Yesterday Jason Shelfer and I completed our third TA110 bike ride. While I am not at all worthy of the full 110 mile route, I always feel a sense of accomplishment from doing the 77 mile course. It’s littered with hills and the hot, humid July weather ensures for a miserable experience. Yet I, and about 400 other people from places near and far continue to do this event year after year.

One thing I was proud of this year was that we didn’t get passed by nearly as many people as in years past. While we certainly weren’t leading the pack, we definitely held our own. I completed the route in 5h 35m, which is almost an hour faster than last year and a good 2 hours faster than my first attempt.

Spirits were high and the temps were low at 6:30am!

About 10 miles in…this isn’t so bad! Nice and flat!

This is the point of no return for the 110 mile route. There are always several groups of people stopped here debating which way to go. It is never a debate for me!

After the lunch stop is when things start getting tough.

Here we are near the halfway point of the ride, and the longest hill of the ride. It seems to go on forever. As has been the case in past years, Oklahoma drivers are the worst in terms of bikers. It doesn’t seem to matter how large the vehicle or what they are towing (boats, horse trailers, etc) they don’t slow down or pull into the other lane.

Looking back about 2/3 of the way up the hill. All…most….there…

This stretch along Bethel Road in Newton County is always tough for me. It’s long, has no shade, and the road is horribly rough for road bikes with 120psi tires. At this point I have about 60 miles under my belt and it’s starting to get very hot outside.

The last rest stop is always nice. There are no major hills left and we’re almost done!

Once again, we completed the Tornado Alley bike ride. I felt so miserable it was difficult to muster a smile, but deep down I was glad to have participated!

This morning I completed my first bike riding event of 2010. It was the Tour de Lakes in Lee’s Summit, MO – a ride that I have never participated in before.

The Tour de Lakes was different than other rides I have done in that it was almost entirely through developed areas. But traffic really wasn’t a problem and the volunteers and LSPD did a nice job of watching out for the bikers. Probably the only thing I didn’t particularly care for was the rest stops, or lack of – only 1 on the 32 mi and 4 for the 65 mile route. Things I liked about this ride were the areas around the lakes, the ice cream at the finish line, and the goodie bags (complete with cool t-shirt, nice biking socks, water bottle, headband, and a few other things). It was by far the best goodie bag I’ve ever received at a cycling event.

This was Ian and Cara’s first official ride event and I think they both enjoyed it. While it was not my first ride, it was my first ride on my new road bike, and not to my surprise it worked great! We only rode the 32mi route, so it served as a nice warm-up for some of the other upcoming rides, such as Tornado Alley, Maple Leaf, and whatever else I may end up riding.

For quite a while I’ve been meaning to try out the Ruby Jack trail, especially considering there is a trail head just up the road from my house. The Ruby Jack trail is another rail-trail project, similar to the Frisco or Katy trail. It’s still under construction but as I understand it, the trail is more or less complete from Carthage until somewhere around Oronogo.

I rode from my house up Old 66 and got on the trail where it crosses the road just before Steph’s parent’s house. I wasn’t sure which direction to go, so I chose east into Carthage. The gravel on the 2 mile section from Carthage is extremely coarse, more like driveway gravel than something suitable for a bike trail. It was rideable…but barely. I heard that there was a mis-communication when the gravel was ordered. The trail going west toward Oronogo is the correct small gravel normally found on bike trails.

It turned out to be a bit shorter than I expected, my entire trip was only 11.5 miles. Most of the trail crosses through farm land, so I wouldn’t describe it as terribly scenic, but nearing Carthage there is a nice canopy of trees shading the trail. Also this section appears to receive heavier use, so it was a bit more worn and the rough driveway gravel was less annoying.

When complete, the Ruby Jack trail will ultimately run from Carthage to the KS state line. Initially it was planned as a bi-state trail all the way to Columbus, KS. However, Cherokee County passed an ordinance in response to those plans that effectively prohibits the rail-trail from entering Kansas. So until the good people of Cherokee County overcome their fear of bikers and joggers, the trail will stop at the state line.

Rough gravel aside, I am really excited about this trail. I think it’s a great asset to the area and another excellent component of the ever expanding trail system in the Joplin area.

Since it was nice out last night I decided to check out the new bike trail in Carl Junction. It’s called the Thoms Station Trail and I became aware of it when Grant and I discovered the bridge while kayaking. As I understand it, when the Ruby Jack trail is complete it will connect to the north end of this trail. The south end of this trail is also planned to connect to another bike trail in NW Joplin that I haven’t checked out yet so I guess when all that is complete it will create about 40+ miles of continuous trail.

I had trouble finding the trail head because there really isn’t much info online about the trail or where it is located. The trail is very short, in fact it was less than 2 miles roundtrip, but it’s also still under construction. So if you are looking to spend more than 15 minutes on the trail you might be better off walking.

Here is the trail head – it’s on Allen Street in CJ between Summit and Main. It’s a rather awkward lot and would be problematic for more than 2 or 3 cars.

It’s a typical rail-to-trail setup…nice level grade with gravel.

The Center Creek bridge is certainly the highlight of the trail. I am told it is the longest non-car bridge in the state, but who knows if that’s true. Either way, it’s about 400′ long and fun to ride across.

The section crossing the river utilizes the original railroad supports.

The bridge is a nice spot to stand and enjoy the view of the river. And in this case the fall foliage and nice weather!

Currently the trail ends just past the bridge at Briarbrook Drive, but as you can see construction has started to continue the trail further south.

A nice opening along the trail as I was heading back to the trail head. This would have probably been a nice spot to view the tornado a few years ago!

Sometimes after work when the weather is nice I like to go for a bike ride. Lately my route of choice is to ride up old 66 through carterville and webb city, and then jump on the Frisco trail and ride it to the south end…which ironically is at North Street. It’s about 20 miles and takes an hour and a half if I don’t stop.

I usually plan to stop and enjoy the scenic area near the bridge over Turkey Creek, but I don’t think I ever have. By that point in the ride I am in a groove and just want to keep going. I like the frisco trail a lot and I think it’s a valuable asset to area residents.

The Maple Leaf Bike Ride is coming up on Saturday, Oct 10. I would like to encourage everyone to come out and participate. Last year me, shelf-life, mom, and dad all did it and had a blast. I would also like to point out that I had the distinction of finishing dead last in my distance category (74miles).

Here are a few reasons I think you should do it:

• Riding bikes is fun!
• Proceeds go to the construction of new area trails!
• Those are really the main two reasons I can think of.

There are routes for riders of all abilities… anywhere from 15mi for the casual rider up to 100 miles for the people with legs of steel and $6000 bikes. Mom and dad did the 35mile route and thoroughly enjoyed it. I like the 70-80ish mile routes. Regardless of which route you choose, it’s lots of fun to get out and support area trail projects!

Here is the website with all the info and online registration:
http://www.carthagemapleleafride.com/