Wow, the cold weather is really coming in on full force! Will that stop us from going out and enjoying a Sunday Funday bike ride? Oh H. E. (double hockey sticks) NO! It was cloudy and a brisk 27 degrees (F) when we parked at our usual spot in Westport. We unloaded the bikes and made our trek to The Gaf. With our toes and fingers nearly numb, we had a couple of Irish Coffees to work us up. By the time we finished, the sun finally started to come up and  it warmed up to a warm 32 degrees. OK… still not warm, but warmer.  To get back out and get in some more riding time, we headed back towards the Plaza and stopped in at O’Dowd’s for lunch.  You can’t have lunch without dessert (!), so we made our way to The Cheesecake Factory for some cheesecake and drinks.  By this time the sun had begun it’s descent, so we decided to bike back to our vehicle in Westport and called it a day.  In all it was a great day, and it felt oh so good to be back out on our bikes! It had been a few weeks, and we were really missing it.  The holiday season is upon us, and things inevitably grow busier.  Hopefully we’ll be lucky enough to have more sunshine, because now we know the cold isn’t enough to hold us back! It’s fun to bundle up and get out to enjoy the day and breathe in some fresh air and clear our heads.

M&C

The first Spooks and Spokes Halloween Ride was fun, and we would say it was a success! Starting out at Grinder’s, there were 17 riders that gathered. We made our way up to The Filling Station, and unfortunately 2 riders had to drop out. One had to go to work and the other was not confident in their bike that they had just purchased. After a brief stop  for some coffee, we made our way down to the Plaza to show off the costumes, and also to make drivers aware of cyclist on the streets. We had a good time waving and shouting “Happy Halloween!” to passers-by, pedestrians and motorists; all joined in on the shouting and honking. It was a great time! We made a stop at O’Dowd’s to enjoy a quick drink and then up to McCoy’s for some lunch. Finally we made our way back to Grinder’s where we enjoyed celebratory drinks and a much-needed Chili bomb pizza.

In all, it was a fun ride and the weather was great. Next year we will plan on more of a bicycle ride and fewer stops. The stops were fun, but getting out and enjoying the bicycle is what it’s all about! Thanks to all that showed up and we hope to make it more fun next year!

We are excited to invite you to our first Spooks and Spokes Halloween Bicycle Ride! Costumes are not required, although we’ll be dressed up and encourage you to do the same. We’ll be meeting outside of Grinder’s on Locust between 18th and 19th Street. We will head to The Filling Station for a quick cup of Joe before winding our way to the Plaza to parade our Halloween attire. From there we will head to Westport and will stop in at McCoy’s for lunch. After lunch we will head back to Grinders for some spirits. The more the merrier, so please feel free to invite anyone you wish! Remember, this is a fun ride, and no one will get left behind; we will be riding casually. Hope to see you Sunday!

Below is a link to the route that has been proposed:

Spokes and Spooks!

You can also go here and RSVP to the event page on Facebook! Hope to see you all there!!

Facebook Event Page

Well the long awaited for day had finally arrived!  We had finished restoring our bicycles in the nick of time; between my chainring and headset and Christopher’s cotter pins, we were working on the finishing touches right up until Thursday night.  We had just enough time to take them for a spin on Friday to work out the kinks and get them ready for the ride Saturday morning.  The weather forecast originally called for cold and rainy, but the day ended up sunny and warm with a high of 90 degrees!  We met up with some friends and family at Jack Gage for breakfast, parked on the Plaza, and then rode our bikes to the meeting point at the JC Nichols Fountain.  14 riders made it out that morning dressed in their finest, along with some very “real” and fake moustaches.  Due to the rain the night before, we opted for street-side riding as opposed to the Trolley Trail in an effort to avoid puddles and mud.  We took that into Brookside and made a pit-stop for coffee at The Roasterie.  From there we proceeded to Family Bicycles at 75th and Wornall to show off our attire and visit some friends (and also made an attempt to tighten Christopher’s cotter pins.) The only trouble we had was that his pins kept coming loose and needed to be tightened every couple of miles.  We made our way back through the beautiful neighborhoods to end up back on the Plaza at O’Dowds.  We had some cocktails and a light lunch and enjoyed the beautiful day atop the balcony.  We even had a chance to light our pipes!  All in all, the first Moustache Ride was a great success, and we look forward to next year’s ride.  We hope you’ll join us!  

Mandy & Christopher

***The Kansas City Tweed Ride has been rescheduled for April 30th at 10:00am.  We will be participating and invite all of you to come along!  Please let us know if you’re interested!

 

 

Hey All, Christopher here.
This Sunday we needed to take it VERY VERY easy. Mandy just ran the Kansas City marathon the day before and needless to say, her legs were still a bit sore, but as stubborn as she is, she still wanted to get out and ride around a little bit. Granted, a little bike riding will definitely help to get out the lactic acid. So we got up fairly early and headed out to Westport to our usual spot. BUT, instead of coffee, a Bloody Mary sounded much better. So we hopped on down to one80, a quaint bar in the middle of Westport. Our friend Brent, who was recovering from a hangover, wasn’t too excited about joining us for a Bloody Mary, until he ordered one and realized they were yummy. This set the tone for the day. After having two Bloody Mary’s there, we went on down to the Bunker to do a little shopping. Upon walking back to the car with the merchandise we had, Brent informed us that McCoy’s had great Raspberry Wheat beer. Yup, we stopped in to have a pitcher. Finally, after 2 Bloody Mary’s and one glass of beer, we were able to get on our bikes and head to the Plaza. We probably rode about half way through the Plaza when Brent mentioned that a cigar sounded good. A bell went off in my head and I made a b-line to Diebels, knowing they had the best cigars. We purchased the cigars, but then needed a good place to smoke them. Hmm, where would a good open air spot to enjoy these? Where else but O’Dowds of course! So we went to O’Dowds to have a Guinness and enjoy our cigars. No, worries though, we did order some food. We finally got out to do some riding before the end of the day. We managed to get in about 5 miles but like I said, it needed to be an easy day for Mandy’s legs.

As always, we had a great time! Damn, I love our Sunday Fundays!