Anderson and Franklin Counties

[troy]

I created this thread to discuss the backroads available in Anderson and Franklin counties. Let's start with a ride report from will_kc!

Reporting in as reqested !

Troy you can stick out your bottom lip now!

here are a few pics.

http://picasaweb.google.com/klr650Will/ ... ndFranklin

Get out your KDOT of Anderson and Franklin ! I don't have a GPS yet. So don't ask....

Route:
North from 100 and Vermont (Anderson) to 700 and Vermont.
700 west to Texas, then North to 800 back east to Vermont. (twistie hills!)
North on Vermont to 1500. (I stopped at Swank Park, see PICASA.)
East 1/2 mile, then north to 1600.
west to wallace road (another twisty hill!)
North on Wallace to black top.
West to Utah, then north to 2000. Ends in a nice twist.
East on 2000 to Wabaunsee, then north again.
Quick west then north twistie to Utah.
Follow Utah into Greeley.
Stop for a soda.
take 169 north for 3/4 mile then exist left onto black top
Turn north on Wabaunsee (for 1/2 mile).
******* Note ************
The min maint road across the rail tracks is a dead end. The loop on the map does not exist.
I circled from all angles. Warning! shooting zone. The guys and kids had guns blazing all over the place. I stopped and talked to the nice gentlemen
*******************
From the rail tracks, take vermont north east and zig-zag until your heading due north.
This is the fun part. The next dead end (Vermont and Butler) is a blast. I put one pic of my bike in the woods on PICASA! Without a GPS and buddies, I stayed on the main trail. There were side trails everywhere!

Once your done with this, back track to 2430 road and Vermont.
Go west on 2430 to Spencer Crossing. (Bridge on the map) I have a picture of a truck in the river. Need I say more!

After all that I just buzzed home....ran out of time.

Enjoy!

[troy]

After Mike & I found some real gem minimum maintenance in Miami Co, I was excited to check out more of the roads down South of KC metro. Will_kc definitely found some great stuff, too! I'm working on a long route that starts in Desoto, KS (for KC and Lawrence-based riders, etc.) and hits all the minimum maintenance, curves, dead-ends, etc I can find in a 150 mile loop. After reviewing the maps and satellite imagery, I'm excited about the prospects! Now, after reading will_kc's report, I'm downright giddy. I need to review his route to see where my route intersects and where I need to modify mine to hit the stuff he found.

By the way, if we do this ride and meet in Desoto, we'll plan to join the HOAME gang for breakfast at Wally's:
http://www.hoame.com/breakfast

[iyeager]

Sounds like a great ride for this Sunday. I'm in.

Ian

[will_kc]

I forgot to mention that the take off point is my house, which is about 25 minutes from Eddies place in Devon. That will give us a loop for Devon, Blue Mound, 100&Vermont...

Will

P.S. I'm gounded until the house is painted

[troy]

Sounds like a great ride for this Sunday. I'm in.

Ian

Did you get a bike?! What did you get?

[iyeager]

Did you get a bike?! What did you get?

I'll give you a hint. It's orange and has two cylinders.

Okay, I'll give. It's an orange Wee-Strom. It's got all the good stuff, too. However, it ate up enough of my money that I didn't have enough to buy Duck's KLX too.

Oh well, that's life, only one bike for me. Much better than no bikes.

It's not officially here yet, the guy is riding it down from Portland as we speak. In fact, he should be about half-way across NE by now.

Ian

[ajayhawkfan]

I forgot to mention that the take off point is my house, which is about 25 minutes from Eddies place in Devon. That will give us a loop for Devon, Blue Mound, 100&Vermont...

Will

P.S. I'm gounded until the house is painted

Will we need to put together a loop from KC that goes to the area's your described then to the Osage River crossings and then back to KC. I think it would be something everyone would enjoy. There is the KS Dakar north of KC. We could create the KS Baja or the KS 250.

[will_kc]

Eddie,
Sounds good to me.

I already found a two track road change, just trying to avoid the asphalt work on Hwy 31. We can connect at the asphalt twistie south of Blue Mound.

How about a connection from DeSoto to Hillsdale (fuel and food on Old KC Road by the dam).
Hillsdale to Rantoul,
Rantoul to lane,
Lane to Kincaid (24 hour credit card fuel at the Coop, Bill's barn for repairs and escape).
Kincaid to Devon,
Then scoot home on the east side of 69?

Whatcha' say Troy?

[troy]

Sounds great! The overall distance may be too aggressive for many riders. Would we be talking about 200+ miles to do a full loop? Probably. 200 miles is no biggie if on a larger (more comfortable) machine and you keep moving, but doing the rough stuff and a few dead ends and a few minutes here and there playing at creek crossings, etc...it adds up to a really long day.

I think building it as several pieces so people can put sections together to make a longer or shorter route is a good idea.

In the near future, the only possibility for me to ride is Sep 22 or 23, but that is probably not going to happen. I'm visiting family in Wichita this weekend and Sep 28 - 30 is the big Ozarks ride. So don't wait for me, but do keep finding the good stuff for me!

Oh, and get that house painted!

[troy]

Bill, per your directions in this post:
http://www.rideforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=438#p3218

I have constructed this route: (The tool allows you to zoom in/out and pan as well as download as GPX for GPS units.)
http://www.marengo-ltd.com/map2/index.php?route=1464

Does this look correct? In particular, I think I found the dead end road and the river crossing that looked like so much fun! There is one curvy section of road that leads into Greeley from the SE that I'd want to modify your route with....did you ride that road? You'd have to backtrack to the East to hit it, then N and W into Greeley.

It's funny how roads are named on the maps. Looking at Google, Yahoo, and the KS County PDF, some road names are different on all three!

[will_kc]

Troy,

The map looks right-on. The back tracking to the east and then west heading into Greeley was an attempt to pick up as many twists as a possible, one almost goes through a farmers front yard . Can you add a way point and note at about Vermont and 1150 rd? That is where Swank park and the Sugar Valley grave yard appear.

Your dead end at lane is right on! That is definitely a hard spot to translate. All the roads are at really tight angles. That place is dueling bangos scary once your in the woods. Low limbs, spiders, huge ruts...

Now I need to get a GPS and see if the download data works. I've noticed a few twists that need to be ridden.....

[troy]

With the Marengo tool, you can't add any notes or other points besides route points. You can name your points, but you only get 6 characters. I added point #8 to mark the Graveyard/park---does it look to be in the correct location. I named it "SgrGrv"

We may have a miscommunication regarding the road into Greeley. (I may be the only one confused.) I was trying to say that a road you seem to have missed is this:
http://www.marengo-ltd.com/map2/index.php?route=1468
Or, you did hit this road, and I misunderstood your written directions? It looks like a fun road.

[will_kc]

Troy,

My directions confused you, but I like the new route better. My map marks were for driving Trego Rd. due north into Greely. I'll give the new route in (super twistie!) and try that.

[troy]

My directions confused you, but I like the new route better. My map marks were for driving Trego Rd. due north into Greely. I'll give the new route in (super twistie!) and try that.

I modified this route to include that twistie:
http://www.marengo-ltd.com/map2/index.php?route=1464