Sunday Ride 9-27-09 (Melly’s Birthday!)

I’d like to update these posts as it happens or the next day, but as of now, I need to work a “real” job, which tends to get in the way of updating the blog. I’d love to turn Adventure Monkey into a thriving business selling artwork, books, clothing and hosting photography workshops. Man, that would be fun. Feel free to give me some advice on that. Some of you know, I had a photography studio and it worked out quite well, except for running out of money. I learned quite a lot from that experience for sure. Outsourcing is good and financial planning is a must.

Sunday was my daughter Melissa’s 10th birthday so I didn’t do the Bike MS ride this year. It also meant a shorter ride that morning. I had in mind to ride a loop around Americus, KS, but once I got out in the open, the wind was blowing pretty hard and that would have made a tough ride back home, so I headed southwest into the Flint Hills and low maintenance roads. I love riding the low maintenance roads in the Flint Hills, so this was a good thing.

The wind picked up and was gusty. It kept me to 8 mph in a lot of parts and I had to pedal down the hills to keep going. That’s Kansas winds for you. Once I turned and headed home with the wind at my back, I had quite an exhilarating ride. I was going 25-35 mph down the hills of bumpy low maintenance roads and taking corners pretty fast too. Kudos to the new Bontrager Rebel X tires for cornering ability.

I was worried about getting back in time and pushed pretty hard to get home. I (and the camera) caught some air on some of the jumps in the road. I made great time getting out of the hills and then I was stopped by a train. I took a picture for lack of anything else to do.

 As you can see, I made it in time and the ride was a great one!

 Feed Your Monkey!

–EB

This means a great ride lies ahead