Kansas City ain't flat!

[emily_in_nc]

Sheesh! I thought we were moving to a FLAT area, or relatively so, anywho. Today out west of the city in the Shawnee area, we hit huge hill after huge hill. I actually had to walk up one as I couldn't make it up even in my granny, and many times I was in my easiest gear in back (25t) and in front (30t) and still struggling with super low cadence. But on the back side, I hit 40 mph going downhill, and I am a lightweight, so that's pretty darn good -- especially since I was coasting. Wheeeeeeeeeeeee! :D

I'm wondering just how far west of the city I'd have to ride to actually hit "the flats". Anyone know? ;-)

[marni]

not to be discouraging and trying to be humorous but flatness is relative and nowhere is really flat. Even if it is totally flat it can feel uphill or at least a false flat where you have to keep down shifting because of wind, fatigue. etc.

Keep riding the hills, they make the flats more truly flat.
congrats on the downhill speed, I hit my best ever speed last summer on the Mississippi ride- a whole 36 mph. I was afraid to let myself go faster. I kept envisioning a rock in my path and what would happen. Basically a coward I gues. On the other hand it did go on for about 4 miles so at least it was long enough to remember.

[Bethany1]

It isn't "flat" out this way. LOL. I'm two hours north of KC and it's all rolling hills.

[rebeccaC]

Organized rides, centuries, brevets etc, sometimes have route elevation maps on their websites. Google kansas city bikemap.net and you should get some rides with elevation maps too. That would at least give you some idea of the terrain of different areas around you. Hopefully someone else knows of other bicycle route sites that give elevation data. I used Strava this year to look at those rides around me for some good new routes for my training rides...but then i look for hills :)

I learned the midwest isn't flat on my ragbrai adventure :D

[Melalvai]

I did Bike Across Kansas last year and we never did find the flats. What we found is that on the west edge, the hills last for 4 miles. If you look at the terrain map of Kansas on google maps, you'll see that most of it isn't really flat.

And when you do get out to where it is flatter, you have the winds to battle. No matter what direction you are going, it seems like you have a stiff breeze.

[spokewench]

You didn't get an inkling when the area you are living in is called "Shawnee Hills"? Yes, Toto you are in Kansas, but not rural Kansas! The Flint "hills" are just to the west of KC, so again "hills". It's flat in central and western Kansas, but have fun with the wind!

[Bike Writer]

Hey I have family out in that general vicinity. I'll have to find the name of the small town they are near. They have a horse farm and each time I've visited for reunions, funerals and weddings every place we went was fairly hilly.

[Deborajen]

Yes, Kansas City is hilly! Seems like Olathe is a little flatter than farther into the metro area - ? If you want to get to the flat areas, west isn't the direction to go. You'd have to go pretty far southwest. Between Wichita and Hutchinson and between Wichita and Liberal, it's all pretty flat. It doesn't always feel like it when riding because there are some looooong, slow hills - and the darn wind when you're out in the open hits you relentlessly. But you can see for miles across open fields.

[emily_in_nc]

You didn't get an inkling when the area you are living in is called "Shawnee Hills"? Yes, Toto you are in Kansas, but not rural Kansas! The Flint "hills" are just to the west of KC, so again "hills". It's flat in central and western Kansas, but have fun with the wind!

We aren't living in Shawnee Hills, though; in fact, I've never heard of that, but I believe I have ridden them now! :D We are actually living in Prairie Village. Most of our rides take us to Overland Park, Merriam, Mission, and Shawnee, depending on where we're going. I just had no idea of the terrain. My NC relatives are amazed too, as all thought Kansas was flat. Wind, I expected, and yes, it is windy, though through the residential areas, we are sheltered from it somewhat. It's a beautiful area to ride, just not what I expected! It's also much greener and lusher than I thought it would be, with huge trees and many parks. Love that!

We drove up to Weston, MO yesterday and hiked at Weston Bend State Park. Gorgeous, but again, nowhere near flat. Then walked into the city of Weston, also hilly.

I absolutely love this part of the country for many reasons, and the good thing about it not being flat is that I'll be in much better shape than I expected from walks and rides here!

[spokewench]

yep, it is flat there. That is basically where my family is from. Just north of Wichita, see Newton, go North to a tiny, tiny town called Goessel. FLAT

[spokewench]

I lived in Prairie Village when I was a baby. You see all the trees now? Well, I may be showing my age, but it was a "prairie" new subdivision then with no trees. Amazing what half a life time will do!

[emily_in_nc]

I lived in Prairie Village when I was a baby. You see all the trees now? Well, I may be showing my age, but it was a "prairie" new subdivision then with no trees. Amazing what half a life time will do!

So true. The couple we are house-sitting for left a book here on the history of Prairie Village (very interesting read with many great photographs). There are quite a few pictures of what PV looked like back then. The book stated that every household was either given (or sold at a very low cost) a couple of trees to put up in their front yards and a couple to put up along the streetside of the sidewalk. Those little trees are now the tall, full, shade trees that are everywhere around. It took good vision to look towards the future and build a city like this! So different from what I am used to in new subdivisions where they come in and cut down all the trees to build houses.

I also feel comforted by the many large trees meaning that this is not a tornado-prone part of the state. My parents were glad to hear that as well!

[Deborajen]

yep, it is flat there. That is basically where my family is from. Just north of Wichita, see Newton, go North to a tiny, tiny town called Goessel. FLAT

Goessel - I'm pretty sure I've been through there before, but I don't remember for sure. I'm familiar with the area. We were just in Hesston weekend before last to play golf - that's only a few miles away. Wasn't Goessel hit, or got a very close call, by the Hesston tornado back in 1990? That was one of the biggest tornadoes on record.

[Deborajen]

So true. The couple we are house-sitting for left a book here on the history of Prairie Village (very interesting read with many great photographs). There are quite a few pictures of what PV looked like back then. The book stated that every household was either given (or sold at a very low cost) a couple of trees to put up in their front yards and a couple to put up along the streetside of the sidewalk. Those little trees are now the tall, full, shade trees that are everywhere around. It took good vision to look towards the future and build a city like this! So different from what I am used to in new subdivisions where they come in and cut down all the trees to build houses.

I also feel comforted by the many large trees meaning that this is not a tornado-prone part of the state. My parents were glad to hear that as well!

Our neighborhood is like that, too. The houses are 50-60 years old, and each yard on our block had a pair of honey locust trees in the front yard. A lot of them have been cut down and/or replaced, but some are still standing. One of my older neighbors, who is the original owner of her house, has told me she remembers when the block was a big open field and goats grazed on it. It's interesting to picture the stages it's gone through.

I hate to say it, but all of tornado alley is tornado prone. Mature trees are really a bad thing because they can fall on you. BUT - I've lived in Kansas all my life and have never been hit by a tornado. Very few people I know have actually been through one. Just so you know what to do - and it sounds like you do - The odds are you won't go through one.

[spokewench]

Close, but no, the town is pretty much the same as it was when I was little. They tore the old church down (which I thought was sad), and the old house where my Mom was born was bought, torn down and a new house built. It needed to be dozed, but it is sad to see the old historic stuff get pulled down. Yes, you were very close to Goessel.

[emily_in_nc]

I hate to say it, but all of tornado alley is tornado prone. Mature trees are really a bad thing because they can fall on you. BUT - I've lived in Kansas all my life and have never been hit by a tornado. Very few people I know have actually been through one. Just so you know what to do - and it sounds like you do - The odds are you won't go through one.

We have lived through tornado watches/warnings in NC, but here at least there's a basement with a concrete bunker area that would be a really safe place to go in a warning situation, so I actually feel safer here than some of the places we've lived in NC. I also recently read an article on weather.com that listed cities in order of how many tornadoes had hit over the past so many decades. KC was actually quite a ways down the list. Many more Florida cities are much more tornado prone than KC. Check it out -- KC is #33 on the list:

http://www.weather.com/blog/weather/8_22492.html

[Deborajen]

Interesting - It's always surprising to see how much things add up some places. I saw an article a week or so ago about towns that have been hit twice by EF-5 tornadoes and the town of Sedgwick, KS, which is just north of Wichita, was hit in the late 1800's and again in the early 1900's - but not since, or nothing big, anyway. And Moore, OK just can't seem to catch a break. But on the other hand, Greensburg, KS was a quiet, older town which seemed "safe." Then seven years ago they were hit by a tornado that nearly erased them off the map.

They can hit anywhere and in this part of the country they're more likely to be BIG. But they are usually pretty localized - definitely more so than a hurricane, so the odds are you won't get hit by one. And I feel safer with a basement, too - our previous house didn't have one, so it was a priority when we bought this one.