Any cyclists?

[WillieWatanabe]

That explains the bikes on Highway 13 today. huh. nice job.

[mocat]

I was glad to see the little grill is still going strong

[Sandstone Outcropping]

https://twitter.com/pkedrosky/status/1442197064679444481?s=20

[IPA4Me]

Yikes. I've had a kid do that when I was running.

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[Sandstone Outcropping]

Did a 22-mile loop on some gravel and low-maintenance roads outside of town today. Battled some grinding hills and asthma. Glorious fall morning with temps in the 40s. Felt good.

[Pete]

Any of you guys have an electric bike yet?  My dad has a really expensive badass Specialized fat tire and he likes it, but doesn't need that much bike...and frankly I think it was really over priced.   I'd like one that I could ride on both street and gravel roads, and the occasional non-technical mountain bike trail. I've been eyeballing the Radbikes. They priced a lot less, and seem to get good reviews.

[Sandstone Outcropping]

They have some for sale at The Pathfinder. They look pretty awesome but I've never used one.

[IPA4Me]

I've ridden them. They're great for pushing distances without killing yourself. I'm old school ego though. Need to do it myself still. Might change my mind in ten years.

However I'd pull the trigger on an ebike commuter if I lived in the city. Bit too far for me to do it from our current address.

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[Pete]

I've ridden them. They're great for pushing distances without killing yourself. I'm old school ego though. Need to do it myself still. Might change my mind in ten years.

However I'd pull the trigger on an ebike commuter if I lived in the city. Bit too far for me to do it from our current address.

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I agree.  I think they would be nice for an honest to goodness sight seeing ride, where you don't give a rip about "getting a good work out" and just want to be able to cover a lot of ground peacefully and enjoy the surroundings.  Like seeing the leaves or touring a new city, etc.

[Pete]

OR keeping up with jerks who are in way better shape than you on a longer ride!   

[mocat]

I think e-bike prices will eventually come down. Right now seems like too many problems to make it worthwhile. My brother works at a bike shop and it sounds like they just suck across the board, with few exceptions. Part of it is also the target demo for these are people that aren't likely to take care of them very well.

If I lived somewhere any hillier than kc I would think about it. I avg 50ft per mile no matter where I go in the metro. When I see my friends in Wichita on strava with their consistent 10ft per mile, I am jealous.
IPA, I've gotta think rural KY is hilly af, no?

[IPA4Me]

Yes. We're 50'+ per mile in my county. Louisville proper is quite flat. Rides drop to 10-20' depending on route. Steeper rides out east in Appalachia.

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[Sandstone Outcropping]

Probably covered earlier ITT, but I was cruising the website for the Dirty Kanza (or whatever they are calling it now last night). I did not know that the offered a 350+ mile "XL" route. That is freakish. Do the riders stop to sleep in a ditch or something? The 200mi route looks simultaneously beautiful/fascinating and grinding/terrible.

https://www.unboundgravel.com/

[Pete]

I think e-bike prices will eventually come down. Right now seems like too many problems to make it worthwhile. My brother works at a bike shop and it sounds like they just suck across the board, with few exceptions. Part of it is also the target demo for these are people that aren't likely to take care of them very well.

If I lived somewhere any hillier than kc I would think about it. I avg 50ft per mile no matter where I go in the metro. When I see my friends in Wichita on strava with their consistent 10ft per mile, I am jealous.
IPA, I've gotta think rural KY is hilly af, no?

We toured CU, CSU, and Mines campuses in the Denver area this weekend, and saw a lot of ebikes all over.  Not surprisingly, CU and Boulder had the most.  They were everywhere in Boulder.  Boulder is a pretty spread out housing situation, so that might contribute to it.  CSU didn't seem to have nearly as many ebikes.  Mines is a pretty small campus, so not many bikes in general there....their dorms are in the middle of campus and it's just steps to the nearest classrooms.

[mocat]

Probably covered earlier ITT, but I was cruising the website for the Dirty Kanza (or whatever they are calling it now last night). I did not know that the offered a 350+ mile "XL" route. That is freakish. Do the riders stop to sleep in a ditch or something? The 200mi route looks simultaneously beautiful/fascinating and grinding/terrible.

https://www.unboundgravel.com/

yeah the 200 is already bat crap. ted king finished 4th this year only three weeks after breaking his collarbone and having surgery. i can't imagine ever even attempting a 200. XL should maybe be illegal?

i might try to do the 100 next year but i think it's very hard to get in.

have you ever looked into the Tour Divide? 

[Sandstone Outcropping]

Probably covered earlier ITT, but I was cruising the website for the Dirty Kanza (or whatever they are calling it now last night). I did not know that the offered a 350+ mile "XL" route. That is freakish. Do the riders stop to sleep in a ditch or something? The 200mi route looks simultaneously beautiful/fascinating and grinding/terrible.

https://www.unboundgravel.com/

yeah the 200 is already bat crap. ted king finished 4th this year only three weeks after breaking his collarbone and having surgery. i can't imagine ever even attempting a 200. XL should maybe be illegal?

i might try to do the 100 next year but i think it's very hard to get in.

have you ever looked into the Tour Divide? 

Tour Divide looks like it would be some amazing scenery. Thru hiking the Colorado Trail might be more my speed.

I'm starting to give some thought to doing DK50 next spring. Would be something good to work toward. The race day atmosphere there looks awesome.

[mocat]

Probably covered earlier ITT, but I was cruising the website for the Dirty Kanza (or whatever they are calling it now last night). I did not know that the offered a 350+ mile "XL" route. That is freakish. Do the riders stop to sleep in a ditch or something? The 200mi route looks simultaneously beautiful/fascinating and grinding/terrible.

https://www.unboundgravel.com/

yeah the 200 is already bat crap. ted king finished 4th this year only three weeks after breaking his collarbone and having surgery. i can't imagine ever even attempting a 200. XL should maybe be illegal?

i might try to do the 100 next year but i think it's very hard to get in.

have you ever looked into the Tour Divide? 

Tour Divide looks like it would be some amazing scenery. Thru hiking the Colorado Trail might be more my speed.

I'm starting to give some thought to doing DK50 next spring. Would be something good to work toward. The race day atmosphere there looks awesome.

you should look into the bleeding kansas gravelduro for the following reasons:

- it's in mhk
- it's about 75 miles *but* the race is set up where only six timed segments count towards your place in the race. so you can take your time and enjoy the scenery in between those segments
- it's in late september so the likelihood of nice weather is pretty high for KS

[Sandstone Outcropping]

Probably covered earlier ITT, but I was cruising the website for the Dirty Kanza (or whatever they are calling it now last night). I did not know that the offered a 350+ mile "XL" route. That is freakish. Do the riders stop to sleep in a ditch or something? The 200mi route looks simultaneously beautiful/fascinating and grinding/terrible.

https://www.unboundgravel.com/

yeah the 200 is already bat crap. ted king finished 4th this year only three weeks after breaking his collarbone and having surgery. i can't imagine ever even attempting a 200. XL should maybe be illegal?

i might try to do the 100 next year but i think it's very hard to get in.

have you ever looked into the Tour Divide? 

Tour Divide looks like it would be some amazing scenery. Thru hiking the Colorado Trail might be more my speed.

I'm starting to give some thought to doing DK50 next spring. Would be something good to work toward. The race day atmosphere there looks awesome.

you should look into the bleeding kansas gravelduro for the following reasons:

- it's in mhk
- it's about 75 miles *but* the race is set up where only six timed segments count towards your place in the race. so you can take your time and enjoy the scenery in between those segments
- it's in late september so the likelihood of nice weather is pretty high for KS

I was looking at the route map of the Bleeding Kansas you posted a few weeks ago. Looks like it would be a really scenic route. Do you know if it is hard to get a spot in the DK50?

[Catchacold]

Attempted my first bikepacking event a couple weeks ago. Beautiful 350 mile route, I made it 215 miles with 18,000ft gain before calling it.

[Pete]

Damn

[DaBigTrain]

Extremely impressive feat that I would not even try and do in a million years.

[Sandstone Outcropping]

That looks awesome, Catchacold. Well done.

[tdaver]

Nice ride!  I can smell those junipers all the way from here.

[mocat]

wow! incred jealous. nice SC also! how many nights?

[Catchacold]

wow! incred jealous. nice SC also! how many nights?

one night, slept about 5 hours.

24 hours of pedaling, 5 sleeping, and (math math) 8 hours of eating, changing layers, explaining to curious drivers what I was doing out there.

The SC did pretty well, but i guess it wasn't designed to have that much weight on the front. it didn't handle great bombing down that pavement.   

related pro-tip: if you have mechanical brakes, hang your bike vertically to remove any water from the cable housing before riding in freezing temps