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A.k.a. Slippery When Wet

CC Attribution: Bikes Are Slippery When Wet by Jim Carson

I was looking over my bike last night in preparation for the ride and saw that my bike computer read 11:08 already. I had been dealing with a problem at work (I'm the primary on call for my security group) and I must have lost track of time. So much for arriving at 11:15, or 11:30 for that matter, without hammering it.

This was the first time I've really had my Blackburn Flea out on truly dark stretches of road before. I must say that for a relatively wimpy 40 lumens, the strobe mode is certainly eye-catching and illuminated reflective signs very far away.

When I got to Merriam Marketplace, it was only 11:03. Then I realized that I was looking at my odometer earlier, which I intend to reset monthly, but often forget.

A few minutes later, "Wildcat" Al showed up.


And then Badger and his wife... This is one of the color schemes offered on the 2009 Trek 2.3 WSD. I like it. A LOT. And it comes close to matching Badger's Sea-foam-green Rivendell Atlantis.


Drew and his friends showed up via Turkey Creek Trail.


Lots of mingling was going on by 11:40 or so.








Mark Rainey's Trucker. This is how his kick-stand works.


And you also have to love the headset bottle opener.


Warren, (who's been podcasting Bicycle Commuting In The News at LimitedWarrenT.com) was adamant that I called this the Un-Lenexa Midnight Ride yet still wore his Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride shirt? Iiiiiiiinteresting :)


Eric is a relatively new bike commuter who's heeding my advice to stick to a mountain bike on this ride. He recently scored a nice Technium on Craigslist. Like Jason and I, Eric does InfoSec work. I know of one other infosec bicycle commuter in town, too, but he doesn't have a website.


At Midnight, I gave a little talk. The typical "Two abreast. We stay together and re-group. Try not to break too many traffic laws. I hope you got lights and helmets." Schtick. Then we rolled out. By my count, we had a total of 25 riders. It was at least that many, but I could have missed a few. Some joined us part-way through the route.

Our first re-group was at the new gas station near Roe and Southwest Blvd. The traffic light split our group.




Sorry for the blur. This was taken at the entrance to the cave. Seeing the faint shimmer of moisture on the slope, I gave a warning for people to be mindful of their speed and to try to stay away from using their front brake if possible. (Braking with the front on slick surfaces can lock the wheel up easier and cause a problem)


There were two decent wipe-outs coming down the hill to the cave. It's been slicker than it was last night, but it was still a bit challenging. One group bit it at the bottom of the hill while a few others wiped out half way down. Everyone was okay, save for a few scrapes. We all got our selves together and continued the route through the cave.




Most of us walked our bikes out of the cave. Good Call.

Return Trip: We got split up at Southwest Boulevard and Rainbow. Only a few of us made it through the light. This was the rest of the group:


C'Dude, Warren and his son Peter


Riding through Rosedale:


Back at the Marketplace, cDude shows his battle scars (he got taken out by a wipeout in front of him)


Reed is huge on Twitter.


After we got back, some of us went to Denny's for some post-ride carbs. Mark and Nancy locking up.


When you go to Denny's (or pretty much anywhere open 24 Hours) at 2:00 in the morning, you never know who you'll run into. This couple wanted me to take their picture, too. I gladly obliged and handed him one of my cards. The Cigarette was just for show -- he whipped it out for the photo. I thought it was funny. Nice to meet you!


With that, there was much pigging out and discussion.








And looky what we have here! We got a ride report from this family about the official Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride. The official word: Lenexa PD says Midnight is too dangerous. The '07 and '08 rides both had something interesting happen with things NOT related to the ride that could have put the riders in jeopardy. One year, a search party was looking for an escapee in the area. The next year, a high-speed chase on Renner bisected the ride when police were forced to shut down the intersection for a few minutes. The word is that Lenexa is looking at moving this to an early morning ride -- say 6:00 AM or so (that's early?!) and returning to the cave route. That might be acceptable.


Again, big thanks for all who came out, spread the word, and had a good time!

We've had a few last-minute sign-ups, a few who are confused on the date, and some who didn't get the last round of e-mail. I'll just post it here for everyone to see. I'd still like it if everyone was accounted for, though. PLEASE SIGN UP if you think you'll be attending.

"Midnight" is a confusing word. So let me clarify. The ride will start at the stroke of midnight SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING. That means get to Merriam Marketplace LATE Saturday night. I'll get there sometime around 11:15 or 11:30. I recommend not getting there any later than 11:45 PM.

This ride is a combination of July's Dark Side Ride, and an alternative to the traditional Lenexa Midnight Ride, because they changed their route and location in such a way that detracts from most of the features that made it fun. Sure, riding on a bicycle in the dark rules, but after that, the Lenexa Midnight Ride has nothing. We're going to fix that by adding a cave.

To discuss more dark-side rides throughout the year (most of which do NOT include a cave, start earlier in the night than Midnight, and usually have a distance of 25-40 miles), sign up here.

Check your lights (and batteries), brakes, tires, chains and quick-release levers in advance. No one will be inspecting bicycles for safety at this event.

Show up at Merriam Marketplace with enough spare time to get your bike set up. I recommend showing up no later than 11:45 PM on July 11th, 2009. It's Saturday night.

At the stroke of Midnight July 12, we will all depart, riding northeast on Merriam Drive. We'll take it all the way to Kansas City, MO (where it's known as Southwest Boulevard) with re-group points along the way and turn right on 31st Street.

There's a large hill on 31st street. We'll re-group at the entryway to the cave and I'll unlock the door if it's not already open. We'll ride through the cave loop counter-clockwise, then come back out to return to Merriam Marketplace.

Every time I've been in the cave, there's been a thin, slick mud on certain parts of the roadway. I've never wiped out on it, but my road bike's narrow tires have gotten squirrelly in some parts. I'd recommend using a mountain bike for this ride. Also, the hill coming out of the cave is pretty steep.

Afterwards, some of us will undoubtedly be hungry, and for some of us, it wouldn't feel right not to wolf down some pancakes or breakfast after the ride. There is a Denny's at Shawnee Mission Parkway and Eby that's open 24/7 which is riding distance from Merriam Marketplace. Feel free to join some of us there for the after-party.

If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me via the form on the right, or here in the comments.

There's not much new going on with the Midnight Ride, but be sure to sign up if you plan on showing up.

I went to the cave space recently and they have updated all the lighting on the entry-way. They also put some covering on the rocky roof above the entry that should catch the condensation and water that filters through the limestone. Hopefully, the ramp will stay dry now. Prior to this, the ramp would get a layer of wet, thin mud in some spots and make things slippery.


Right now, there are 21 participants signed up.

I've been told that the ride shouldn't present a problem, I just need to get a head count on who will be attending. So, go ahead and sign up! If you don't sign up, you won't get a map of the route, and I won't be accounting for you. Please sign up once for each person that will be riding their own bicycle.

I've been in talks with the real estate company that owns the caves. I'll probably hear a final "go" or "no go" from them on Wednesday. To assuage the owner's concerns if we get approved, I had to promise that the group size would be reasonable (Let's call it a maximum of 25 spots for this ride), that we would all stick together through the caves, and that we would be open to signing a waiver of liability if they need it.

It's fascinating working through the red tape. The people I talk to think it's a neat idea and understand the cool factor (and I mean cool in more than the just constant 58°F sense) but none of them are empowered to grant us permission directly. With that, I have to wait for the bureaucracy machine to grind its little gears.

It doesn't sound like it'll be THAT much of a problem, but there's a chance that there may be limited slots for cave-riding. I'll keep you posted.

For the time being, I plan on leading the ride regardless of cave access, weather permitting. Expect to gather at Merriam Marketplace at 11:45PM July 11th, 2009. We will roll out at midnight sharp.

This will be a no-drop ride. I'll lead and I'll have someone take up the back. We'll definitely have to stick together. This is a secure storage and office facility, so we'll need each rider to be accounted for upon entrance and exit so that they know no one is lurking or partying it up down in the caves. You know. Because we're all a bunch of punk kids on stunt bikes.

I still have a plan. And it might work out. Here's where things stand:

I'm in talks with the owners of some cave space near midtown. Right now, they seem amicable, but I don't have any solid word on if we can use their cave as part of our route. We may all have to sign waivers. I'm cool with that if it means I get to ride through some caves!

There are about 10-15 people showing interest in this alternative ride and only 6 or 7 definites. I'd like more.

Right now, this looks to be a FREE event, except for the cost of food at the end. You'll have to pay for that. I don't think we'll have to pay to ride through the caves.

The route will be 15 miles or so, maybe closer to 20 by the time we include a stop by Denny's or IHOP at the end of the route (near the start/finish point)

I'll keep you posted. We will ride at midnight. Mark my words. I just hope we have caves to go through!

The Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride: it's one of my favorite events of the year. Some people look forward to Spring Classic. Others to the first bike commute of the year, or perhaps the start of the Brevet Series. Not me. I wait with bated breath for the one tiny glimmer in the midst of the banal phase of the cycling calendar that is the month of July: The Midnight Bike Ride

The reason? It's a fun ride that I can drag my friends along to. But mostly, it's the stretch of subterranean street known as the Meritex compound. After slogging up two decent grades on Prairie Star Parkway, you earn the right to descend into the chilly, humid caves. It's somewhat surreal and loads of fun; worth the price of entry on its own.

This year, The Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride isn't going to go through the caves. It won't even start at Old Town Lenexa. It won't even take place on public roadways. The organizers are holding it at Shawnee Mission Park, where families can do laps around a 4-mile loop to their heart's content (or until they finally shut things down). This, to me, is a Pretty Big Deal for several reasons:

1. No cave action
2. A 4 mile loop is going to feel like a criterium
3. A loop with kids is going to feel like an elementary school bike rodeo
4. The hills around Shawnee Mission Park will force people some to walk the bike

Basically, this could be a good time for some people, but not for me.

I may still donate to the Optimist club and get the T-shirt, but I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be attending. Instead, I think I'm going to arrange my own ride, in conjunction with the Dark Side Ride group. It will likely be held the same night as the Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride (meet around 11:45PM July 11th, kick off at midnight), but it will probably be a shorter route than most of the other Dark Side Rides (because it'll start at midnight, not 9:00PM). I'm going to talk to some folks tomorrow and see if I can't get access to some caves to ride through.

I kind of have a route already planned, but I need to make sure I can use the caves that are along the way. If so, the start location would be just off the highway in Merriam, the ride itself would be less than 20 miles, and the out-and-back route would land us tastily close to a 24-Hour Denny's that we can hijack afterwards.

Interested? Leave a comment or e-mail me ( noah at kc-bike dot net )