Cliff Drive, Beginning of Fall

Look Ma No Brakes - Tweed Ride

Saturday saw tweed in abundance as vintage bikes made an appearance at the Colonnade and along Cliff Drive. Participants from as far away as Columbia, Mo. came to town to participate... above the riders head off to Reservoir Hill... from there they went along Cliff Drive to the Elmwood entrance and then back to the Museum.
Above, Lane Wood, Eric Rogers, and Mark Rainey, the event organizer, relaxed before the start of the ride.
Above, Nancy McDonald and Caesar.
Above.... representing the Spokesmens Vintage Bicycle Club of Independence L - R Mark Christian, Lance and Clifford Deel. Below, the Lawwwells Brian, Logan, Parker and Jana came in from Lee's Summit.



Above and below Tres Wood from Excelsior Springs atop and next to the "Bonebraker Rideable" which is notable for its solid rubber front tire and NO brakes. You really have to plan ahead on that one.

There were contests for best dressed and best bike and a raffle for an older bike.

Above, judging the entrants... Northeast's own Malenda Shahane, right, was taking names.... she later rode with the other participants.

Above, women's mustache contest.... below.. they're off......






See ALL the pictures here: http://gallery.me.com/dremley#100517&bgcolor=black&view=grid

Cliff Drive Ruins Dos

In my first "ruins" post (http://hyperblogal.blogspot.com/2010/11/if-walls-could-talk.html) I showed images of structural remains at the foot of Gooseneck (below the Museum along Cliff Drive). This post shows ruins along Paseo just south of Gate 1 to Cliff Drive not far from Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences.. Above old brick foundation...
Above and below, stone walls.

Above and below inside the old walls. According to an old Sanborn map this building was a brick foundry....



Above, old doorway.
These photos were taken on a warm day in January 1998. Shot with an F4 on T-Max 400.... not my favorite film. For you old timers my favorite film was Panatomic-X... Slow as molasses... but beautiful, detailed images... perfect for studio work too. Kodak discontinued it in favor of T-Max 100 which was the beginning of the end for Kodak as far as I'm concerned.
Above is Hyper with daughter Kelly, then aged 9... for scale.... not far from these ruins are piles of very interesting and ornate rubble... Kelly sits atop a column remnant below...

Above Kelly and friend, Brad, a fellow bluff explorer.

Whatever this used to be it was rather grand.

Another set of remains above.

If Walls Could Talk

Below Cliff Drive you can still find remnants of structures that pre-date the creation of North Terrace Park now Kessler Park. A lot of large stone walls remain, foundations of other buildings, even the remains of streets. This is a small sample of what exists... after the bush honeysuckle drop their leaves I'll venture forth to get more photos.
Above, old foundation, below, who knows. I'm gonna go with Aztec.

This large wall seemingly has no purpose that I can see.... may have been intended for erosion control.... but, in lieu of knowing for sure, I'm going to, once again, go with Aztec.

What A Difference A Day Makes....

The 110-year-old Colonnade above familiar to all who grew up or now live in Northeast KC. It's getting some much needed TLC from neighborhood residents and KC Parks and Recreation. Below... a TINY part of the trash and brush cleared off the hill behind the structure.

Above... before the clearing... below.... after the clearing. 20 neighborhood folks helped along with a crew of 7 from Parks and Rec...

Below... the view now from Cliff Drive.

The view up (south). Below, some branches and brush remain to be picked up by Parks and Rec Monday. Chainsaws, pruning sheers, and elbow grease used in large amounts.
All the stumps of the invasive bush honeysuckle and scrub trees were coated with a chemical which moves down to the roots so we don't have to do this again....There's still more work to do. More brush clearing, graffiti removal and stair restoration... but a huge beginning has been made. We WILL reclaim our neighborhood.