Need To Park Your Bike?

I found this cool Google Maps tool that tells you where to find bike parking in Kansas City. Pretty detailed information.

Omaha Getting Some Love (and Kansas City too)

This is a good story from the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy that mentions Kansas City and Omaha both as America's Next Generation of Trail Cities.

Rail Trails and Urban Renewal

The Rust Belt from Rails-to-Trails Conservancy on Vimeo.

This is a nice little documentary on how Cleveland is using rail trails to serve as the backbone of urban renewal in certain areas. Very cool.

On Getting Faster

I've taken up running, and even though I'm still relatively new at it I have established a habit of running at least three times a week.

Today on the road bike I noticed a huge difference not only in speed, but in my ability to maintain a fast pace for an extended period of time. Fast for me is 20 miles an hour on flat ground. Not blistering by any means, but fast enough that I think I can begin to entertain riding a regular group ride soon.

I also think riding my heavy bike path bike, a Specialized Sirrus, has made me faster and increased my endurance.

I have come to enjoy the feedback that you get from regular exercise. I can see improvements from week-to-week with my running and riding that you just don't see when you lack that rhythm.

Feels good.

Back On The Roads

I have been riding my road bike a lot lately. I love having more than one bike, but I am a bit of a streaker when it comes to riding the same bike and giving the other one (someday that will read others) a rest.

I love my road bike. It's a pretty much stock entry-level Specialized Allez save for Mavic wheels and nice plush handlebar tape. I love the thing. It accelerates like a sports car and after riding my heavy Specialized Sirrus, it seams feather light. It's mostly comfortable, too.

I have been riding the Sirrus on bike paths for so long that I'm having to get used to riding on the road all over again. It freaks me out to have cars pass me from behind more than perhaps it should. I've been going out in the mornings to ride before the traffic gets too thick and mixing in busier roads with almost careless neighborhood streets. Each day I find myself wanting to do a little more on the busier roads.

Now, if I could just up enough nerve to tackle more hills.

Didn't Mind The Hills Today

Two lessons I learned all on my own: Always start riding into the wind and always start riding upstream.

I was able to get away today for a longish bike ride. Since I'm spending the summer at home with the kids, I just can't get away for these rides, which were my staple last summer.

I had two hours or so, and so I went out and did a quick and dirty 20-miler on mixed trail and road surfaces on my road bike. I wanted to ride up on a bike path that follows a creek and tackle a few hills without having to contend with traffic.

I hate hills. This is mostly because I'm a clydesdale, or to be honest I'm fat. It takes a lot of effort to get my ass up those hills. And since I'm being honest, let me say that they freak me out. It's not so much that I'm worried that the effort will make me pass out from burning through too much sugar (I'm diabetic) or the cardiovascular effort, but that's part of it.

No, I'm still getting used to clipless pedals. I worry that I'm going to end up going so slow I'll fall over before I can clip out. This actually happened to me once when foot traffic caused me to come to a stop on a hill on the bike path. It didn't hurt. It was more like sitting down hard, but still, I don't care to repeat the experience.

Anyway, I've learned two things about riding. The first is that you should always start out in the direction of the wind. Of course the weather always seems to change when I get to my turn-around point and I end up doing the whole ride into the teeth of a gale, but it's a good strategy nonetheless.

The other thing I've learned is to head upstream on these bike trails. Upstream means uphill, and that means you can practically coast all the way home. That's an exaggeration, but you can take it easy on the way back.

In any case, this particular trail veers off the stream for a bit at what is usually my turnaround point, which is to say eight to 12 miles from where I start. I engineered that part of the ride to hit one of these massive hills, which begins with a few rollers that require a short burst of effort. Then there's one massive hill to contend with, which I got through with no issues.

These hills are more severe than anything one encounters on the roads around here. I don't know the grade, but they are steep.

I didn't mind the hills today. Granted, it was 75 and low humidity, so there's not much that can ruin a day like that, but still...

Testing Out A New (Old) Seat

I am testing out my Brooks B17 Saddle on my road bike. I noticed that in the grand scheme of things, the B17 is not a whole lot heavier than the saddle that I had on the bike in the first place. Maybe 60 grams.

I would rather be comfortable than shave a few tenths of a second off my average mile. I'm not the fastest rider anyway, and until I upgrade the components on my Specialized Allez, it's a bit on the heavy side anyway. Heck, the crankset looks like it was made out of iron (Shimano 2300). I'll worry about weight when I upgrade to anything that starts with SRAM.

The change was made easier for a couple of reasons. First, I don't have time to ride the excellent bike paths in our area because they are not close to the house and it takes a bit of riding or a car trip to get to the closest trailhead. My other bike is that workhorse of bike paths and rail trails everywhere, the Specialized Sirrus. It needs a new tire, which means replacing both because the stock tires are shit. I can't justify spending the money right now for decent Continentals.

After a few test rides I think I have the seat dialed in. The first ride the seat was too high and pitched too far back. I felt like I was falling off. The second ride resulted in my legs going numb because I overcompensated by pitching the seat too far forward.

Not it's just right. Whatever the bike, that Brooks saddle makes it the most comfortable ride in town.