Gregg here: Bob called today to both report on the latest and to gauge how hurt my feelings might be based on his last commentary. I told him that he hadn't used good judgment in criticizing me so openly and before the finish of this adventure since I still have editorial control and can easily insert a ton of disparaging content! But, then again, this is his forum, not mine and with all that I have on him, far be it for me to not take pity on the guy.
Given Bob's adamant stance that he shouldn't cheat any miles out of the ride, he left early Sunday morning to ride about 40 miles so that he could make up the difference that he described in his earlier post. He rode several paths including one that was adjacent to a reservoir, called Dam Road. With a few wrong turns and other adventures, he got in his 40 or so miles and late in the afternoon headed south towards Colorado Springs, a distance that he estimated to be 70 miles. He had a tough go of it though and often found that his speed was in the single digits with maximum bursts up to only 13 or 14 miles per hour. He stopped now and then to check his gear to verify that it wasn't a mechanical reason for the slow rate of speed.
At one point, he decided that he needed to ask advice from some locals about the location of motels. He knocked on the door of a nice house and was told that it was only about 10 miles to the outskirts of Colorado Spring and that it was mostly downhill. He was also told that this town or area, known as Larkspur, was about 7,000 feet above sea level, thus explaining why Bob found it so hard to generate any sustained speed.
As has been the usual case, he was very warmly received and was offered to come in for a dinner featuring what was described to be some very special beef, "straight from Chicago". (Bob mused that the beef must have come from Colorado or Nebraska originally; who associates quality beef with Chicago?!) Bob accepted, enjoyed a nice meal, filled up his water bottles and decided to shove off even though by this point, it was already dark. He's not yet ridden in the pure darkness, but he continued on with his bike lights illuminating the way and with his jacket on (it had gotten chilly). He could see the white traffic stripe beneath him but for the earlier portion of this night ride, there were no material shoulders. There were some slight hills initially, but he then descended about 2,000 feet over the course of three miles; these are estimates since he couldn't see the data on his cyclometer. He was occasionally blinded by the lights of oncoming cars and couldn't see approaching road debris that clearly, but he managed to get through it and settled in at the first motel in Colorado Springs that he encountered.
He's leaving Colorado Springs today and will easily make it into Pueblo, Colorado as it's only about 45 miles or so. Once in Pueblo, he'll ask locals about motel locations between Pueblo and Albuquerque, New Mexico and plan the rest of today's ride and subsequent rides accordingly. From Albuquerque, he'll head west on or alongside US 40 which will take him straight into Los Angeles. According to MapQuest and my calculations, Colorado Springs is 380 miles from Albuquerque which itself is another 780 miles or so to L.A. This southern route definitely adds miles, but will largely avoid the 10,000+ foot monster climbs in the Rockies.
Gregg
Why a Bike Ride?
Summer of 2009:
More adventure. The plan: Ride from St. Louis, MO to Upper Saddle River, NJ, via Ann Arbor (to visit my brother), then across Ontario and thru Buffalo to Hobart College (Geneva, NY), then south to the Delaware River, which I'd follow into NJ and continue southeast to home. From Ann Arbor, it is the reverse of the route I took across America 2 years ago.
With a meeting to attend in St.L., it seemed a good idea to ride back.
St.L. departure date: 6/15. Estimated distance: about 1,150 miles, or one-third my Cross-America trip. Theoretically, the wind would be at my back. The hope: a 100-miles-a-day average and 12 days in the saddle. Total elapsed time: dependent upon weather and equipment outages.
My son says it will be dry every night and drenching during the day, the other side of the road will be smooth whereas I'll ride in under-construction rubble, the wind will be in my face, and all roads will be uphill. With my luck, could happen.
No official money-raising, but if you want to contribute, the trip ain't cheap.
I will make the blog entries at sporadic points, with fuller descriptions at trip's end.
Summer of 2007:
It was a personal challenge, short and simple. I needed to prove to myself that this 70-year old man wasn't over the hill yet.
So, while I was at it, I appealed to 4 different constituencies to pledge financial support for my ride. The consitituencies do not overlap in any way. I raised money for:
The Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County, of which I was the President (2006-8): (http://www.ethicalfocus.org/). ECS is a caring humanist community that believes in deed, not creed, as expressed in social action.
Upper Saddle River, my home town, in support of all the volunteer services: the Fire Department; the Ambulance Corps; the Rescue Squad.
The Interact Club, at the Bergen Academies (a county high school with competitive admissions, where I am a substitute teacher). The club helps the hungry and homeless, and also pays the fare for children from the 3rd world to come to the US for medical treatment.
And last but not least (they are all equal in my mind), I hoped to kindle the giving for my alma mater, Hobart College, so we could present them with a sizable class gift in June, 2008, at our 50th reunion.
So you now have both the real reason ... and the good reasons.
And while I was at it, I wanted to try to show up those who said I wouldn't make it on the (ambitious) schedule I set for myself. I didn't, making an average of only 81 miles per day, when riding. I was done in by the steeps, the weight I carried, some bike problems, headwinds and afternoon thunderstorms. Color me humbled.
And now that the ride is over, I slake my need to write by adding occasional longer-view essays based upon the experience.
To summarize the trip, I covered 3,467 miles, solo. My route ran from home, in Upper Saddle River, in northeastern NJ, to Buffalo, across Ontario, then through Michigan to Wisconsin, across Minnesota, Nebraska, and into Colorado at the northeastern corner. I went southwest from there to Denver, then south to Albuquerque, and due west to L.A., across the Mojave Desert.
I lost approximately 4 days to weather, 3 days to visits en route with my brother in Michigan and my oldest son in Denver, and about 3 days to various bike issues. That leaves 39 days for being in the saddle. Never had a leg issue. Ate like a pig and lost weight.
A great experience. Read on.
Bob
More adventure. The plan: Ride from St. Louis, MO to Upper Saddle River, NJ, via Ann Arbor (to visit my brother), then across Ontario and thru Buffalo to Hobart College (Geneva, NY), then south to the Delaware River, which I'd follow into NJ and continue southeast to home. From Ann Arbor, it is the reverse of the route I took across America 2 years ago.
With a meeting to attend in St.L., it seemed a good idea to ride back.
St.L. departure date: 6/15. Estimated distance: about 1,150 miles, or one-third my Cross-America trip. Theoretically, the wind would be at my back. The hope: a 100-miles-a-day average and 12 days in the saddle. Total elapsed time: dependent upon weather and equipment outages.
My son says it will be dry every night and drenching during the day, the other side of the road will be smooth whereas I'll ride in under-construction rubble, the wind will be in my face, and all roads will be uphill. With my luck, could happen.
No official money-raising, but if you want to contribute, the trip ain't cheap.
I will make the blog entries at sporadic points, with fuller descriptions at trip's end.
Summer of 2007:
It was a personal challenge, short and simple. I needed to prove to myself that this 70-year old man wasn't over the hill yet.
So, while I was at it, I appealed to 4 different constituencies to pledge financial support for my ride. The consitituencies do not overlap in any way. I raised money for:
The Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County, of which I was the President (2006-8): (http://www.ethicalfocus.org/). ECS is a caring humanist community that believes in deed, not creed, as expressed in social action.
Upper Saddle River, my home town, in support of all the volunteer services: the Fire Department; the Ambulance Corps; the Rescue Squad.
The Interact Club, at the Bergen Academies (a county high school with competitive admissions, where I am a substitute teacher). The club helps the hungry and homeless, and also pays the fare for children from the 3rd world to come to the US for medical treatment.
And last but not least (they are all equal in my mind), I hoped to kindle the giving for my alma mater, Hobart College, so we could present them with a sizable class gift in June, 2008, at our 50th reunion.
So you now have both the real reason ... and the good reasons.
And while I was at it, I wanted to try to show up those who said I wouldn't make it on the (ambitious) schedule I set for myself. I didn't, making an average of only 81 miles per day, when riding. I was done in by the steeps, the weight I carried, some bike problems, headwinds and afternoon thunderstorms. Color me humbled.
And now that the ride is over, I slake my need to write by adding occasional longer-view essays based upon the experience.
To summarize the trip, I covered 3,467 miles, solo. My route ran from home, in Upper Saddle River, in northeastern NJ, to Buffalo, across Ontario, then through Michigan to Wisconsin, across Minnesota, Nebraska, and into Colorado at the northeastern corner. I went southwest from there to Denver, then south to Albuquerque, and due west to L.A., across the Mojave Desert.
I lost approximately 4 days to weather, 3 days to visits en route with my brother in Michigan and my oldest son in Denver, and about 3 days to various bike issues. That leaves 39 days for being in the saddle. Never had a leg issue. Ate like a pig and lost weight.
A great experience. Read on.
Bob
Monday, July 30, 2007
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1 comment:
Bob,
I'm a member of the Washington Ethical Society and learned about your
trip in the AEU dialog.
I also bicycle, but my longest trip was a couple of years ago from just
west of Hagertown MD to Silver Spring MD. I traveled about 75 miles
each of 2 days and "camped" at a Holiday Inn. It was a cake walk
compared to your travel and I was only 60. Most of the trip was on the
C&O Canal towpath national park and on the Capital Crescent Trail from
Georgetown DC to Silver Spring, MD. It was fun and it does give me some
bragging rights. I enjoyed your account and I do apprecitate your
accomplishment.
Best,
Richard Reis,
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