“Another gorgeous weekend called for another long gravel ride. Being familiar most of the gravel roads south of town and northwest towards Lawrence, we decided to mix it up a bit and head out from Spring Hill and come into Lawrence from the south side.

Got an early start on the day from the Spring Hill Elementary parking lot. (I had time to snap a photo of the sunrise since one of my compadres was running a little late)

The route brought us across the dam to the Douglas State Fishing Lake near Baldwin City, KS.

While we shed a couple layers, I was able to snap a shot of the ‘Franken-bike’ leaning on the dam trail gate.

Dipping in and out of the Kaw Valley made for some decent hill climbs peppered throughout the route.

Whats a bike ride without a little dose of irony… First flat of the day came while biking down a sidewalk after a refuel stop in Lawrence.

And the second flat came a couple miles down the road, less than 100 yards past the ‘Pavement Ends’ sign.

The dry conditions rendered our playground a dust bowl every time a car came through.

We found ourselves on portions of the original Santa Fe Trail on the way back east from Lawrence.

Just around the corner from the last picture… We stumbled across a DAR marker north of the Brooklyn town site. Most of the town was destroyed by William Quantrill and other Border Ruffians as they retreated from burning down Lawrence in 1863.

By the end of the day we had rolled over 85 miles. It was perfect day to get a little dusty, and we even got a little history lesson along the way! ”

-Alex F.