Hillcrest broadcast tower - 15 miles

Not surprisingly, hillcrest is a hill :-)  Not a huge one, maybe 10 minutes of climbing or so from Oldham, coming off of Gregory.  Not much shoulder, but also not much traffic.  It goes by a cemetery on the way up.  The top of that hill isn't quite the top, as it goes back down and back up.  I turn on E 84th Terrace which goes into an apartment complex called Stonehaven South.  At the end of the apartments there is a dirt road to a broadcast tower.

The first time I rode this, the gate to the dirt road was open.  Its a short road, mostly downhill, to the tower.  There was a KSHB truck there, so I guess they use the tower.  But today the gate was closed.  I guess if you have an off-road bike and want to try this short section, you just have to get lucky that someone is at the tower and left the gate open.  But its nothing worth worrying about anyway, its less than a mile of dirt road.

Not only was the gate closed today, but I got a flat tire on the way, fixed it, then got another flat on the way home.  Turns out my rubber rim liner was shot and the valves on my tubes were getting punctured by the rim. Luckily my wonderful fiance' came and rescued me since I was out of spare tubes.  So not a good ride today.  But it could've been worse if I didn't have my phone.  It was a good reminder to always bring a cell phone on rides.


View Bike - Hillcrest tower - 15 miles in a larger map

September 2010 Colorado Trip (not South KC)

Sorry, not so helpful for the south Kansas city routes, but I wanted to post about the bike trip that my friends Kent and Khari and I took in Keystone, CO.  Keystone is at about 9000 feet and we're only at about 900 in Kansas City, so I was pretty worried about the altitude.  Luckily, I had a few days at my parents' house in Larkspur at 7000 feet to acclimate.  Turned out we were all about the same conditioning after factoring in the altitude, so it didn't really matter.

Day -1 (2 days before Khari arrived)
Did a fire road about a mile from my parents' house for about 30 minutes up and 10 minutes down.  Adding time to get there, I rode about an hour total

Day 0 (1 day before Khari arrived)
Kent and I met near Morrison, CO for the Lair of the Bear park loop.  Lots of tough parts, including the one in the pic, where we had to get off.  Great weather and scenery.

Day 1
Khari arrived and the 3 of us did trails around the base of Keystone, up to aqueduct trail and some clear cut regions.  About 2 hours.

Day 2
This was the big day.  Did the Westridge Loop trail, which was about 30 miles total from our house.  Started with lots of gradual climbing to 10,500 feet, then steeper stuff up to about 11,000.  Then single track downhill most of the rest of the way home.  Took us 5 hours total.

Day 3
Khari and I rode from the west end of the ski area to the east side and back, about 11 miles.  Then I continued on the very nice paved Lake Dillon trail to the Lake Dillon dam and back, another 9.  32 degrees when we started, about 50 when I got home.

Trolley Track Trail to Blue River Rd - 12 miles

Legs were very tired from the ride in the wind.  So I was glad to even ride for an hour today.  Decided to just take Grand to the Trolley Track Trail, then take that to the end.  Then I did a tiny loop on Blue River Rd not shown on map.  Just took 85th to Blue River Rd and took that to Prospect, then back.  Wrist is kinda sore today, so I think I'll take today and tomorrow off.  Supposed to rain anyway.


View Bike - TTT to Blue River Rd in a larger map

Brookside to Longview Lake - 28 miles

I was pretty excited that I've worked up to being able to ride to the lake from home.  It actually isn't that far just to get to the dam, which is fun to ride across and a nice view.

What I didn't count on was that today there was a wind advisory with "a south wind around 29 mph, with gusts as high as 41 mph. "  I may have underestimated how hard it is to ride in this kind of wind, or maybe I was just tired from the previous three days riding, but my legs were exhausted!  And I only brought two small water bottles, which it became clear in the first half hour weren't going to be enough.  So I kept my eyes open for a park with a water fountain and found one at James A Reed park on James A Reed Rd.

Another challenge of the ride was that 87th has a section that is closed just east of 71.  I thought it would be fine to take my bike on there, especially during a holiday.  Didn't realize the asphalt was actually gone and it was dirt for 100 yards or so.  I had my mountain bike, so not that big of a deal, but with the tires pumped up full and all the tractor tire grooves, it was really bumpy.  Took it really slow.

Looking forward to trying this ride again when it isn't as windy or hot (91 degrees today, but cooler with the wind)



View To Longview Lake - 28 miles in a larger map

Indian Creek Trail to Tomahawk Creek Trail to 135th & Nall - 27 miles

Yesterday I did this ride on my mountain bike.  Its a fairly long one for me right now, took 2 hours 20 minutes or so.  And it was fairly windy, so I was tired.

Again, find it difficult to navigate the trail.  There is a split at Tomahawk South Park and I got on the wrong branch that went to Mission the first time.  Wish they would put more signs up.  But then again, the trail is great so I'm not complaining.  LOTS more people, and their dogs, on the Tomahawk Creek part.  Maybe its just because it was a nice Saturday morning, but I've ridden on the Indian Creek parts on weekends and not encountered as many people.

Google Maps had Nall listed as a bike path so I wanted to try that.  When I got there, all I found was more like an asphalt sidewalk.  But that was still okay for a while.  Then I got on the road for a while and decided to just turn around at 135th.

P.S. Not sure how to control what part of the map Google shows when I embed it.  This one seems to be zoomed way in so that none of the trail part is visible.

View Tomahawk Creek Trail to 135th/ Nall - 27 mile in a larger map

Brookside to Blue River to 95th loop - 14 miles

Okay, this ride doesn't have a park as its end point.  But it does skirt the edge of Swope park.  That's how I discovered a while ago that they have a nice half pipe skate ramp at the Meyer and Swope Pkwy entrance.  I don't actually go in the park, just around the border.

After that, its Blue River to 95th.  Construction on 95th by Blue River is complete!  So there is a shoulder going in that direction again.  Then onto Troost to 85th.  At that point I get on the Trolley Track Trail just to Main Street, then get on Grand to Rockhill to get home.  Nice loop that takes around an hour.  This is what I did on Saturday.


View Bike - gregory/blue rvr/95th/troost/trail loop - 14 miles in a larger map

Brookside to North Terrace Park / Cliff Dr.

I wasn't really intending to use parks as destinations, but it seems to be working out well.  Today I discovered North Terrace Park, and more specifically Cliff Drive.  Its a nice road that winds through the park, has nice shade and some nice views.  And even better, its closed to cars from Friday at 2pm until Monday at 8am.  So since I went this afternoon, I got a nice car-free ride through the park.  Saw that they also have some disc golf there, and a few ponds with geese.  Nice place.

I made a little loop out of it by coming back on Gladstone Blvd to Belmont.  But I definitely would pick a different East/West road than Independence Road next time.  Not sure why Google has that marked as a bike route.  That may have even been where I picked up the large staple in my tire that gave me a flat that I had to change at 20th and Vine.

Only 2 weeks until our mountain bike ride in Keystone, CO, so hoping to get a lot of riding in this weekend.


View Bike - Paseo/Cliff Dr/Gladstone Dr - 23 miles in a larger map