Good week so far

This week is the week of the Wichita River Festival. I take advantage of that by cycling down along the river and stopping downtown to listen to the live band and get me some lunch. Monday I had a 1/2 lb. Brat for lunch while listening to jazz.

Then yesterday I slept in, got a few things done at home and then helped some really good friends prepare to move in the afternoon. Then in the evening I played softball for the opening games of the Mens Christian Softball league for Maranatha Worship Center. We lost the first game by one point and finished the second game early because we obtained a 10 point lead of 15-5.

There is a good side to everything

Like I mentioned yesterday I am laid off for at least 6 weeks, possibly even more. But I find a good side to everything and believe it or not I found a good side to being laid off. Usually when I go more then two days without riding I go into withdrawal. If it has been raining and a nice day comes about I am very tempted to "get sick" so I can go for a ride instead of working. Of course I have a family to support so I never actually call in sick for that reason but I think about it a lot.

Today was a very nice day and I did not have to face that temptation. I was able to sleep in a little bit, get a few things done and left on the bike about noon. I rode from the south end of town where I live out to Ridge road and then up to Sedgwick County Park. There I stopped and chatted to an elderly gentleman feeding the squirrel's and then stopped at the store for a snack and a drink. I then rode on through the park and hooked up to the river bike path and rode home on it.

Surprisingly with all the rain we have had lately none of the path was underwater too much too ride. I expected to have to detour and take the roads. I was able to ride from the north end at 21st all the way to the John Mack Bridge on Broadway where I turned off and went home.

Hope to do lots of pedaling

I just found out last week that I have the next 6 weeks off of work, possibly even more. Not that I want that much time off but I don't have much choice. With that in mind once I catch up on a few things and the rain lets up I hope to get some bicycle riding in.

Good day for a bike ride.

Well, my training with the K9 team got canceled this morning so instead of some more practice on my one wheeled adventure I went for a real bicycle ride. I got out my fixed gear and rode 35 miles today. In spite of a good stiff easterly breeze I still enjoyed myself.

I actually saw two other riders out on fixed gears today. One of them had been converted to a fixed gear and the other was a Mercier. I was pretty impressed to see them because up to this point I had only saw one other person in Wichita on a fixed gear.

After riding most of my normal 25 mile loop I tooled around downtown Wichita for a while before I came home. There was a lot of other people downtown riding around just enjoying the weather.

Nice day out- who needs two wheels?

Today started out rather cold this morning. I had thought of going for a ride this morning but chickened out when I felt how cold it was with the wind. But then I couldn't go in the afternoon because the wife had to go several places and I had to watch the two younger kids. So I still took advantage of the nice warmer afternoon weather by taking the kids out in the backyard and while they rode their bikes I practiced on my unicycle.


I felt pretty good after today and I now feel like I may be good at riding it someday if I continue to practice. I had considered just giving up because I couldn't go for more then a few feet at a time the first week. But today I was riding all the way from my back garage to my gate and that is about 50 feet. Tomorrow morning I have to go to the park for the K9 search team training so I will probably take it with me as I usually have some spare time there.

Excellent riding conditions

It is only April but I must say that yesterday was one of the best bike riding days this year. The Kansas wind was only a breeze and the high temperature was 72. I took my fixed gear Cannondale Capo out and rode 43 miles which is just a load of fun without the typical Kansas wind to dread. After 43 miles I was tired but not so tired I couldn't go practice with the softball team. It is much windier today so I believe I will skip the bike riding and maybe practice the unicycle some more.

Back to two wheels for now.

A unicycle comes with a very thin crank arm. While trying to learn to ride it I began to bend the crank arm which made the pedal crooked. The more it bent the more difficult it became to ride. I have another set ordered from the local bike shop but it will probably take at least a week to get them.