Rode
west from Vassar tonight past the 75 Hwy Bridge and back. Very nice
ride. I believe we were almost to Morril road when we turned around. Just over 9 miles for the evening. Saw some interesting things on the ride. My Sweetie spotted what she refers to as a Badger. I spotted a watermelon. My knees gave me notice that I have been using them more recently through their pain nerves. So it was me this time that was slowing down the wagon. We gave many on 75 HWY the satisfaction of actually seeing someone using the bridge built across it. Many times I have driven under that bridge and said nobody uses the darn thing! There are fancy yellow poles blocking motorized vehicles from crossing the bridge. So being the corny dork that I am, I have to recommend they paint them with a warning.. Don't eat yellow poles!!!!! I'm Out!
S~~
You'll have to look real hard... You'll see I was not kidding when I said I saw a Watermelon! S~~
So happy to see green healthy crops this year after the horrible drought of 2012.
I don't care who you are. Dat's purdy right there.
Excited to finally get to see the world from ON this bridge, since sweetie drives under it twice a day on his commute.
And this is why we are glad there is a trail bridge over Hwy 75. Lots of big semis at 65 mph.
It does not show in the picture, but from this spot, you can see both the Scranton elevator AND the Burlingame elevator and water tower, probably a distance of at least 20 miles. Pretty cool.
And there's that little Honda Fit that we cram both of those mountain bikes into. Where there's a will, there's a way.
VIDEO: 2013-07-16 Flint Hills Nature Trail -- Vassar west over Hwy 75 bridge to Morril Road
"When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes
monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle
and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the
ride you are taking."
We rode from Vassar to just east of K-68 that goes south to Quenemo. This was 6.5 miles which was going to put us over the farthest distance we have ridden so far by the time we got back. We encountered a quite long snake about 1/3 of the way into the trip and that put my Sweetie in a foul mood as she does not like amphibians that slither. Proud of her for pushing through it! She had to sit on the rock bench about halfway back and think about finishing, but the courage eventually flowed out and we moved on :) .
~~S
Not gonna lie. I did not enjoy this ride. First, there was that
frigging snake. Nope, nope. Not a fan. Secondly, not only was this
our longest distance to ride to date, but physically the route kicked my
a**. I simply was not prepared for the almost constant uphill grade
the entire way back. Had to walk part of it as I just couldn't keep it
going. Finally climbed back on the bike at the K-268 underpass, and the
two or whatever miles from that point back into Vassar was absolutely an
exercise in endurance torture. I was almost in tears by the time we
got back to the car. Just keep pedaling. It's all I could keep telling
myself.
~~H
Nice seating area on the trail in Vassar
We've driven on the bridge thousands of times. This is the first time we've seen it from this vantage point.
I'm really just not into crap like this.
** Note Believe this is a speckled kingsnake S~~
Cool rock wall......
..... complete with some retro carvings. 1982.
Video: Who knew you could ride to Hell and back? :D
We went and rode the Landon Nature Trail in Topeka today. Rode from 53rd street out to 89th and Paulen Rd and back to 53rd, 12.76 Miles in all. Didn't see any snakes, got harassed and bitten by a ruthless horsefly, had a bit of scare when there was a very strong aroma of Pepe Le Pew! All in all we very much enjoyed the well maintained trail.
~~ S
Encountered 5 other cyclists on the trail
~~ H
Here are some pictures from our ride.
Although it was 93 degrees and very humid today, the ride was very comfortable with 98% of the route we rode being completely tree covered.
A surface like this could really spoil a cyclist. :)
One of the very few spots on our route that was not tree-lined. A Kansas cornfield in July.
Back in Allen again tonight, so decided to ride west and try to make it to Bushong. As it was 7:20 pm when we set out from Allen, we were still one mile east of Bushong when we decided if we wanted to get back to Allen before it was pitch black, we'd better turn around and makes tracks the way we had come. Saw a turtle and a turkey and the ever present bunnies on this ride.
~~H
This is a literal "dirt road."
The trail had more gravel on it than this road!
One of two gates we had to open to go through.
You can probably be assured if you have to open a gate, you would be wise to then look out for cattle as you ride until you get to the point that you have to exit a second gate.
Flint Hills Nature Trail between Allen and Bushong
Our turnaround point tonight: Road 335
A moss covered creek
Always glad to find benches on any trail. This one had 5 in the span that we rode. Kudos to this Eagle Scout.
More branch-clearing.
A beaver's handiwork?
Made it back before we lost all the light!
But the moon was already out!
VIDEO: 2013-07-12 Flint Hills Nature Trail -- Allen to Rd 335(Just East of Bushong)
Murphy's law states that the day you purchase the emergency bike tire
kit online that will arrive in three days. You will get a flat tire
while riding.
~~S
Tonight we rode out west of town again. Made it to Docking where we had to stop because his back tire went flat. Big thanks to the teenage son for coming and picking
us up. We could have walked the five miles back into town pushing the
bikes but nice to not have to. Update: Two full size mountain bikes and
THREE people fit in that Honda Fit. Hot diggity.
~~H
There's the culprit..... a big 'ol thorn.
And there's the slice in the inner tube. That'll do it.
And there's how two mountain bikes AND three people squeeze into a Honda Fit. And there's the handsome teenage son who was the white knight for the evening.
