Bicycling . my
rich man's treasure finding . exhilaration
. The rides with more pictures have separate pages. And as the rides
came closer together, their dating was done by week number, for example,
w0001 was week one of the year 2000.
page
4b July 1998 all the Katy Trail riding from Olathe Kansas
to Alton Illinois taking four days
page
4c Summer of 1999 several trips to explore the Little Miami
River Trail and the hidden secret of each ride
page
4d w0001 New Year's celebration with son Chris page
4e w0023 Columbus to Springfield OH 125 miles
page
4f w0024 north east out of Columbus to Newark Trail then
Zanesville and US40 back to Columbus 152 miles
page
4g south east Ohio overnighter in woods
page
4h two nighter Kokosing Gap Trail to the Muskingum Valley
and south from Newark to Buckeye Lake and east to Scioto connection
page
4i Columbus to Springfield to Xenia to Dayton down the
Great Miami River to the Ohio River then back via the Little Miami River
Trail
page
4J north to another trail, a corn field overnight, then
through Mount Vernon and on to Newark overnight then the Newark Trail back
page
4k Lincoln CA south to the American River Trail to Sacramento
then back
page
4L Lincoln CA east to the Sacramento River and the dike
road to Old Sacramento and an American River offshoot trail to the north
then back
As a kid I would bicycle to
the outskirts of hometown Milwaukee WI. I remember a $1 emergency hot patch,
and sharing a quart of chocolate milk. A compliment from a driver who marveled
that through miles of 12th Street traffic I kept passing him as he waited
for the next stop light -- sounds like a turtle and hare story. I bicycled
across the city to attend high school. Then as an "adult" I biked not,
walking the miles to attend college, and purchasing the new Peugeot for
that first job commute.
Then with my Lima OH mid-life
crisis and divorce/annulment I met a significant other who also biked.
Yet being a bicycler does not hold the key for significance. I've worn
out many WalMart-type bicycles since then. Now I have a Mongoose full-size
folder, replacing my first folder (a DeHon), and the Mongoose quality a
step above, yet I will never see those many higher steps available.
Bicycled little in Fremont
but then rode my daughter's bicycle from outside Fostoria to Bowling Green.
Gave those two bicycles to Mary. Purchased a DeHon folder and rode it from
Bowling Green to Fremont, with a flat on the way. That was 1986-1987.
No riding in West Virginia
1987-1988. Rode with Chris in Deleware 1989. 
Then
bought my first WalMart bike in Atchison Kansas 1990, Chris rode it and
I rode the DeHon. Met Ingrid for lunch on a ride from Atchison down the
west river road to Leavenworth, taking the east river road back. Then I
got out on the rode from Lansing Kansas. A fair 17th December in 1991,
rode north out of Leavenworth across the Missouri River to a state park.
I certainly didn't get much over 10 mph (note the speed limit sign) on
those WalMart throwaways. But the threat of theft was greatly reduced.
Caught a cold from this trip, probably wasn't in the best of condition.
Rode all over north east Kansas,
into south east Nebraska, and into the many Missouri State Parks east of
the river. The ride to St.Joe for lunch was a regular. Continued riding
in Kansas City MO and rode myself right over to Sue M's in Leawood Kansas,
riding the many trails, some with her grand daughter.
I took my first Katy Trail
ride in 1997 when home sharer Martin went out of town for a few days. I
parked at the Sedalia train station, stayed two nights in motels at Jefferson
City and Hermann, had a pinch flat, blew the rear tire at the bead, rode
standing up for miles, walked additional miles to the Washington train
station, enjoyed the Missouri River scene while waiting for the train,
and vowed to return. Sorry, no photos - another non photo phase of my life.
The stand up riding caused my center chest muscles to pain several days
later. Clinic was hard to convince that I didn't have a heart problem.
Or perhaps I did.
Early fall 1997 in eastern
KS, now at Pauline's, and still in good shape from the umpiring phase of
my life. Now with my second bicycle shop bike.
Weather permitting fall 1997
and spring 1998 made a breakfast run to the town south of Olathe, seeing
the manager out of his first marriage, meeting a surprising local professional,
marrying her knowing that she couldn't have kids from her first marriage,
then she became pregnant. He thought I was the smartest manhe ever met
- he was a classic McDonald's manager. 
When
day trips were permitted, I headed into the Johnson County metro area where
abundant trails even went into Missouri. The return to Olathe presented
many a sunset scene. Note the new bike lane, which connected an outlying
park with the metro trails. Had a serious fall on the way to a clinic appointment
- got there and was treated plus a gave blood after.
Summer of 1998, visited mother
at her retirement home in Milwaukee WI 
(that
probably was the trip where my muffler pipe let loose on the way back).
Milwaukee has an extensive park system and considerable bicycling opportunities.
In the heart of Milwaukee on the old Northwestern Railroad right of way
where in my early years my aunt Eleanor grabbed me from the stroller to
give me a close look at the passing train below (I thought she was going
to throw me over the bridge railing and I screamed accordingly. I have
an image of that train to this day!).
The trip from Kansas to Milwaukee
took me through Illinois, and I took the opportunity to stop and take in
some of those local trails. 
Explored
central IL for a day - Regan's boyhood neighborhood and the current and
future canal trails. Needed only two bags for that trip.
-- definition by m-w.com --
exhilarate -- : to make cheerful
: ENLIVEN, EXCITE : REFRESH, STIMULATE
