Yesterday's trip

Route map.

This is mostly an excuse for me to play around with and introduce those not familiar with it to the Veloroutes mapmaking thingy (hat-tip: Noah of KC Bike Commuting). If you visit the link, you'll see my comments about the particulars of the route.

Additional notes: You'll also see that Veloroutes calculates distance, times and speeds. Due in large measure, I suspect, to construction and fairly heavy traffic (for midday) on 13th, it took me about half an hour to ride this route both ways. So, I averaged less than 10 mph, there and back. But also, I confess to still not feeling especially strong in the legs. I can't outrun cars, I know, but I'm still self-conscious about not wanting to be perceived by motorists as an impediment to car traffic. So far as I could tell, though, they were respectful of my presence.

The optimist in me thinks that, as it sinks in that gas costs will cause many to re-think their transportation options, and given the absence of dedicated bike lanes here in town, cyclists will begin to get more respect from motorists. Let us hope. However, in the official print media, I'd settle for "notice": seeing the many links in Bike Commute Tips Blog to newspaper articles about the recent rise in bike sales and bike-commuting made me curious about whether such articles had appeared in the Wichita Eagle. As far as I could tell, though, the answer to that question is No.

To borrow a phrase, hope for change.