Pedalers Jamboree

We drove to Columbia last Friday night and while Riley hung with Soula & Mary, I went on my first organized Katy Trail. I tagged along with Jami, a friend from work, and her boyfriend.

We meet at Flat Branch park Saturday morning, checked in our camping gear and hit the trails.

Eight miles into the trip Lori, the former girl scout, bailed Jami out with a spare tube and bike tools when her tire went flat from dry rot. Nathan provided the labor.

Our first scheduled stop was at Katfish Katy's in Huntsdale. An awesome blues band was playing for all the bikers who had stopped for a cold beverage.

From Huntsdale to Rochport the Trail follows the Missouri River along the bluffs. It is especially beautiful in October when the trees are in full fall color. This day, however, was hot and humid. Here's the three of us posing with a cave along the trail. I wonder what all lives in there?!?

In Rocheport we had an over-priced lunch that tasted mediocre. A band was playing outside but most of the time we were inside standing in line. Nathan picked up some more spare tubes in case Jami got another flat.

Just past Rocheport is the old train tunnel. The air was refreshingly cool in there. Look how big our muscles are after riding 20 miles.

We were headed towards the bridge into Booneville on the clearly marked Katy Trail when some guy said we were going the wrong way. Jami followed the lost soul while Nathan and I confidently rode ahead. In this picture, Nathan is waiting for Jami because she took the long route by trusting a stranger instead of her boyfriend.

We had to ride around Booneville for a while before finding Kemper Park. Our camping gear was waiting for us so we picked out our spots, set up tents, and headed for the YMCA to shower.
Nathan, Jami & I then went searching for a dinner that was better than our lunch. We found an Italian place called Napolis and it was good, but the margaritas were better. We washed it down with some hand dipped ice cream and headed back to the campground just in time to see the main stage headliner, Big Smith. They are a hillbilly band from Springfield and very talented playing a wide variety of instruments. At one point they harmonized and it sounded like a full orchestra.

The band quit at 10:30pm and I headed to my tent exhausted from the heat and 35 miles on a low-end Schwinn hybrid. Just as I was about to fall asleep, Tim from the next door tent, came over to see if I'd join him for a drink at Glenn's bar. I graciously declined, then listened to an owl hooting in the wood, then listened to several tired inebriated bikers imitating owls, and then fell asleep.

I woke at 7am and took the Schwinn in search for caffeine. I bought a donut and coffee with a double shot of espresso at the local Conoco and chilled by the tent while others tore down their campsites.

We were almost the last to leave at 9am. Tim decided to ride back with us and a few miles out we caught up with Josh, another guy traveling alone who had also pitched his tent near us. It was nice to hit the unshaded part of the trail (between New Franklin and Rocheport) before the clouds broke and it became steamy hot. We passed The Roadhouse too early for the first band and when we came upon Les Bourgeois Winery we found we were 2 hours early for their first band also. It would have been nice to enjoy the A-Frame for a bit but instead we were entertained by a dog tormenting a long black snake.

This pic is taken from the cliff at Bourgeois with the I-70 bridge over the Mighty Mo in the background.

We hit the trail again at 11:00 and decided slow down so we wouldn't be ahead of all the bands start times. Josh decided to stay behind and hang out at Bourgeois. We slowed our pace to under 10 mph and still missed all the bands. We rolled into McBaine around noon and had lunch at Lucy's dive. A burger & fries and diet rootbeer never tasted so good in my life!

This picture shows Jami & Nathan picking out a Pink Floyd song on the jukebox.

After lunch we left jumped back on the Trail and rode the Boone County maintained MKT trail back into Columbia. I broke from the group at Forum Blvd and rode directly to the family restaruant, Angelo's, to get my truck. Then I went back to Flat Branch to pick up my camping gear. Jami, Nathan, & Tim were just leaving so we went and had ice cream at Sparky's to officially end the trip.

Back at Soula's the gang was taking an afternoon swim. Riley & I packed our belongings, had dinner at Angelo's then headed back to KC for the real world.

It was a great trip and I hope to do it again next year. Word of caution if you are planning on participating next year ... there is no support on the trail. Water is provided at the start and finishing points only, and no bike support during the ride. The entry fee pays for the bands and transporting your camping gear.

Tin Pan Ali and volleyball

Riley loves and excels at two activities: theater and volleyball. The weekend of April 23-26 was the culmination of both season for her.

Back in February she tried out for the school musical and received a minor part in Tin Pan Ali. The cast and crew rehearsed countless hours and finally opening night arrived. After seeing the fall play, my expectations were not very high. Lets face it, these are 11-13 yr olds, and singing and dancing in-step with others isn't the easiest thing to do especially for someone going thru puberty.

Wow, I was pleasantly surprised! It was very impressive 2-hr production with great choreography and vocals. The story line was entertaining being similar to Aladdin but set in the roaring 20's with gangsters. In the end, Ali Baba gets the girl. Riley's part was a cop with 6 lines and part of the ensemble for most of Act II. She played her part well.

The kids showed dedication practicing 3-4 hours a day for the last few weeks. The only pictures I got were at the cast party. Here they are having pizza watching the show on video. If you look closely, you can see Riley sitting with her friends in the back.

This very same weekend was the Silver Regional volleyball tournament. Riley's team placed 2nd of the 17 teams that came to prove they were the best silver team in the region. Of the 110 silver teams in the USA Volleyball region representing Kansas and Western Missouri, they finished ranked 7th overall. Not bad. The team that beat them at regionals, Wichita Power, was a strong team that challenged them. Seldom did they play teams of this caliber during the season. I'm glad they registered silver, but I do wish they could have played more Gold tournaments. I'm confident they were better players and more skilled than a handful of the 17 teams in the Gold Division.

I didn't get any pictures of the regional tournament, but you can see their official awards picture on the HOA website. Scroll down to "12 Silver Runner Ups"

May

Is it really May already? After today there are only 9 days of school left for Liberty. I guess since the weather has been so cold and rainy, I really wasn't thinking that the pool will be opening in 12 days. My first outdoor triathlon is in less than 6 days! Talk about some cold lake water!
Okay, I've really neglected my blog. I update my status on Facebook a few times a week so maybe I just assume people know whats going on in my life. But I must remind myself that I'd like this to be a documentary of my life. What happens to me is not as important as how I react to it ... so lets backtrack to the weekend of March 28th.
Unless you count Riley's "camping" trip to Tan-Tar-A with girl scouts when she was 7, this was her first weekend away from home with a group of other kids. The Tan-Tar-A thing doesn't really count because she was only gone for 24-hours and she was with one of her good friend's parents.
Our brave youth pastor at church took the kids down to Silver Dollar City for Christian Youth Weekend for a weekend of rockin fun and fellowship. At first Riley didn't want to go without me, but she changed her mind. Altogether 14 youth and 5 adult chaperons made the trek to southern Missouri. The convoy left Friday evening and returned Sunday evening and I don't really know what happened in between. All I know is that they stayed at a church near Branson with only one shower, it drizzled cold rain for most of the time they were there, and Riley came home with new independence and deeper faith in God. Watched the video they made.

In KC we got almost 5" of snow that weekend. At least they only had rain to deal with in Branson. I'm told most of the rides at SDC shut down because of the temperature so everyone received a voucher for free admission in 2009.

So what did mom do with her free weekend? Something I don't do often ... have relaxing dinner with friends and no kids. Saturday morning, I had my own form of fellowship and met some girlfriends (the mom's club) at Paneras for some coffee. I watched Mizzou barely miss getting in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament, and I did a five-mile run on my treadmill, my longest ever. (Had to cancel that bike ride up at Smithville lake because of the SNOW!)