Octoginta 2007 Route MapSunday was the 38th edition of a ride that has become a late-season classic in this part of the country, the Octoginta, hosted by the Lawrence Bicycle Club.

This was my first Octoginta, and it was a fun ride. A friend and I drove from Olathe to Lawrence and arrived at about 7:30 am, got ourselves checked in, and waited around for the mass start at 8:30. The sky was overcast and there were occasional hesitant sprinkles. It was at this time I realized that I’d forgotten to bring a plastic baggy to store the camera in case of rain. So rather than risk ruining the camera in the event of a downpour, I elected to leave it behind. So no Octoginta photos for me, alas.

And that was a shame, because there was certainly some beautiful pictures to be had as the route crossed Clinton Lake dam, Lone Star Lake, and rural Douglas County.

I especially enjoyed Douglas County 1029, Shawnee Heights Road and Shadden Road, and the five-mile stretch on Rafner Road. The one thing these three sections had in common was that they all had a tailwind.

Yes, the wind was a major factor all day long, with a strong, and occasionally gusty, 15 MPH wind coming from the south. And as the route twisted through the hills of Douglas and Shawnee Counties, we’d spend a long period pedaling into the teeth of it, then an all-too-short period with the wind at our backs.

The section on Shadden Road was particularly thrilling, with perhaps two-and-a-half miles of mostly downhill riding and a friendly wind. I entered that section with a cumulative average of 14.4 MPH, and ended that run with a 14.9 MPH average - I was cranking pretty hard, and hitting a maximum speed of 42.0 MPH.

The road surfaces were hit-and-miss, with a mixture of smooth blacktop, rough chip-and-seal, and in places an even rougher surface that was nearly as loose and rough as a gravel road.

Traffic was generally light, with the exception of a few tough miles at the eastern end of Clinton Lake and heading back into Lawrence. This also happened to be when the rain started. It never really rained hard enough to break out the rain jacket, but it was enough to make me take off the sunglasses, turn on the taillight, and take special care with stops and turns. The streets in Lawrence were especially treacherous - one cyclist ahead of me nearly went down as he tried to stop at a light, his back wheel skidding out from under him on the wet pavement. He kept his balance, but was unable to stop. Luckily for him, there wasn’t any high-speed cross-traffic bearing down on him.

The Sunflower Bike Shop provided a big breakfast of scrambled eggs, french toast, and coffee at the first SAG, and the Lawrence Bicycle Club provided a late lunch at the end of the ride, with a think and rich minestrone soup and some wonderfully hearty bread from the Great Harvest Bread Company.

The 80-mile route came up a little short - my cyclometer showed it as 77.69 miles, and a ride time of 5 hours and 22 minutes, for an average speed of 14.47 MPH. Other than that short section on Shadden Road, I wasn’t really pushing it, so I was happy enough with that speed, particularly considering that I was having some knee issues towards the last third of the ride. I think my seat was set just a bit too far back, and that eventually caused some pain under my left knee.

But it was still a nice ride and a fun day. I’d like to go back and ride some of those roads again, perhaps parking at Clinton lake and try some of the paved side roads we passed - there’s plenty of beautiful country to explore!

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