I often have the pleasure of riding my bicycle in the Flint Hills of Kansas. Rolling. Rugged. Steep and flat. And in the spring, emerald green. As I pedal the miles away I am often torn between riding for time and miles or, as what usually wins out, is that I ride and stop, ride and stop, ride and stop and wonder. The rides are for thinking, exercise and prayer. The stops are to photograph, observe and to wonder.
Fascination has always clouded my logical thinking when I come upon structures that time has forgotten. Of course, this isn’t true with just the Flint Hills…yet the wonder is especially amplified as I pass through this rugged land.
An unnamed tributary of Buckeye Creek flows over an otherwise dry road.When you look back in time you see the men wrestling with the cattle to get them where they want them. Note the storage barn built above flood stage of the creek from the previous picture.A small concrete foundation remains. These flowers remain. The family and their stories are long since gone…as are the integrity of the structures they left behind.Riding in the Flint Hills is a surprise to riders from all over the world. The endless stacatto of each rise and fall in a cloudless sky…humidity rising.Some see this and think…Kansas, boring. Yet when I ride I feel at one with my surroundings and the God that made me. This is a time to reconnect with our soul. No stop lights. No cars dangerously close. Only the sound of an endless array of birds.
Husband. Father. Bicyclist. Jayhawks basketball fan. Real estate guy.
I am the father of four children, one of which succumbed to mental health issues at twenty years old. Along side my work in the real estate world I fight to bring awareness to the struggles of people with disabilities and mental health issues and for the families that love them. And since two of our children are adopted, that is an issue near and dear to my heart, as well.
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One thought on “Flint Hills, Kansas Gravel Riding”
Fired up to ride the Flint Hills! Great piece! Love the pictures.
Fired up to ride the Flint Hills! Great piece! Love the pictures.