Big Ringin' It says goodbye to an old friend, and hello to a new old friend.

My eyes welled up as I watched a woman named Ali drive away with my awesome Masi Speciale CX.  I rode many thousands of miles on that bike and never hated a single minute of it.  Here is a picture of my ill-fated maiden voyage to Babler State Park for a percy camping trip:

A tight machine, very badly loaded by me.  It all fell out in traffic.  I lost some things...

Now, I have a new love in my life, a brand new 1995 Trek 950 Singletrack.  I sold the Masi because I wanted something that would get me across the world if I needed it to, or get me across town with Ari and Zev (due in mere weeks) in tow.  I needed something that was less aggressive and more easy going, but durable.  A steel frame in the general vicinity of mountain bike geometry was what I looked for.  After weeks of looking, I finally found an ad on CL for this new old stock beauty.

Stock, complete with bar-end handles or whatever.  Lame!  See ya.

The bike is light, and nice looking.  But the first thing I had to do was cover the decals with black tape of course, because I'm not a rolling billboard.  Nor do I give a frig what anyone thinks of my bike visually.

Decals=Lame IMO, so they get the black tape treatment.

Next order of business was to put my trusty Brooks B-17 on, strap a saddle bag underneath, and get comfy.

I believe this saddle is responsible for my continuing commitment to cycling.

But I was finding it hard to get comfy for real, so I had to replace those shitty stock straight handlebars with some trekking bars, which I got from Harris Cyclery.  For some reason, that feels like an accomplishment.

Trekking bars, equipped with new light and the bell in a creative place.  See it??

There it is!

I knew I wasn't going to be using tires that had been sitting in a box for 15 years, so I talked to my friend Dave G. at biketiresdirect.com, and he recommended the time tested Schwalbe Marathons.  They sell fenders too, so I got me some Planet Bike Cascadias, which look and feel solid.

Hello Mr. Schwalbert, hello Mr. Fendy.

Then, all I needed to do was add my rack, light, lock and my Burly trailer hitch, and I was ready to go.

Axiom Rack=I can carry drunk Ian home on it.=BOMBPROOF!

Put it all together, and what do you get?

A solid and stout world tourer, or a carrying-two-boys-in-a-trailer-commuter.

Initial testing indicates high levels of satisfaction with the trekking bars and the general geometry of the bike.  It will take some getting used to and some living in, and I'll soon replace the pedals and likely the drive train as well.  Hell, everything will be different by the time I am satisfied, but that will be a years' long endeavor.  For now, I think I have a good head start though.  I hope to see you on the MOCH!

The Dissemination of Ideas

I am going to begin building a (mostly) traffic-free network of bicycle highway routes which will hopefully one day be as familiar to bicycle commuters in St. Louis as gooey butter cake or toasted ravioli. I will begin with my own personal commuting needs and branch out from there. This network will be called "Missouri Cycling Highways", or MOCH. Routes will be named after whatever I dang please.

Of course commuting by bicycle in a city like St. Louis has drawbacks--mainly the traffic, which is to be avoided in my opinion. This means that routes need to be more circuitous, and therefore longer, to achieve a high level of safety. The second drawback is the vast sprawl that makes up St. Louis County. Things can be very far apart here. We have immediate family who live over 20 miles away. What I am getting at is that these routes are meant to be safe, not direct, and that cycling is a slow form of transportation. But that's why we love it, right?!

The whole point of sharing these routes is so that others can use them. If enough people use these routes, one day I might start marking these routes with small, inconspicuous signs leading cyclists through an effective and safe network of bike friendly streets.

My first big project was to establish a safe route from my parents house to my house. This way, I can bring my son home in the trailer. I admit, I used the Google Maps Bikes thing to give me an idea and went from there.

Either way, please enjoy the first section of my new project. It will be a small portion of the major east/west route I will call "MOCH-100", or affectionately "The Sprawl". This section will take riders from the Mobile gas station next to Kirkwood Middle School to the QT in Maplewood on Big Bend.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=kirkwood+middle+school&daddr=38.609105,-90.320764+to:Flora+Ave&hl=en&geocode=FT7-TAIdC1Kc-iFJMzfNT_o32A%3BFdEgTQIdhNCd-inVOPs_X8rYhzHRtNyjZDVGMg%3BFRMiTQIdCcWd-g&aq=0&sll=38.609971,-90.321887&sspn=0.003915,0.009645&vpsrc=6&dirflg=b&mra=pr&via=1&ie=UTF8&ll=38.593797,-90.339546&spn=0.125313,0.308647&t=m&z=12&lci=bike

In the future, I will begin mapping these routes using GPS technology. But first I have to acquire the tools and knowledge needed to do so. I didn't want to wait. I am so excited to share this concept and these routes with my fellow St. Louis cyclists.

This winter will be a time of hibernation, regrouping and big goals

I want to quit my car. I hate driving, I hate being in a car, I hate using and buying gasoline. I hate the highway, I hate the cost of repairs. I hate getting red-light violation tickets in the mail and the fact that I had my car booted once because there is no parking on the second Tuesday of odd dated months and it cost $500 just to get it removed. I just shit hate everything about cars.

So, I have put up my Masi for sale on Craigslist for $800. Maybe a little more than I expect to get for it, but still I think a decent deal. It's a 2009, 51 cm for anyone who's interested. I have that mountain bike still sitting in the basement. I aim to sell that as well, it's a medium sized Trek 8500 or something. It's in decent shape and I think I can get $175 maybe $200 for it. The reason for this is that I want to buy myself a touring specific bike. I want a triple chainring and a very easy gear selection in back. I love going fast, but I've never topped out my big ring, so I feel like can afford to lose a few teeth, plus carrying a little boy in a trailer up steep hills in St. Louis can be difficult with normal gearing. I need more front wheel clearance because when I climb bad hills, my toe sometimes gets stuck underneath the fender and things get dangerous.

With support from my partner Crystal and despite much trepidation on the part of my parents, I am going to attempt to totally ditch the car....FINALLY. I bought a Burley Bee trailer and, with some modifications, it will make a perfect back seat/trunk/cargo haul/whatever the hell else a trailer can be. I even got Ari a little helmet that has sharks and lights. It was more expensive than my helmet was, but I got my helmet in Memphis so that might explain it.

I look forward to hours and hours of route planning on Google Maps. I look forward to adventures to be had with my kids--our second son is due January 31 2012. I look forward to exploring St. Louis. I look forward to camping and hiking and shopping by bike. I can't wait to pack the trailer full of paintings and deliver them to somewhere other than my house maybe. I am going to make a sign that says "3 FEET" and an arrow pointing to the left. I am going to take these boys and my partner on tours every summer and spring and fall and winter.

I just hope that my parents can see their way to understanding this is for the best. I hope that my fellow St. Louisans and fellow contrypeople can respect my space and keep their distance and help me feel secure out there. I am firmly in the camp that says travel by bicycle is far superior to any other mode. When combined with Amtrak, I can see myself bringing my family all over the place. I can't wait to introduce Crystal to cycling (which is a whole post on it's own). I can't wait to be in the best shape of my life. I am going to do it. No one but me can stop me (they say that on reality shows all the time).

Frig

It should have been obvious, and as soon as it happened, I was like, "what was I thinking?"

My trip was cut short just after mile 13 (almost exactly halfway to Babler) when a flimsy plastic hook broke. The hook was holding a shitty cargo net which was holding all my shit in place. Not for long though, it broke as I was climbing a gnarly hill in traffic. My stuff spilled all over the street and it was a disaster. I called my Dad and he woke my sister Addie up to come get me. wah wah. Trip failure. Poorly designed cargo situation ruined my trip. Totally my own fault--that sucks. Oh well. I guess I'll chalk it up to some bad planning and will do better next time.

The 13 miles I did ride were very very nice. The route took me through some really nice neighborhoods in Webster, Shrewsbury, and others. There were a few killer hills, none I had to walk up, but some good steep and long climbs.

Finally, A Small Ride

I know it's been a long time, blog and anyone who ever reads this shit. I guess I just wanted to say I'm sorry, I know I haven't documented the successes of the drum trailer sufficiently, and I haven't talked about the fact that I lost my f-ink bike cleats. Just get over it, okay? No big deal.

I am going to talk briefly about this ride I'm doing tomorrow. It was a sort of eureka moment when I conducted an art workshop for a Muscular Dystrophy Association summer camp. The camp is held at Babler State Park which is merely 27 miles from my doorstep. 27 miles. 27 friggin miles to camping and hiking. Babler isn't a large park by any stretch, but it has some really nice woods and a couple nice trails......and it is only 27 miles away. After realizing this, I promptly planned a one night percy excursion. I am sitting here writing this after packing up all my shit.

I wanted to use a handlebar bag. I thought it would be nice to put my change of clothes and a couple other various things in there. So, instead of buying one I made one. It turned out like shit. No, it wasn't that bad. But it was poorly designed for the task of handlebar bag. Durable as hell though, and as soon as I make one that works--and I will!--I'll post all the best stories from that endeavor. So, without the handlebar bag I didn't know what to do for the food/clothes sitch. I was perusing a local large store and found this cooler from Coleman. It was another eureka moment. I was like, "oh damn...I'll use this to carry shit in on the way there and back, but WHILE I'm there, I'll get some beers/sodas from the nearby gas station and some ice...Ima live it up!" I could even get some type of shitty sausage if I wanted to eat that for breakfast.

Speaking of breakfast, I realized that I have a perfectly sized percy non-stick aluminum pan in the cabinet. I got it out, and behold!--a small screw attaching the superlight handle to the superlight frying pan. PERFIE!! So, since I'll have a Phillips screwdriver on my multi-tool anyway, I can just attach and un-attach it as needies. Easy peasy!

So, yeah. Here's the setup. I am taking the following philosophy on this trip: The park is only 26 miles away on bike. That is barely a 2.5 hour ride, even lightly loaded...so Ima bring as much shit as I think I need to be comfortable for one night.
(I don't care if you think my iphone camera filter is lame...don't look at the picture then!) You can see the cooler on the very back of the rack. Three bags total: tent, sleeping bag/pad, and cooler with all the food and clothes and fire and cutting stuff I need. Oh yeah, it's hard to see in this picture, but there is a totally bad ass survival knife I bought recently strapped on the rack. I plan to use it to aid in the preparation of woody for fire. Or stab my way out of a bad encounter in the woods.

I want to share the route with y'all as well. Here is the first in what I hope will become a large catalog of routes to spots in Missouri. I used mapmyride.com for it.




Hopefully some of you schmucks will come with me next time, as I hone and perfect the route. Next time, I'm doing the Mini Missouri St. Louis Area State Parks Tour. Way I figure it, this is a great way to not only escape the bustle of daily life, but also a super way to get some exercise and see some parts of Chesterfield we may not see on such a regular basis. Detailed report to come, Careening South style--while I am resting in my tent getting ready to sleep after a very short day in the saddle and very long day baking in the sun.

A Hundo by Sundo

Yesterday I decided that I would try to turn 100 miles of car commuting into bike commuting. I'm not sure I even drive nearly that much in a week, plus I can't carry my son around on my bike yet (stupid damn box says no baby under 1 year, which is crap if you ask me). Basically I am having to fish for mileage. I will be running all my errands for work using my bike after work at 3, which should definitely eat up quite a few miles. Bam! I hope to make a hundo by sundo (a hundred by sunday). I don't care if I am incorrectly punctuating my sentence-ending parenthetical phrases. Who even cares?!

So, I'll do a lil post each day about how I am achieving the 100 mile in a week goal. Here is numero eins:

Monday 15 miles

I rode to work, actually carrying a bunch of crap left over in my car from a resource fair this past Saturday, and I rode home. It is only 1.8 miles each way--so that didn't do much. I HAD to find another way to get in some more riding. When what to my wondering eyes did appear? An empty fridge which needed more than just beer. Shit Yeah! We needed all kinds of groceries: milk, bread, cheese, f-ing fruit, plus I even picked up some tapioca pudding--wow! I knew I would have to go to a far away store, so I went to the Schnucks on Big Bend in Webster. I actually used Google Bike Directions for this trip, and it did a magnificent job!

It took me through some really nice neighborhoods, down a bike path I didn't even know existed (it was only a half mile long, but hey--it's St. Louis--it's a start). Down and up some decent hills and then all of a sudden I was at the store. Each was was about 5.7 miles. Added together, I did 15 miles. Not much, and I'll definitely want to do another 30+ out on the Katy Trail again. Oh yeah, I went there and did that last weekend with my dad. I could totally bike the Katy Trail in 24 hours--it is soooooo FLAT. Anyway, I'll probably not get the chance to ride much today...def to work and back but maybe not to band practice, it just depends.

100-15 = 85 miles remaining

I can carry Tilly

I carried my Dad's tiller from work to home, so my neighbor and friend Nate can use it to cultivate his very first garden! That is exciting and I was happy to help him get it all started. It only took four bungees to secure the tiller to the trailer. I was a little worried about jostle troubles, but the only trouble was a throttle lever spring became detached--easy peasy.
As you can see, the trailer is about 40 years old and is sort of a family heirloom. I was very careful to go extra slow. In my opinion, it was easier to carry the tiller on the bike trailer because it is extremely difficult to load in and out of a car. So, yeah! Mission accomplished. Small but fun mission. Maybe I'll start a haulin' service for folks around the neighborhood. Anyway. As I alluded to in my last post, please anyone who is interested in making bicycling more accessible in STL--STAY TUNED. I have an idea, well I took an idea from another more bike friendly city, and I am going to begin testing out my idea very soon. I want you all to join me.

Oh yes...It friggin woked. Big Time.

The trailer is made from a repurposed and stripped down Burley D'light 2 child carrier. It's an older one, but I got a sweet hitch from a Canadian company called Chariot Cycles or something like that. I took all the child carrying parts off, stripped it down to the frame, and put a beautiful slab of birch plywood on it. Used some polyurethane sealer finisher to protect and further beautify that wood. Used some bolts to tighten it down. Hell yeah. I put an old inner tube around the perimeter to protect the sides from bumps and water. I found some rubber sheeting in the practice space at Utopia Studios hanging on a wall (thanks Amy...heheh), and cut it into strips and stapled and Gorilla Glued those stinkies down for grippiness. I then installed four pick-up truck cargo holds on the corners--solid as hale! This is what it looks like:


Here is what it looks like loaded up:


Here is a video of me pushing up the hill on the beginning of the first trial run:


I took the drums back to the practice space about four miles away. It took about 35 or 40 minutes to get there. It was actually surprisingly easy to move the trailer even with all the weight, but I could only go very slowly. My trusty friend Joel followed me to the space in case of any catastrophic failures and for support. He also showed me a badass short-cut to the space. Thank you Joel.

All in all, first trial run was a complete success. The tom-tom had to be moved halfway to the destination, but it was tighty after that. So, yeah...just gotta add lights and license plate that says, "Big Ringin' It". I owe thanks to the bazillion instructables I looked at while figuring out how to build this beast. I figure the furthest I'll have to take the trailer is 5 or 6 miles each way, any more than 10 each way and I think I'll drive it. It isn't super hard to move, but it still takes forever and I think even 10 miles would easily take 1.5-2 hours. That would be ridiculous to take 4 hours travel time to get to a show...especially considering the fact that I don't leave shows until they are over, so like 1.30 or 2 am sometimes. That would put me back home at like 4 am. Which would suck ass...especially if I drank anything at the show, which is fun to do after I play.

Whatever, can't think about the obvious negatives, because bicycling isn't about getting to places quickly. It is about taking the long way, the harder way. The way that makes people look at you and think, "man what an idiot." I don't care...no...yes I do care. I love being that guy who is doing something ridiculous with his bicycle. I love telling people I play drums. As Ricky says, "it's gettin' two birds stoned at once."

But I don't really care if it seems stupid. It's fun for me. There's a great feeling of accomplishment in building and successfully testing something like this trailer. Even if I have to go really slow, I'll still love it. I think I'll always bring paint. I have a new idea thanks to the city of Portland. I'll tell you about it later...

I hope this works....Nah-I'm sure it's going to work!

I decided to ditch the Nomad (sorry Burley-it's a great trailer) because it has some issues with carrying drums. The more I thought about it, the more disconcerting it became that the floor of the trailer is made of canvas, and there is but one measly crossbeam underneath it. I imagined myself on Grand or something, trailer ripped to shreds, drums everywhere on the street, no way of getting to the venue on time. Shitty!

So, I have built a totally kick ass trailer! Oh man is it ever awesome. I am waiting to unveil pictures and writing about it completely until after work today...but suffice to say: This trailer wins.

Stay tuned....

Nazi Losers Ruin Graffiti Walls, but I Ruin Nazis!

Recently a bunch of friends and I re-took up skateboarding. I dusted off the old World Industries board and I am hooked again! I forgot how much of a workout skating is--really all you're doing is hopping around for a couple hours. Fun. I can still even kickflip like one out of five or so.

Anyway, I was on my bike searching around for dope-ass skate spots one Saturday morning when I spotted a tight graffiti wall next to a commercial train track.

There isn't a ton of awesome stuff on it, but still some decent writing. But then, I spotted a goddamn swastika on a corner of the wall. (for some reason I didn't photo it) I didn't have any paint on me, otherwise I would have defaced it or just covered it up right there. I am all for free speech, but not for white supremacists on what would otherwise be an artful and cool looking wall. Know what I mean? I was thinking, "how can I deface/alter the symbol without just covering it up?" I wanted the nazis to know that I had messed up their little tag, but to a passer-by it would just look like something else entirely.

Friends and I met on my front porch that night and began thinking about it. After a while, friend Emma was like, "what about the pinwheel? It basically has a swastika in the center...just embellish the one on the wall to look like a pinwheel." Awesome idea Emma! Idea achieved. So, here is what I did today, when no one was looking:

I did this first......


Then I added shading.

A perfect pinwheel to alter the shitty intentions of neo-nazi jerks. Easily replicable. I recommend everyone take the time to deface any local swastikas in this manner. It would look even nicer with color.

I Can Carry My Drums in/on my Burley Nomad!

So, I have been pining over some trailers online--I've been trying to find a trailer with a load capacity of at least 200 lbs. so I can carry my drumset on it. Since Crystal's car went doo doo on the south pole of death, we are borrowing my sister's car. When she gets back from Seattle, she is gonna want it back, and we aren't going to want to buy another car. So, if the biggest obstacle for us going down to one car is carrying my drums and I can figure out a way, then the problem is solved and then most of the rest of the problems are merely logistical.

I was all like, ah shit man I won't be able to carry that weight with the gearing on my Masi, so I'll have to spend all this money on getting a new cassette and a new rear derallieur or whatever. Then, after realizing that a Surly long bed trailer is over $500, and that is really the only trailer made for bicycles that can do what I want it to do, I had started feeling like it wasn't possible short of building my own trailer. Until I was just like, "f- it--Ima just try to put everything in the Burley Nomad that I inherited from a dude canoeing down the Mississippi, and see what happens" and I did. The Burley trailers have an awesome universal hitch, so I just stole it off the Masi, and whim-awham-a-bing bang:

Using my trek 8500 (which I traded a guy from Craigslist my Raleigh Techmium SS for, which was awesome!) because of it's triple chainring granny-gear options, I loaded up the trailer and gave it a whirl. It was sweet. Nothing shifted or even creaked or cracked during the one mile long test ride. I rode it at first on very smooth streets around my hood, but then once I was convinced it was cool, I took it on some pretty jagged main roads and it performed beautifully. The gearing on the Trek is perfect, the trailer is smooth and it seems to absorb shock pretty well. I am not too worried about the so-called Jack-knifing because I'll be going at such low speeds.

I think the only upgrades I'll try to make to the bike will be fenders and maybe a Brooks saddle if I can convince Crystal of the importance of butt-comfort. But as it turns out, I had all the tools to carry my drums all along! What the hell was I waiting for?

I usually play with four drums: snare, tom, floor tom, kick. I usually play with three cymbals: hi-hats, crash, ride. To facilitate this transition, I will be paring down the old kitster-snare, tom, kick, hi-hat, crash/ride (basically just using my crash as a ride). The floor tom likely won't fit in the trailer and leave enough of the railing along the top of the trailer to set the bass drum on. Who knows, maybe it will lend itself to a new style of playing that I haven't even considered. Deerhoof's drummer only has a couple pieces on his kit.

I think I'll definitely use a couple more straps to secure the bass drum more tightly, but all in all I am riding on high right now because I can move my drums from place to place without any troubles! Of course, there are some serious considerations. What if the trailer has some catastrophic failure? What if my bass drum falls off in traffic? Well my friends, that's what cell phones are for. Plus, since I've been using that website mapmyride.com, I've been able to stay off of main roads almost 95% of the time. Till something else happens worth mentioning, thanks for reading.

****Update: The Next Morning

I was so excited that it all worked so well that I couldn't sleep. All night I dreamed of how kick ass it would be to get fenders, a Brooks saddle and skinnier higher pressure tires for my Trek Mtn bike. Well, mission 1/3 accomplished: used a 20% off coupon from REI, plus my measly $32 yearly dividend, and got a black Brooks B-17 for only $52 shipped! Booyah! Now, I just have to go to my lbs to see what sizes of tires my wheels will accommodate, then find a cheap deal on some 26" Gatorskins. Then, just use my old planet bike fenders to complete the set-up...well maybe a rear rack for Trekkie, that is what I will call this bike from now on: Trekkie!

So excited!

Great St. Louis Ride/Map My Ride

So, I found this great website-mapmyride.com. It totally kicks ass...you basically look at a google map of your target area, and then start clicking up and down streets and blammo-it maps your route and includes information like the exact distance, the elevation details, and allows you to share it with the community and describe it and tweak it and share the map.





So, this is the route Ian and I rode last night. We had in mind the upcoming Katy Trail challenge, and I was so excited the whole time that Ian and I were actually riding together. Then, at the end he said he probably won't go on the Katy Trail ride....wah wah wwwwwaaaaaahhhh. What shit! I was not happy to learn this, but I guess Steven is still planning on going.

About the ride though--for St. Louis, it's a really killer. It basically goes up every large hill in the area and they come with freakish regularity. Four of them over the whole route. I made sure to stay off of busy streets. When it does go onto busier streets, it is on the least heavily trafficked areas of those roads. The far eastern edge of Manchester, the part of Skinker that has a huge shoulder plus the Forest Park Bike Path. It takes you by the two large and in charge parks in STL--forest park and tower grove park. Both are cool, but Forest Park by far wins out in terms of a place to go biking. Best bike trail in STL!

It was a challenging ride, but I was able to do it without walking up any hills (which for me is a success.) I will definitely do this ride again, and maybe in reverse someday for a lighter 26 miler. Next time, I'll post pictures of shit I pass on the road.

My Bicycle Tour Wishlist #1

Natchez Trace Parkway: I rode about 60 miles on this excellent and bike friendly route that goes from Nashville, TN to Natchez, MS. It is full of old growth pine forests and awesome camping and no commercial vehicles allowed. Ben and I rode the final 60 miles of the Trace as it's called down there. I had to ride the entire stretch on a broken spoke, but that didn't prove to be an issue at all. I got the thing fixed in Natchez at some car shop or something. Cheap, and good service too. From the first turn onto the Trace, I knew this would be a place I would tour the length of one day. Total Length: 444 miles See More Here and here. Maybe I can do it this coming autumn, or next spring. Hopefully sooner.

I Should Explain Myself Briefly

I am a man who loves his family, his friends, his music and his bicycle. I love to ride it all day long and I want to all the time. I can't wait for the day when my 3 and a half month old son Ari Dustin Larson is able to follow behind me in a little trailer. I love going on bicycle adventures. Only having been on one so far, I may be jumping the gun a bit with this blog, but I'd like to do it while I want to, and then who knows. It'll be here as long as this site lasts I suppose. That's good enough. I can't remember everything forever.

I rode once from St. Louis to New Orleans with my friend Ben Oney, who started in Minnesota somewhere. Ben started a blog called Careening South, which I sort of took over once I joined the ride. Using my Blackberry phone, I wrote a post every day after riding, or almost every day that is, and would e-mail the posts to my Dad whenever I'd have enough of a signal. It was the shit! I loved every minute of that ride, except the night behind the church. That sucked totally.

The idea for the name of my blog came from a term Ben taught me on the road one day in the Tennessee back country. Big ringin' it is when you're riding in the highest gears you have for an extended period of time because your momentum is going crazy. Because that is my favorite feeling out on the road, I decided to call this Big Ringin' It after those times.

So, I'll write about the rides I go on from now on. It was fun to write, and I just looked back at it and it was reminishitsville! I'll include some pictures I take along the way and of course all kinds of incomplete and terribly written accounts of what happens.

I love you for reading this.

Nate and Ian Decide to ride the Katy Trail in 24 hours

It was after we'd been hanging out for a while. I mentioned Ian's piece of shit bike that he left in my back yard about a year ago, and 20 minutes later we decided we would bike the entire Katy Trail. Ten minutes after that, we decided we could probably ride the entire trail in 24 hours.

For those who don't know, the Katy Trail is a 264.6 mile long bicycle only path that goes from St. Charles to Clinton MO, or back the other way if you like. We'll take the Amtrak to Clinton with our bikes, and ride east till we get to St. Charles, and hopefully get picked up by someone with a big truck to put our bikes in.

A picture taken from the Katy Trail website. Wonder what it looks like at 3.47 am...

A lot of things excite me about the idea of this trip. One, Ian and I never ride together, well to be fair, he never rides at all. I've been trying to get him into the idea of a short tour, but he's consistently against the idea. Somehow I must have said the right combination of words, and I convinced him to do it. So that is cool. I also have always wanted to do some kind of 24 hour bicycle challenge, and this is a good one to start with. Also, the whole trip will take one whole day, so I can do it on a weekend, or a weekday that Crystal is off work. Easy peasy! It would be so awesome to ride that far, and only need a backpack full of food and water. So cool. It sounds like such fun. I'll bet I can convince a couple more friends to try it with us. Definitely Steven at least. Also, it would be so cheap. I mean, I would only need 24 hours worth of food and wouldn't have to pay for any accommodations. Cheapy! I think I'd use a backpack for food and this trek top-of-rack bag my dad gave me to carry the tools and spares and etc. It would be cool to have some kind of clothes that has tons of pockets, maybe I could do it with no backpack at all!!! Maybe not. We'll have to see. I can't freakin wait to go!

We're planning to do it sometime in March. So, time to start training!