Hospital Hill Route Hijack

Rides have been few and far between so far in June. Nebraska weather continues to amaze with rain storms that seemingly target every weekend and any evening that shows a shred of promise of being open for a quick outing. An early June trip south however, yielded blue skies, good coffee and protected roads - not to mention an awesome, yet unconventional route.

Hospital Hill Ride in Kansas City

I ventured down to Kansas City, MO at the beginning of the month for a good friend's wedding, and hoped that some downtime before the festivities would allow for a little two-wheeled fun. With only three hours available to ride, I was glad to be able to recruit my KC native friends Jake and Katie to lead me on the grand city-wide tour.

We met at a cool downtown coffee shop for a quick pre-ride espresso. Heading south across town we rode into the Hospital Hill Half Marathon route, where over 10,000 runners were destroying themselves on as many hills as the organizers could come up with. With the entire route blocked off from auto traffic, we decided to take the opposite lane the entire way. Jake, the formal social media leader at Garmin, and Garmin marathon announcer, was awesome at supporting runners with words of encouragement - knowing many by name and stopping for multiple high fives. Yes, many asked to switch places with him. No, he decided to keep riding. Good move in my opinion.

All in all, that morning was one of those that just everything comes together perfectly. Great weather, route, friends and of course coffee made the day one I won't forget, and hope to be able to do again.