Reaction to Martin Krieg ending his ride

Here is some of the reaction I have received on Facebook not to mention the words I regularly still (as of 9-13-09) hear in person, on the phone or even in Twitter:

I was so sad and shocked to hear that you had to turn back. If you couldn’t make it this year, no one could. All my best wishes and hope for next year. You are doing a great thing to help green our transportation. - Alix

-----------------

Well it wasn't for lack of effort. You can use this experience to come back better and stronger next year..........
Greg

-----------------
Hi Martin, sorry to hear your trip is ending. I still do not understand. You made it through all those obstacles. It sounds like to stop is causing more problems than if you continued. And starting, stopping and starting to go on and finish would be more drama for the reader. But what ever you do, I support you. You have already done more than I ever could have done! Best regards
Shawn

-----------------

I am glad that you are back. From your brief report it seems like it was very hard and best choice to return. I look forward to cheering your endeavors on. I am also cheering all the work you did this year and ride.
Carla

-----------------

So sorry to hear the news - you have shown a great deal of courage and I look forward to supporting your work in the coming year.
Rick
----------------------

Martin, Glad to hear you are well, and that you are thinking clearly enough to scale back instead of trying to persist. Riding from SF to SLC on your reverse hiwheel without a SAG wagon or domestiques is an incredible feat.
Tom
-----------

Sorry to see the ride end. Best of luck for next year! and thanks for the updates. I enjoyed following your journey!
James
--------------

Sorry hear about the end of your ride. [....] Questions and sympathy,
Paul
-------------------

Excellent, Martin.
You did a great job and learned as we all must, by trying, giving our best efforts and reaching beyond the known.
Gail
-------------

Martin, you are a hero! Persistence is the number one requirement of a winner! Thanks so much for your journey.
Mary Ann
----------


I'm sorry to hear about the difficulties you encountered, but I think you made the right choice in postponing the ride until you have all the support you will need to help you reach your goal. This was a good trial run and a great learning experience.
Lori
---------------

We love your guts, Martin. I wouldn't ride that contraption out of the parking lot, and you got it all the way to Salt Lake City. Now to help you recruit a bunch of volunteer Sherpas -- to help out in 2010!
John Schubert
Former “Bicycling” Editor
------------


Awesome getting to Salt Lake City! So how many miles did you end up with?
Barry

------------
Martin, Congratulations on setting the modern distance record on an Eagle self contained tour! The space program did not make it to the moon on the first Mercury launch either. Time to rest up and regroup for 2010.
Tom

-----------

You are an amazing man willing to take on amazing challenges. You r courage and spirit are truly an inspiration to all of us. Watch out in 2010!
Ron

------------


I'm sorry it ended in disappointment for you but I'm looking forward to seeing you back on the streets of Palo Alto soon. Safe journey home and look forward to 2010. I was in western Nevada during some of those storms.... not nice.
Karen

---------------------


Martin, I'm sorry to hear about the end of the ride. You gave it a great shot at long odds. Hope to see you back in Palo Alto sometime
Will

------------

Oh Martin, I am so sorry. Hang in there, what you did already is amazing, focus on the accomplishment!
Kristen

-------------

I am sorry too. As important as your message is, I think the populace just doesn't appreciate your effort...when in actuality our lives would be better if you accomplished your goal/trip.
Bill

------------

Oh no! We were going to try to see you in Chicago. I'm so sorry....
Karen

---------

I do think about you and your epic journey everyday, Martin. You are The Man! Here's to Greenbelts all across the country. Thank you.
Mary
-------------------


GO MARTIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Georgette
--------------------

Hearty congratulations on making it to Salt Lake City! There are not many others, if any, who could have made it that far on that historic bike. Best wishes on your future endeavors.
Ellen Fletcher
Most Powerful bike activist of all time

-------------------

Martin, in true American spirit, with support from his friends and devotees, continues to ride. Hail, rain, and roads not designed for bicycle travel have not thwarted his efforts. But thunder and lightning filled skies have.[....]The lack of services and bicycle friendly paths is exactly why Martin is riding. He wants to raise awareness of the lack of inclusive design for transportation throughout our nation.[....]Martin is out there on I-80 on a HiWheel bicycle to bring attention to our lost dream. Visit his web site at www.bikeroute.com and join his efforts.

Ron Bishop - Architect- ADPSR
BishopArchitects.com
Sierra Club NAC Ex.Com.
"Energy Efficiency, Green, Sustainable"
Bicycle & Traffic Skills Instructor - LCI

2009 Eagle HiWheel Mayors' Ride Terminated

As I posted to my Twitter and Facebook communities, my Eagle HiWheel ride is over, done and complete. In sum, I ran out of

* money
* weather (I lost 18 days to electric storms plus the $800 cost of doing so)
* routing (the interstates that flattened out the climbing, gave me a WIFII signal and afforded usually accessible lodging were far busier beyond Nevada and would have added many hundreds of miles to my next destination - Denver)
* support (the ride Sherpa(s) I needed to get through remote and mountainous northeastern Utah on the way to the Rockies and Denver never showed up)
* proper nourishment (without Sherpas to carry the higher grade of nutrition my bigger efforts were going to require, I knew I could not find what I would need in the smaller stores between SLC and Denver - the three days at the SLC truck stop that ran my batteries to a very weak low, showed me this)
* spokes (I had four broken spokes)

All, however, is not lost. As a trial balloon for next year, I was able to build a huge plethora of contacts as well as better define my needs. I now see and can justify every budget line item I am calling for. What some had dismissed as wild eyed luxuries, I now see as the difference between failure and success on my next run. As well, I am now able to see what part of my ride will keep the media interested and how much energy will need to be assigned to the Busycle and also to my book to help the 2010 Mayors' Ride dominate a lot of next summer’s news.

There are so many of you to thank that all can say is you know who you are and without you, this journey could not have happened. As well, I hope my ride showed all those who tuned in, how much love fills this nation. WOW - THX 4 all of U!!

Special THX to Penny Farthing Winery and all the love that holds that operation together for making most of this ride possible. If you want to honor the important part they played and keep their powerful energy interested for next year, please buy a commemorative t-shirt or a bottle or a case of their wine HERE!!

100 (gritty) Miles for Andrew Heckman to Salt Lake City

Photos from Wells, NV to Wendover. UT to SLC - iPhone photos

The ride I did today ranks as one of the most difficult I have ever done. And I even had to cheat - I had to call on God to get me through head winds and some of the other gotchas that came up. But I am just on the outskirts of Salt Lake City after having been stuck in Elko, NV for ten days.

Nor do I regret not pushing the weather envelope. Not only was I able to see why conditions had to be right for me to make this run, but as I pushed today to honor all those scouts who have powered through countless obstacles on their rides for us, I thought about Andrew Heckman. About six years ago, while doing a Mayors' Ride relay for us, he got caught in a storm. Andrew, who almost died, is paralyzed now.

So the 95 pounds (with food and water) that it took me 13 hours too pedal across the Salt Flats and the Great Salt Lake basin on a 50 inch fixed gear bike are all dedicated to Andrew Heckman. In his excitement to add what he could to make our Greenway real, his life will never be the same. So that Andrew's efforts will not be lost and so that I can keep the NBG flame burning, I chose to wait until the skies were clear.............

In fact Andrew would have been the first to suggest that I sit tight like I did......

Since I am stuck in my hotel room in the middle of yet another thunderstorm which is also forecast for tomorrow, I will better qualify yesterday's ride. My breath labored from start to finish as though I was climbing a mountain pass, sucked almost every last ounce of my gut. Literally . I pushed my bike so hard to go 6-10 mph, the whole day, and I cannot coast or I will get launched from the saddle, that once I pedaled the 45 miles across the Bonneville Salt Flats and reached my first shade, an overpass, my urine was blood colored once again. It took me until the day was over and I could eat real food and cool my body down with cold drink for my pee to return to yellow. Guess drinking well over a gallon of warm Gatorade was just not enough...........

I will say, however, that without rain, I did feel reasonably safe on I80. I especially enjoyed the mile markers. They told me when to drink and eat, and they helped me chart my progress (instead of one every 40 0r 50 seconds in a car, I saw a new one every 6 to 11 minutes!). And yet there again, it. would have been suicide to be on this part of I80 in less than perfect conditions. By waiting for them in Elko,.I I got a view of the Great Sslt Lake Basin that few besides Brigham Young and his early settlers have ever seen.

I enjoyed Salt Flat art few people ever see. Once beyond the 40 miles of salt flats, a shoulder traveler such as myself , of which there might be a few a year to make such a trek in day time conditions, can be entertained by the small words and initials people have used rocks, bottles and pieces of retreaded tire to create. There must have been a few hundred peace signs, people's names and other slogans out there. Once even had a US flag on it and was fashioned to look like an Iwo Jima (sp?) war memorial. While that is what I took pictures of, countless others were buried under the water that covered them. Did I say it's been raining out here?

While it took me 45 miles to get shade, I was rewarded with a chance to rest my legs when at mile 56 when a small downhill showed up!! As has been par for the course out here on I80 my destination at mile 99 was marked by the five miles of speed divots that were cut into the full width of the shoulder that preceded it. But I am here and dry and trying very hard to find things I can eat in what is a truck stop haven.....

THX for all of U!!

btw: Here on the Flats, I am getting a great cell phone signal. Also excited about all these new iPhone updates. The Recorder is going to make my life out here a lot simpler. Ditto for cut and paste and the new search feature. WOW!! .Wish I could afford the new iPhone with video so I can better show U what I am seeing but unless someone donates one, I have to do what I can to keep this ride alive........

btw2: This is by far the wettest June anyone I have talked to has ever seen out here in Utah and Nevada....

Why Elko's Gold Mines #1 in US, #2 in World - Podcast

While I sat tight in Elko, NV, waiting for better weather for my safety and for the welfare of this rare bike, I had the privilege of learning a lot about Elko from one of its natives, an amazing man named Greg Parker. Long gone are the days of using one's naked eye to mine for such precious metal, what comes out of the ground now are microscopic particles. So as such here is Greg on

"How they mine for Gold now"

Why I am grounded in Elko, Nevada

For the very few of you (I know of at least one, while most everyone I talk to fully understands my dilemma) who think I am a pansy for not powering on, I offer this insight. I was 60 miles away from Utah when I chose to retreat back here to Elko, 120 miles from the border because of the weather. Which I will talk about now.

I have no problem riding in wet weather. In fact, as a car free cyclist, I ride year round and never let rain stop me from getting somewhere. Granted, I try not to go out in storms, I just wait until the heavy stuff lightens up and then I go out. What's more is that if you ride a bike and are afraid of rain you will ride far less than those with slightly thicker skins. Which brings me to one of the points of this discussion.

This is not regular precip I am facing. This is thunder and lightning charged rain fall I am up against. (see why it is especially unsafe to ride a Hiwheel in the desert when there is lightning) with no where to run for cover.and with the two towns that break this up spread 60 and 120 miles apart. Did I say there is nothing in between?

As well, everything has to be right for me to make the 120 miles to Salt Lake City. Since I will be on I-80 through the Bonneville Salt Flats and then past the Great Salt Lake itself, I can't be out there with 75 mph traffic in rain or other stormy conditions. Motorists need to have a good line of sight for me out there. This not to mention the fact that side wind gusts of 30 and 40 mph are notorious out there. And getting blown into the "slow" lane with not enough time for cars or trucks to react is a real game ender.

Nor would Hwy 50 have been a whole lot better. They've got the same weather mess down there. So instead of Elko, I would be stuck in Ely. And once the front does pass, I'd be up against 240 miles of mostly wilderness for which I am not prepared to get to Salt Lake City instead of the 180 I face now...........

And even then, I would be getting into a Salt Lake City and all the cities beyond and all the way into and through the Rockies into Boulder and Denver that are also being punished by these thunderstorms. And in so doing, am I not making cycling look like a hardship instead of the joy that we as cyclists know it to be?

And so, in sum, that is why I have chosen to regroup in Elko where there are services that can give this effort the longer term staying power it needs. It also gives me a chance to work with Paul Guttenberg, over in Davis, CA, in fleshing out the bicycle sculpture auction he has initiated..

THX for all of U, especially those of you who have needed this explanation from me!! Onward soon!!

Lightning Kills - Myths about it & Why I am grouunded

TOP-10 MYTHS OF LIGHTNING SAFETY Source
1. MYTH: Lightning Never Strikes The Same Place Twice
TRUTH: Lightning often strikes the same place repeatedly, especially if it’s a tall pointy isolated object. The Empire State Building used to be used as a lightning laboratory, since it is hit nearly 25 times a year. Places prone to lightning are places to avoid when thunderstorms are nearby!

2. MYTH: If It’s Not Raining, Or If Clouds Aren’t Overhead, I’m Safe From Lightning
TRUTH: Lightning often strikes more than three miles from the thunderstorm, far outside the rain or even thunderstorm cloud. ‘Bolts From The Blue’, though infrequent, can strike 10-15 Miles from the thunderstorm. Anvil lightning can strike the ground over 50 Miles from the thunderstorm, under extreme conditions. Lightning in clouds has traveled over 100 miles from the thunderstorm.

3. MYTH: Rubber Tires Protect You From Lightning In A Car By Insulating You From The Ground
TRUTH: Lightning laughs at two inches of rubber! Most cars are reasonably safe from lightning. But it’s the metal roof and metal sides that protect you, not the rubber tires. Thus convertibles, motorcycles, bicycles, open shelled outdoor recreational vehicles, and cars with plastic or fiberglass shells offer no lightning protection. ikewise, farm and construction vehicles with open cockpits offer no lightning protection. But closed cockpits with metal roof and sides are safer than going outside. And don’t even ask about sneakers! ☺

5. MYTH: If Outside In A Thunderstorm, Go Under A Tree To Stay Dry
TRUTH: Being underneath trees is the second leading activity for lightning casualties – enough said?!

7. MYTH: When Playing Sports And Thunderstorms Threaten, It’s Okay To Finish The Game Before Seeking Shelter
TRUTH: Sports is the activity with the fastest rising rate of lightning casualties. No game is worth death or life-long severe injury. All people associated with sports should have a lightning safety plan and stick to it strictly. Seek proper shelter immediately when lightning threatens. Adults are responsible for the safety of children!

8. MYTH: Structures With Metal, Or Metal On The Body (Jewelry, Watches, Glasses, Backpacks, Etc.), Attract Lightning
TRUTH: Height, pointy shape, and isolation are the dominant factors controlling where a lightning bolt will strike (Read HiWheel). The presence of metal makes virtually no difference on where lightning strikes. Mountains are made of stone, but receive many strikes each year. When lightning threatens, take proper protective action immediately. Don’t aste time shedding metal off your body, or seeking shelter under inadequate structures. But while metal doesn’t attract lightning, touching or being near long metal objects (fences, railings, bleachers, vehicles, etc.) is still unsafe when thunderstorms are nearby. If lightning does happen to hit it, the metal can conduct the
electricity a long distance (even over 100 yards) and still electrocute you.

9. MYTH: If Trapped Outside And Lightning Is About To Strike, Lie Flat On The Ground
TRUTH: This advice is decades out of date. Better advice is to use the ‘Lightning Crouch’: put your feet together, squat low, tuck your head, and cover your ears. Lightning induces electric currents along the top of the ground that can be deadly over 100 Feet away. While lying flat on the ground gets you as low as possible, which is good, it increases your chance of being hit by a ground current, which is bad. The best combination of being low and touching the ground as little as possible is the ‘Lightning Crouch’. But the ‘Lightning Crouch’ should be used only as a last resort. Much better would be to plan outdoor activities around the weather to avoid thunderstorm exposure and to have proper shelter available.

10. MYTH: Go near a tall pointy isolated object when thunderstorms threaten, to be within the 45° “cone of protection”
TRUTH: The “cone of protection” is a myth! While tall pointy isolated objects are statistically more likely to be struck by lightning, it’s not nearly reliable enough to rely on for safety. Lightning can still strike you near the tall object. Besides, the lightning electricity will likely spread out along the surface of the ground and can still kill you over 100 Ft from the “protecting” object. Also, if you are close to or touching the tall object, you can be electrocuted via side flash or contact voltage. NO PLACE OUTSIDE IS SAFE NEAR A THUNDERSTORM!

In lightning safety, a “myth” is not as good as a mile ☺. Distance and proper shelter is your best protection from lightning.
----------------------------------------------------------

Motorcyclist/Bicyclist Safety

People have been hit by lightning while riding motorcycles and bikes. Here are just a few examples:

• Virginia Beach, VA: Motorcyclist killed while traveling on Route 58.
• Colorado: a 16 year old boy killed while riding a bicycle.
• Tennessee: a 47 year old man killed while leaning against his motorcycle.
• Virginia: a man killed riding his motorcycle.

Protect Yourself when on a bicycle, motorcycle or dirt bike. Carry a portable Weather Radio or listen to commercial radio. If you see threatening skies in the distance and you are near a safe building, pull over and wait 30 minutes after the last rumble of thunder before resuming your ride.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Lightning Danger Source
Lightning is one of nature's most awe inspiring and dangerous phenomenon. The average lightning flash could light a 100-watt light bulb for more than 3 months! The temperature of a lightning bolt may reach 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit which is hotter than the surface of the sun!

On average, lightning kills one person in Kansas per year, and about 73 nationwide. In fact, lightning remains one of the most deadly weather phenomena in the U.S., and it can occur almost anywhere throughout the entire year. Lightning occurring during snowstorms has even killed people! Many people incur injuries or are killed due to misinformation and inappropriate behavior during thunderstorms. A few simple precautions can reduce many of the dangers posed by lightning.

Do you hear it?

Once you hear thunder, it is time to act to prevent being struck by lightning. Generally speakingonce you can see lightning or hear thunder, you're already at risk for lightning injury or death. If the time delay between seeing the flash (lightning) and hearing the bang (thunder) is less than 30 seconds, immediately seek a safer location.

Avoid being in or near

High places and open fields, isolated trees, gazebos, open sided picnic shelters, baseball dugouts, communication towers, flagpoles, light poles, bleachers (metal or wood), metal fences, convertibles, golf carts, water (ocean, lakes, swimming pools, rivers, etc.)

When inside a building AVOID:

Use of the telephone or computer, taking a shower, washing your hands, doing dishes, or any contact with conductive surfaces with exposure to the outside such as metal door or window frames, electrical wiring, telephone wiring, cable TV wiring, plumbing, etc.

If driving:

Stay in your automobile. An enclosed automobile offers reasonably good protection from lightning, as long as you don't touch metal.

Pay attention to weather warning devices such as NOAA Weather Radio and/or credible Lightning Detection systems. Noaa All Hazards Radio and local weather forecasts should be monitored prior to any outdoor event to determine if thunderstorms are in the forecast. Use good common sense if living in or traveling across Kansas this year.

More information on lightning can be found at http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/

Where's Martin by Ron Bishop

Where's Martin?
Martin Krieg Bikes Across America Promoting a National Bicycle Greenway Network

Martin Krieg is riding his 1891 Eagle HiWheel bicycle across America, promoting a “National Bicycle Greenway Network” on the “Seventh Annual Mayors Ride” and collecting proclamations from mayors to build support. The trip started in San Francisco on May 3 and will arrive in Salt Lake City soon and Boston in August. There have been many bumps along the trail: his support vehicle and driver failed to materialize, sponsors cut funding, and transporting supplies is challenging. Martin, in true American spirit, with support from his friends and devotees, continues to ride. Hail, rain, and roads not designed for bicycle travel have not thwarted his efforts. But thunder and lightning filled skies have.

Martin will spend a few more days in Elko, Nevada determining how to cross the great, dry, unpopulated western desert. He has found local support in Elko, and will soon be back in the saddle and rolling westward along I-80. Research confirmed it is legal, though not pleasant, to ride the Utah part of I-80, as there are no adequate alternatives. The lack of services and bicycle friendly paths is exactly why Martin is riding. He wants to raise awareness of the lack of inclusive design for transportation throughout our nation.

Many cities have started to provide planning and funding to become more bicycle and pedestrian friendly. There are new trails sprouting that take you short distances, but there is no overarching plan for connectivity. Martin’s vision is to raise awareness and build consensus to create that connectivity. In the late 1800’s the League of American Wheelmen bicyclists, lobbied to have roads paved. They were successful in paving roads and the automobile came along and drove them off. One hundred and ten [110] years later cyclists are back and want to complete that dream of long ago to safely bicycle or walk across America from coast to coast, north to south on the "National Bicycle Greenway Network". Martin is out there on I-80 on a HiWheel bicycle to bring attention to our lost dream. Visit his web site at www.bikeroute.com and join his efforts.

When you are out on the road, look for him, invite him to bend your ear, share some bread or provide lodging. Get radio stations to provide updates, put it on your CBs, tell your friends, and follow Martin on his quest. This can become a shovel ready project and collect stimulus money to actually build a greenway, not another freeway, across America. Give your representatives, radio talk shows, and friends a call to support the National Bicycle Greenway Network.

“Where’s Martin”, not Waldo, should build quite a buzz. Keep track of the progress and answer the question, “Where’s Martin”. Help him bring the dream to reality for a better, greener America.

Sincerely,


Ron Bishop - Architect- ADPSR
BishopArchitects.com
Sierra Club NAC Ex.Com.
"Energy Efficiency, Green, Sustainable"
Bicycle & Traffic Skills Instructor - LCI
[510] 652-4667

6/14 SLC Bound Eagle HiWheel Needs Gear Carriers (Sherpas)

At left is the parking lot in Elko where train tracks used to stand

Now that the weather is starting to climb into the low 60's, even though thunder and lightning are still in the forecast, I have a ride planned back into Wells, NV for tomorrow, Friday, so I can start riding to Boston once again. Between myself and the Utah border stands the Pequop Mtn Range. While they climb to 9200 feet, I will summit them at 6900.

And just as the California/Nevada state line is made up of casinos and other gambling operations, the Nevada/Utah border at Wendover, also is made up of gaming businesses. Of interest is the fact that it was from Wendover that the Enola Gay began its flight to drop the atomic bomb that decmimated Hisroshima and pretty much ended World War II.

During my regroup here in Elko, while recycling and water conservation are foreign words and plastic bags are issued with reckless abandon, I have grown to really like this place. This is so especailly as I learn more about it. I spent a good deal of time yesterday taking to Ross Andreson, the photographer from the Elko Daily who came out to take pictures of me and the bike. A California transplant, Pacifc Grove no less, the city I used to ride to near Monterey when I was training for my 1986 TrasnCon, he told Lynette, Greg and I why there is an 'E' on the hills outside of town.

The 'E' was used for airmail drops as a way for pilots to be able to recognize the stops they needed to make along their way. I had always thought that the town fathers had initialized their mountain sides in an act of civic bravado. We laughed about the 'BM' for nearby Battle Mountain.

I also learned that since Nevada was a so called swing state during the last presidential election, Barack Obama made three visits to this city of 20,000 people during his presidential campaign. Also of note for Palo Altans, is

the fact that Elko was the first city to move its railroad tracks from its downtown where a number of fatalities had occurred to less than a quarter of a mile away where there was open space which ended up being along the Humboldt River. And they did so with federal funding. Where the 8 to 12 freight trains that came through once made life complicated for locals with crossing guards and the like, now sits a huge parking lot in what is now a revitalized and peaceful downtown. While not far away one can see the 4 new overpasses that carry cars over both the waterway and the railroad line.

With its at least 50 or more high speed trains roaring through its busy streets, why can not Palo Alto relocate its rail to its nearby baylands? Something worth studying in the face of all the other alternatives.....

Back to my ride, I plan to leave Wendover very early and without gear the whole way to 30 miles outside of Salt Lake where I have reserved a room. Because of a change in plans, Lynette won't be able to ride with me after

all since she has to be in Denver sooner than she had expected. But she will be taking my gear to the Oquirrh Motor Lodge which is along her way!! 90 mostly flat miles without gear await for me, yahoo (this never happened either as you will see in a later post)!!

Which brings me to a point. I need a SHERPA(S)!! So that we don't have to involve fossil fuel, who wants to have the ride adventure of their life as we visit Mayors and other luminaries while carrying my gear and food (20 to 25 lbs) for me. An easy task on a regular bike, it means almost a 50% increase in speed for me from 7 to over 10 mph........

Also, if you are a Salt Lake City cyclist, who can come out to Lake Point in Tooele to help me get into your downtown? It would be truly awesome if there were a small brigade of such pedalers to help me carry gear and to navigate accordingly. Lou Mellini has outfitted me with directions, but I will have a lot on my plate as I try to document my arrival with pictures and the like. My email is hiwheeler at gmail.com my cell is 415-606-5043

THX 4 all of U!!

Martin Krieg "Awake Again" Author

http://www.BikeRoute.com/MKRIEG.HTML

'79 & '86 TransAmerica Bike Rides

2009 w/"How America Can Bike & Grow Rich"

Coma, Paralysis, Clinical Death Survivor

NBG Founding Director, HiWheel Cyclist

Holed up in Elko, NV - Sherpa(s) Needed

Out here in the Nevada desert, I am holed up at the American Inn on Idaho St in the small city of Elko. I back tracked to here, 110 miles from the Utah border, so I could rebuild my ride at $32 a night. And be in a place where I could have access to all the provisions I am goijg to need in order to continue in earnest.

If you've been following this blog, you have seen that this is not the ride I expected to be on six years ago when I first began planning it. Or for that matter up until May when I was still holding out for a support vehcile so I wouldn't have to be a 90 pound fixed gear going over mountain ranges. And it wasn't until I got halfway across Nevada when Manny Garcia started carrying my gear for two days that I realized that in between peeing blood and only going 7 MPH that continuing without support was as much asking for trouble as it gave no dignity to my mission.

Passers by in cars don't take inspiration from what I am doing beccause they do not know.Instead they feel sorry for me out here on this machine that deserves as much to be honored as does the reason I am riding it. And yet there again, h9w can anyone be expected to know what I am up to if I am a party of one?

Once people figure out what my ride is all about, they open up their hearts and their homes. Here in Elko for example, Greg and Lynette Park, two state of the art trike riders who saw me and my bike at a local grocery store, have already offered to drive me back to Wells, NV so I can continue from where I left off. The next day, Lynette is going to carry my gear across the Bonneville Salt Flats, a distance of 50 miles! At least that is what she is hopiing she can do as Greg follows in their truck.

I hate involving cars but in these bike inhospitable lands, that is the best I can do. We will leave at 4 AM so we can get a jump on the afternoon thunderstorms that are predicted and have been taking place out here for the last few weeks. Because I left without rain gear or warm clothes and n9w have this computer to worry about, I have been at the mercy of weather none of the locals have seen be this bad for so long.

A Saturday salt flats ride is the best we can do for another reason. Because there is literally no where out there one can pitch a tent, even if I carried one, the closest lodging is 90 miles. And since there is a big convention taking place at the Oquirrh Motor Inn in Lake Point, they do not have any rooms until Saturday nite.

And just because motorists have for the most part only seen me hard at work carrying my ow gear, does not mean that I have not had a ton of help behind the scenes. Mr Bike Oakland Ron Bishop has spent countless hours trying to figure out a way for me to bike into Salt Lake. Between plotting out routes at our site, and calling and talking to bike people all over the greater Salt Lake City area, he has pumped a ton of time into this effort. As has his friend, Gail Robinson who has gotten me into dialoque with her friends Carol and Rob who are now just waiting for me to get there.

And then there are the beautiful bike sculptures that Paul Guttenberg over in Davis is trying to auction off as a benedit for my ride. Toward that end, he is working with Lori Yung in Sacto and once they get better ph9tos, all of this will go into fast forward. Here is what they have on line at present.

And so while I also wait for the better weather that will help my ride once I do get beyond Salt Lake, I am getting caught up on photos. But before I share the ones from the East Bay to Sacto that were stuck on my iPhone, HERE is what Elko has looked like for the last few days. And before Greg and Lynette bought me dinner last nite, as the rare Rennaissance Man that he is out here, he did some tweaks to make Peter Wagner's rack even more functional, plastic welded my sunglasses back together once again and even gave me this really cool little knife I had gotten excited about that he was using! Too much wow!

Here are those phtotos I just got out of my iPhone when I became settled log enough to install Itunes on this Windows machine.

PA to Oakland/Berkeley

Berkeley to Napa

Napa to Davis

In closing, if you want to come out here and ride with me for a few days, I could sure use your (sherpa) help carrying my food and gear (25 to 30 lbs). Do please advise at hiwheeler@gmail.com

THX 4 all of U!!

btw;While writing this, I set up with the Ross Adreson of the Elko Free Press and Lori Giobert,, of KENV-TV, to do some interviews here at 2PM today. This as I just head another very loud boom from the thunder that has kept me on guard for the last all too many days

Rest Day for 50 degree desert with Lightning, hail, .....

Today in Pix
More Pix

The day we took off to stabilize my water poisining setback was a very productive one for me. At long last, I was able to get in to my on line banking! Now I know exactly how low my funds are but I did also get into my Pay Pal account for the first time on the road as well. And Don Loomis, our 2004 TransCon scout was there waiting for me with the gift of a one hundred dollar day on the road. As was Ed Cox, the man who, as the Sacramento bike coordinator, wears a plethora of other hats in turning his city into a qaulity of life jewel. He bought two days!!

Buoyed by those two shows of support, I kept stacking up the off the road successes. Also of note is the fact that I finally got my iPhone data offloaded and saved! Toward that end, you may soon be seeing more photos the limits of my connection speed have kept my iPhone from letting you see...

Manny and I had dinner at a Mexican restaurant in downtown Elko. And going to and from the eatery, we saw a town that looked vibrant and alive. Elko has its own airport, TV station, college (Great Basin), and every big box store and restaurant chain one can name. A town that stakes it fortune on the mining of gold, the forboding Mt Ruby, snowcapped at 12,000 feet looks down upon the 20,000 people who call Elko their home.

We even met a happy road construction worker named John, who at 63 remembers when it ws less than 5,000 inhabitants. His grandfather, he recalled, owned the first electric skil saw for miles around.

Our hotel room was across the parking lot from a Raleys supermarket where after a few trips there we also got to know some of the workers there. At out hotel, we were the star guests because of my bike and everyone wanted to talk to us. Elko was fun.

It was good that it was because after we left it at 8AM for what was supposed to be an easy 50 mile day to Wells, NV, I almost wished I had listended to my doctor friend and stayed another day.

We were loving life as we rolled along at an easy ten miles an hour (Many was carrying all but my sleeping bag. with gear myrod speed is 7mph) in the cool 50 degree morning. However, as we would 20 miles later find out, we were being cruelly teased. In factit never warmed up and the lightning strikes we could see far off in the distance became a part of our reality as we thought we were out racing the wet clouds behind us.

At twenty miles from our destiantion, lightning strikes danced on the mountain tops on both sides of us when soon it was our turn to incur their wrath. The wind grew and the skies opened up with 1/2 inch sized hail pellets. With nowhere to duck for cover, all we could do was ride. After about two miles, Manny found a bridge. Used by local farmers, it did not rise above the freeway, but stayed at its level so it was hard for me to see when I saw him disapear around the guard rail that also shielded it from view.

I ran across dirt qucikly becoming mud to find him signaling for me how to get over the barbed wire fence. All I had on was a t-shirt as I leaned my bike against the guard rail and pulled the sleeping bag off of my bike as I ran for cover.

The spot Manny had staked out looked like a swallow's den As the storm raged outside, the little birds were flying all around and in and out of the little mud homes they had built under the freeway's road bed.

The storm lasted another 20 or 30 minutes before we got back on our bikes and started to head for Wells once again. To add insult to injury, the rumble divots began again. What could be worse, I wondered. It almost seemed par for today's course that it would soon get so cold that I couldn't feel my hands. This meant no eating or drinking, photos or notes recorded until we reached the first hotel closest to 80. the Rest Inn Suites, where according to the manager, 50 degrees below zero was once a winter time reality and it rained every day there last May.

He also told us that at 6300 feet, they are higher than Denver. We climb to over 7500 feet tomorrow. I feel grateful to all of you who have made this warm room possible.

THX 4 all of U!!