BengeBoy 

Solveg,

Have you considered this ride near your "summer" home?

https://www.borderraiders.com/


I've ridden parts of this route; driven most of it at one time or another in a car. Nice part of the world to ride in. That time of year, it's still green-ish, not as hot as July/August.

It's on my list for future years...

Tom Bombadil

I thought she spent summers in Minnesota.

Yen

Minnesota has summers? I thought it was the inverse of California which has no winters.

maddmaxx 

California doesn't have winters??? What in the world do they sell all those "hoodies" for then?

tsl

So the hoods have something to wear!

Old School

I live in Northern California and I can say with certainty that we have "winter" here today! Very wet, windy and cold this afternoon but at least no snow on the ground (at least at 3,500' elevation).

Today I am limited to "visualizing" my next road or trail ride -- blue sunny sky, temps in the 60s...I can "see" every turn, and "feel" every shift. On my fantasy ride there is no pain, no traffic on the road I love, and no bozos on the trail I ride...

Tom Bombadil

That sounds like late Autumn, or early Spring. The operative word is "wet." We are rarely "wet" in winter.

cranky old dude

My socks get wet in winter.

The cuffs on my jeans freeze solid and clatter against my wet
toes when I take them off.

The carpets and mats in my truck freeze solid in December and get wet
again in mid April.

Yep. Yer absolutely right, not much wet in Winter.

solveg

That ride looks GREAT! I'm totally reading about it right now!!!!

Thanks for finding this for me!

The first thing I'm going to check into is the heat... I just don't do well in the heat, and I know in southern Kansas it's already up in the 90's in by late June.

Very cool!

Yes, I'm in MN for the summer (up north MN), but I would like to take a tour like this somewhere this summer. Plus, I'm fascinated with John Brown.

Edit: This trip looks distinctly possible!!!!!

Artkansas 

California is very mixed up when it comes to winter. For example, Palm Springs winter is what other locales call Summer or late Spring. Meanwhile, Idyllwild, just a few miles away as the crow flies definitely has Winter with much snow.

BengeBoy 

Solveg, I always think of late June as the dividing line between "warm" and "hot" in that part of Kansas. Could be mid to high 80's, but could be in the low 90's as well. So, could be a little toasty, but the worst of summer will still be ahead of you at that point.

solveg

I just went to a Crazy Guy on a Bike site and read about 2 guys that took this tour, and they took photos. Believe it or not, there's a LOT of hills. It's constant hills. So, while I think I could do 50-60 miles a day on the flats, I'm not so sure of so many hills. We just don't have them in the areas I ride in. Even the tour people say the hills can be challenging. I do have a nice touring triple, though... but I'll have to think about this. Even in MN in the summer, I ride in the early morning. I just don't ride when it's over, well, 80. I did find myself being able to deal with the heat better later in the season, though.

I like shade. I like to ride my bike in the shade, when it's 70 and there's a slight breeze. I think it has to do with getting Heat Stroke and being hospitalized in the 80's. I'm not good in hot sun.

On the bright side, the organizer wears a kilt, and every stop is filled with tables of pie!

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?...c_id=2544&v=8S

BengeBoy 

Hmmm...sounds like it could definitely be on the warm side.

When you get down to Kansas, though, I would recommend you consider a weekend of riding in and around Lawrence...there are a number of rides you could take in and around town that would make it a good weekend getaway.

You might want to check out these rides listed by the Lawrence Bicycle Club:

https://www.lawrencebicycleclub.org/additionarearides/

There are some earlier-season rides to consider....also, their traditional "end of season" ride, the Octoginta, happens every year in October. It's 80 miles.

I looked quickly on the LBC website and didn't see a library of past routes, but if you could either find it or email them I'll be they have a library of their old Octoginta routes; they cover a lot of the interesting roads in and around Northeast Kansas.

s

solveg

I'm definitely going to go ride around Lawrence this spring. I want to see what those hills are like. If they don't kill me, I think the trip would be do-able, because you can start riding at 6 in the morning.

I really like this ride. It's exactly what I was looking for! Thanks for turning me on to it!!!!

BengeBoy 

I'll put a couple of rides out on bikely.com for you when I have a minute...

BengeBoy 

Some routes from www.mapmyride.com:

OK, I drew this on mapmyride.com for you. This is one of my favorite rides...start in downtown Lawrence, go North to Oskaloosa. Stop in Old Jefferson town (a bunch of restored old pioneer buildings in a little park, nice place to take a break), visit the downtown square, then back via Lecompton, first Territorial Capital of Kansas. I think you said you're interested in history? Worth researching the history of Lawrence and Lecompton. (Say hi to my other in law on your way through Oskaloosa...)

Also, you said you were interested in John Brown...as you know the famous portrait of him is in the state Capitol building in Topeka, painted by John Steuart Curry...he was from near Oskaloosa, and his childhood home is now located at Old Jefferson Town in Oskaloosa (mentioned above).

https://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...ence/877983477

I found these rides already done:

- Nice run out from Lawrence to local reservoir (Clinton), across the dam, back to town.
https://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...ence/134236454

- Loop around Clinton Reservoir:
https://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...ence/615159864

- The classic ride everyone does out of town is out to Lonestar Lake and back. The route is about 20 miles roundtrip if you leave from central/South lawrence...this version is longer 'cause it starts pretty far north. A variation of this is to go out to Lonestar, then come back across the dam at Clinton.

https://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...ence/134090916



That should keep you busy for a long weekend....if you drive up from Conway Springs, make sure you drive the two-lane roads up through the Flint Hills and scout out some future bike rides there.

solveg

Thank you!!!!!!

I'm looking forward to this!

BengeBoy 

No problem...and when you're done in Lawrence, this is a good way to drive out of town, toward your part of the state. The drive thru the Flint Hills is great, if you haven't already done it..

https://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...ence/861266327

solveg

I'm going to do that next time I drive. I'm so sick of 35 I could cry. I've been meaning to take smaller roads home and take my time, but I always just go for the quickest way at the last minute, since it's pretty much a straight shot. But seriously... 35 is getting OLD.

Terrierman

There are no hills in Lawrence. Are you going to come to our terrier trial there in April? It's the weekend of the 12th and 13th. I'm on their Board and will be working at the trial, so no riding, but you could come up there for a bike ride and drop by and say hello.

solveg

A couple of us were just trying to find the link to that trial, but couldn't. I'm glad you posted it!

That would* be a good weekend to go to Lawrence. I'll have to wait until I get down there to figure it out. What I have found so far is that the weather is so insane that I can't really plan out any projects until the week before. Last spring I was down there for 2 months and couldn't find enough days to paint my house because it rained almost every day I was down there.

The original post had a link to that bike ride and it looked like the loch ness monster as far as hills went.

solveg

BTW, Terrierman, I stopped watching the terrier trials on TV until I could figure out which group your dog was in.....which is it?

BengeBoy 

!

I think that was a joke; there's actually a big "hill" in the middle of town called Mt. Oread and if you're on a bike you need to figure out how to get over or around. The University is on top of the hill, and any good tour of town includes the (very pretty) campus, so you need to find your way up it w/out dying.

Here's a suggested city tour that starts downtown, and gets up to campus the non-steepest way I know. It takes you through campus, out to Clinton Reservoir, and then back to downtown. On the South Edge of town is a preserved wetlands on 31st street that this route goes by; you ought to stop and walk out into the Wetlands (there's a nature walk).

This route will also connect w/the road out to Lone Star lake, which I mentioned above.

There also is a bike map at the Lawrence city website that shows suggested bike routes around town.

https://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...rence/94688720


Legal disclaimer:
All this is by memory...I haven't ridden these streets for 10 years but I am pretty sure based on a recent visit this is still the non-steepest way to get across town if you want to take in the campus.

solveg

No, he keeps telling me I can come ride where he lives because the hills are small. Not true. He has a warped hill sense.

Thanks again for the routes!