Gregg here again: Bob called today with a definite gloom in his voice. When asked how today went, he dejectedly reported that he'd only managed 25 miles or so today thanks to terrible weather. His story is as follows:
He got a bit of a late start and upon arriving in the town of Fairmont, Minnesota, he asked a local if there was a bike shop around. The guy pointed off to the not-so-far distance and warned Bob that the bike shop guy was a character. Once Bob found the place, he asked a guy working outside on some bike apparatus if Larry was around. The guy responded that Larry had moved to Mexico about 20 years ago and sold the bike shop to him for one dollar. Upon seeing Bob's reaction, the guy admitted that he in fact was Larry (last name Vogel) and was just pulling Bob's leg. The two of them enjoyed a nice conversation and thereafter, Larry refused to take any money from Bob for adjusting the cables on the bike.
I don't recall from Bob's call today when the following occurred, but he was told that thunderstorms were likely today and that they could be lengthy. Sure enough, they arrived right around Bob's visit with Larry. Larry offered Bob his shop as a place to relax and potentially sleep the night, although he cautioned that there were no "facilities" or creature comforts. At some point, Larry asked Bob to watch the shop while he stepped out. Bob has no idea where he went, but he was gone for a bit of time and eventually returned without a care in the world.
The rain stopped around 5 p.m. and Larry suggested that Bob try for the next town which was about 40 miles away. At 10 miles an hour, Bob would get there around 9 p.m., but it would involve many obscure lefts and rights and it just didn't sit will with Bob that he should travel on side roads at dusk. He instead opted to call it a day and asked Larry's friend, Greg King, for motel recommendations. I don't recall if it was Greg or Larry who offered a ride to one particular motel that was about 2 miles away, but Bob accepted and here's where it got interesting.
The motel manager was a strange fellow who offered Bob a room at a reasonable price. When Bob arrived in the room, it was unprepared and unready for guests. He asked the motel manager for another room and was provided with one that had no door locks. Bob begrudgingly accepted it. As he sifted through this gear, he realized that he left his water bottle(s) at Larry's shop. With it only being 2 miles away, he decided to cycle there but was concerned about leaving his gear in his unlocked motel room. He decided to ask the motel manager if it was okay to leave the gear with him for a short while. The motel manager, quite incredibly, said that he'd had enough of Bob's problems and to get lost! He then tore up the room slip! All of this was out of nowhere and Bob was both shocked and entertained by it all. The kicker: the motel owner's last name was Putz!! (Dad has his business card to prove it.)
He cycled back to town, found a second motel which was just slightly more expensive than the first one, and treated himself to the Chinese food restaurant (all you can eat buffet!) right next door. Tomorrow, Thursday, the 19th, he may get up super early and get a very early start to the day to make up some of the lost mileage.
He estimates that he's about 615 miles from Michael in Denver. He guessed that it's 9 days away. I suggested 8 days, but he was noncommittal thanks to the potential for hills, bad weather, attacking dogs, etc.
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
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
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