take a picture of this banner, which I designed. Looking at it, I think the background camouflages the message in a way it didn't on my computer monitor.



Coming up Lamar, I pondered where to get back across I-35 and couldn't think of a good place. 75th Street, 87th Street, these aren't bicycle friendly roads. 95th Street, forget about it. Then I thought, 127th goes over I-35 and is bereft of traffic on a Sunday. I thought 123rd became 127th so I cut over there, and found that rumors of my genius are greatly exaggerated.

I ended up on 119th, a street I would never normally ride on (four busy lanes and a 45mph speed limit, it's about as inviting as an Interstate). Wound around to College Blvd, which would be as bad on a weekday but isn't heavily trafficked on a Sunday afternoon. To Pflumn which feeds into Santa Fe Trail and all those lovely, deserted frontage roads.

Right at 33 miles, averaged 11.2mph, topped out at 38.1mph, gone just under 3 hours. I feel fine unless I have to stand up or sit down, but would I want to go do it again today? Nope. Not gonna try that River Market run next Saturday, I need to build up to that. My Brother was right.