Maze Boy Ride #2 (MBR2) Little Blue Trace Seg #15

Seg #15 Little Blue Trace: 5/9/13 (MBR2)

Start	Lee’s Summit, MO	N  39.14915W-94.31562	N-S miles 9.1*
End	Raytown, MO	N   39.00784W-94.17176	Trl lgth 16.1 Ride 32.3mi

 

One year ago, Chris, Geoff and I were ferried over to Anniston, Alabama to complete the Chief Ladiga-Silver Comet trail. This was Maze Boy Ride #1 (MBR1)The original plan for MBR2 was for me to bike one way and Chris and/or Geoff to ride roughly half way and then ride back to the car and drive to pick me up at the trail's end. Once it was clear that Chris could not participate in MBR2; he was still suffering from hernia surgery just two days prior, he had to stay home to recuperate. The good thing was the hole in his stomach muscle was small enough that repair could be done with suture alone---no mesh or other devices needed.  So I did another rain pounding drive with nasty trucks to Lee’s Summit, Missouri. By the time I reached the Iowa-Missouri border, the rain had let up and clear skies appeared for the rest of the day.

The Little Blue Trace Trail follows the course of the Little Blue River for 11 miles through the Little Blue Trace Nature Reserve. The trail serves as recreational and commuting trail for residents in the Lee’s Summit and Raytown, Missouri suburban communities east of Kansas City. I think my dyslexia lead to a two hour delay in finding the northern trail head.  Dixie, as I fondly refer to my GPS co-pilot, tracked my coordinates to an area of Rednecksville in the boonies. She kept me going to areas where all she could say was; “You are currently in an area where step by step directions are unavailable. Follow the arrow on the screen”. Well Dixie, that does not help when there arrow doesn’t appear to point to anything. So when I ended up in an area where NRA, No Trespassing, Keep out and other uninviting signs populated ever fence, gate and pole, I knew I must be in the wrong area. But just for spite I decided to get out of the car and inspect the small print below the “Keep Out” sign. I was sure the gate was put barricading the trail. As I read the fine print stating, “And this means you”. A wiry old codger pulled up in his rusted-  out Buick LaSabre with one bent wiper. “Hey” he said with a gap tooth grimace. “What ya doin’ har?” “Looking for the Little Blue Bike Trail I said”. “Aint nar bike tray rund har---all private prop”. After a few apologies from me, he started gabbing about the weather, where I was from and so on. I decided he enjoyed having someone to chat with so it was hard to excuse myself. I slowly eased myself back on the road, with him chatting the whole time. I could still see his lips moving in my rear view mirror a hundred feet down the road.

Using maps and asking folks, two hours later I finally found the northern trail head of the Little Blue Trace.  What beautiful setting especially in the spring time. The trail is mostly paved paralleling the Little Blue River. The lush grasses were an unusually velvet green, almost cloud-like. With large bright yellow patches of the wild mustard and bunches of purple radiating from the wild phlox beneath the trees, the scene was set for a beautiful ride.

 

Some of the beautiful wild flowers found along
the Little Blue Trace Trail in NW Missouri

Since I took so long to find this trail, I decided I would not have time to drive another hundred miles south to ride the Frisco-Highline Trail near Springfield, Missouri. So Inside of hiring a cab to get back to the trail head, I decided to ride sixteen additional miles back. I had time to kill waiting for Geoff’s Kansas City flight to touch down from LA. It was a good workout and enjoyable. Geoff’s flight was delayed until 10:30 CDT. That made for a late drive to Lola, Kansas. I was glad Geoff was not as tired, it was 8:30 for him, and was willing to drive. I hate driving at night. It was 1 a.m. by the time we hit the rack, making for a short night.