Epic.

June 18th, 2010 · 1 Comment

Yesterday, I set out on a ride towards a suburb south of Kansas City proper. I google mapped a few reasonable routes, had a shot of espresso and began my journey. It seemed to be a mild day for June in the midwest, temperature was around 78. Feeling adventurous, I decided to check out the Indian Creek Bike Trail instead of taking the more conventional city route I usually take out south.

indian creek bike trail.

Silly me. The torriental rain and thunderstormy weather as of late, escaped my memory, the trails were a wreck! I saw multiple dead fishies, rock embankments thrown ascrew over the path, mud, and puddles everywhere. It was quite a challegene to nagivate through all the rough terrian! It made me really intrigued about cyclocross.

As I began daydreaming about getting dirty at next season’s races, I realized I had missed my turn that connects the Indian Creek Trail to the Tomahawk Bike Trail. However, the trails do not connect! Luckily, I was able to find a helpful gentleman to direct me in the correct way.

[For all you KC bikers, if you want to take Indian Creek Bike Trail to the Tomahawk, as you approach State Line Rd take a right onto the grass and cross the bridge to your left. The Trail is under the bridge to the left.]

I finally arrived at my meeting, early, but not as early as I planned. I expected to show up sweaty, but not muddy!

muddy legs.

After the brief meeting, I went outside to discover my front tire was flat. The hand pump I travel with is not the best. I attempted to fix my flat, but couldn’t get the pressure high enough to ride on. I knew there was a Bike Source southwest of my location. Setting out on foot, with my bike in tow, I estimated this trek would take me 45 minutes. I would be on my way to take my first Chemistry exam of the summer in no time.

dirty bike.

Welp. An estimated 3.9 miles and little over an hour later, I finally reached Bike Source. Luckily my friend Zeke works there! He got me set with a new tube and hand pump [Blackburn AirStick] in no time! As I mounted my steel steed and headed north 4 miles to my school, I noticed the thunderheads rolling in. When I got to my exam, the skys opened up and began to pour!

Luckily, these scatter thunderstorms had calmed down by the time I headed back to my turf. The ride back was wet and refreshing. It sprinkled on me slightly, which helped clean my legs up a bit. Plus it didn’t hurt that there were rainbows hovering over. Despite all the snags in this ride, it was actually a bit of stress reliever. I escaped work and school for a few hours while roaming and acquiring freckles! Can’t wait for my next epic ride.