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

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Since Ann Arbor

I had a very late start from AA because the bike needed adjustments and I had to buy panniers, a rack, etc and sort out what I was leaving and what I was taking. I didn't get under way until 3:20pm. My brother, Jess, drove me to the edge of town. It was extremely hot.

I got maybe 27 miles and stayed in a weird motel. The office had a phone and you had to dial "0" to get someone to come and register you. I got the manager's wife, who is an invalid and she said her husband was out delivering a truckload of sand but would be back shortly. It turned out he took 45 minutes.. The office area was run-down and the A/C barely worked. But the room was in many ways the best I'd gotten. A 2-person sofa faced a TV on a stand. There was a kitchen table w/2 chairs, a full-sized refrigerator, a full stove and kitchen sink w/cabinets, a microwave, a double bed and a 4-person sofa! And this A/C worked.

I got a decent start to the day and was making a great day of it - over 90 miles, but ran into a thunderstorm. I got off the road immediately and there was a house with a full porch on 2 sides of the house. No one was home. I waited it out, high winds and all and it took 1hr45min. So I could only go a little farther, to a town called Ionia. I stopped at a state police office to ask about the least expensive motel and the police office had closed at 4!

There was every kind of fast food joint available, but I chose Subway even though I was not watching the fat intake. Got my sandwich, chips and a soda, and headed out for a motel. A couple pulled me over less than a mile away. They had seen my shirt in the store (the back says: LA to NJ), and just had to talk to me. They immediately offered me a place to stay and I follwed them home -- nearby. They both bike, but on tandem bikes. They were very nice. I don't have time to go into any details about them and their place but it was unique!
I was not on the road much before 9:30 this morning, and suffered through intense headwinds. Yesterday it was all from the west and I was going due west. Today it was due north and the headwinds had shifted to from the north. I barely got 65 miles. A fellow had pulled off the road and waited for me to come up to him, again, because of my shirt. A few quick questions, and an invitation to a meal and a place to stay. I am using his computer now and chose to send the e-mail rather than update the blog. Of course, he is a biker, but not a dedicated road warrior.
He has 2 kids at home, 2 at camp, and he's leaving in a few days to go to Wyoming with the boys and go back-packing. It is a church-related organized trip. Nice kids. Got a choice of sandwich stuff and some pasta for dinner, with watermelon, and lots of ice water. Neat!!!
I wrote it down so I wouldn't forget it, but I don't have the paper in front of me. If I recall correctly, his name is Harley Blake.

We reviewed my routing and he showed me a bike trail that I can use for about 17 miles, where I'd need to turn off it. It is paved and has zero vehicles on it. I must do 75 miles tomorrow to make the 8pm ferry at Ludington, MI to Manitowoc, Wisc. It is a 4-hour trip, but Wiconsin is back an hour, so if I make it, I arrrive at 3am, WI time. Yucccch. If I miss that departure, I have to wait 12 hours.

PS: The bike trail was gravel and unusable with my skinny tires. I stopped for breakfast after a short while, and wasn't there long when Harley's son appeared to return my water bottles to me. Dumb me had left them in the fridge. What a very nice thing for them to do, to chase me down!
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