LIFE BIKING

I had gained a bike rider co-worker friend.  I was not yet up to riding with him, but we chatted about bike stories.  He told me some of his favorite stories.  Number two favorite story was when he swallowed the biggest insect in the world while he was riding, and it got stuck in his throat.  He had to stop his bike and gag for a while to get the bug to go down the throat hatch.  Number one story was the mud ride.  He had the click-in shoes and pedals.  He…

RED HOT OUTRAGE!  FLAMING HATRED!  DEATH THOUGHTS to those park police.  I am stunned.  I am a thin and beautiful person in my mind. Those park police laughed at me falling off my bike.  I had blood running down my leg.  They laughed. Maybe they laughed at the thought I couldn't get out of the park on the long side.  Maybe they laughed because a curvy woman fell off her bike.  Good GAD! I probably peddled home at nearly 50 mph in my rage.  I thought about how I could…

There I was at  Shawnee Mission Lake luxuriating in the beauty, the speed and the accomplishment of getting here.  I rested.  I continued around the lake and started up the hill on the other side of the lake.   Oh my.  This is awful.  This little hill just keeps on going, up and up and up.  This was in the time before communication other than a phone at home attached to a wall plug in. I was trapped in the park.  I peddled.  I got off and walked.  I peddled.…

I was living in Johnson County, Kansas in the city of Lenexa.  This was the early 90's.  My golf obsession had ended and my body was getting thicker, maybe wider would be a better term. Something about a bike caught my attention.  Something about a weight loss exercise program using a bike!  I need a thinner body.  The answer just  might  be a bike! I have stored in my garage, a stylish three speed English bike from my college days, a mere thirty year old or so bike.  Three speed…

The first and biggest bike ride is RAGBRAI! RAGBRAI, The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, is an annual seven-day bicycle ride across the state.  RAGBRAI is the oldest, largest and longest bicycle touring event in the world. In the beginning, no one imagined that RAGBRAI would become the Iowa tradition it is now.  We at The Des Moines Register thank all the riders who have joined us over the years.  We especially wish to thank the thousands and thousands of volunteers in the towns we’ve visited along the way for their…

Kansas City has a huge bike charity event called the MS 150. MS 150 stands for "ride a 150 miles over a September weekend and raise money for Muscular Dystrophy".  The people who volunteer for this event are legion wide.  There are practice bike rides throughout the summer to help you get prepared to ride the MS 150.   Often times the rides have their own T-shirts so you start collecting some mighty fine T shirts to show the miles you have ridden. There are MS 150 rides in different…