2003/2004

6th Avenue and 59th Street, NYC.

Riding on the left hand designated Bicycle Lane, livery car turns left,
sees me but, attempts to move out of the way fast enough, doesn't, I
clip the corner of his trunk with 2 month old Shimano XT M750
brakelever/shifter combos. I bent the lever 90º up, if my hand was
there, I doubt I'd have those fingers. I splatter against the floor. My
injury was a slight bruise to the back of my knee. He left.

----

Greenpoint Ave, Greenpoint Bridge.

Prior to my disc brakes, I was racing down the exit of the bridge, where
a man was walking, he felt he needed the whole width of the walkway, so
as I approached I realized I didn't have the distance needed to stop
with my Shimano XT V-Brakes... I hit the front brake full force, leaned
all the way back, the bike still started to flip so I hugged him, wheel
went perfect inbetween his leg and I stopped.

----

Williamsburg Bridge, Manhattan Exit.

Coming down the exit, doing about 30mph, flying over their *speed
bumps* with my 26 x 2.0 Michelin Wildgripper Jet S's, still without
disc brakes, I didn't brake in time and completely taco'd this guy and
his road bike. His wheel was bent in half. I walked with him to an ATM
and gave him $30. He was more than greatful since he had some beatup
looking thing.

----

All these accidents have occured while I was sober, which I believe is
the reason for them. I have never had any conflict while intoxicated.



--

Badger South wrote:

Care to share the map of your route? Ya can email it to me, or better
post a link if you have a digital copy or repro. I'd love to see it! I
love maps.

If it's email, post here and I'll send you my real email addy, the one
on the post is fake.

Sorry, our only camera is "analog." I did trace the route out on
another US map, but it's a large one. It'd be very tough to scan.

Did you take the summer to do it?

Yep. My wife and I were both able to take the summer off. My daughter
gave up her temporary job. It put a big, big dent in our savings, but
it was unquestionably worth it.

How did you run the sag-wagon? ;-)

We didn't need no steenkin' sag wagon. Just three folks on bikes,
riding west.

--
Frank Krygowski [To reply, omit what's between "at" and "cc"]

On Thu, 08 Jan 2004 21:14:33 -0500, "frkrygow"
wrote:

Badger South wrote:

Care to share the map of your route? Ya can email it to me, or better
post a link if you have a digital copy or repro. I'd love to see it! I
love maps.

If it's email, post here and I'll send you my real email addy, the one
on the post is fake.

Sorry, our only camera is "analog." I did trace the route out on
another US map, but it's a large one. It'd be very tough to scan.

OK, so northern route? Atlantic City, Ocean City? Through Maryland,
Pa, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona,
California?

Southern Route? Florida, Mississippi, Lousiana, Texas, Oklahoma, NM,
Arizona, California?

Did you take the summer to do it?

Yep. My wife and I were both able to take the summer off. My daughter
gave up her temporary job. It put a big, big dent in our savings, but
it was unquestionably worth it.

Sounds like it. Envy, envy. ;-)

How did you run the sag-wagon? ;-)

We didn't need no steenkin' sag wagon. Just three folks on bikes,
riding west.

Wow. You've -got- to be kidding me? No part-time help in a car
following you, or relatives to meet you? Just motel to motel, or
campground to campground?

I think I'd want to pair up with another couple and have them follow
in an RV, with plenty of spare parts and a back up bike for everyone.
How did you get up the courage, after all, it's a big, bad world out
there. Did you use a AAA trip-tick?

Forgive my probing, but it just sounds so interesting.

*(BTW, I'm a former Information Manager for a major Food Service
supplier to the Healthcare industry, and before that I was a Clinical
Scientist/Pathologist at the University. Graduated Univ. of Virginia
in the 70s)

-B

South Park wrote:


OK, so northern route? Atlantic City, Ocean City? Through Maryland,
Pa, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona,
California?

Sort of. Dipped our wheels at the Delaware coast, then through
Annapolis, Washington DC, up the C&O canal towpath (on and off) to
Cumberland MD, mostly rail-trail to Pittsburgh (those paths to partly
avoid the killer Appalachian hills). Through Ohio's Western Reserve,
then picked up Adventure Cycling's Northern Tier route (on and off) as
far as Iowa.

We made our own way across Iowa, then picked up Adventure Cycling's
Lewis & Clark route along the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers. Followed
that on and off to Astoria OR and the Pacific.

Regarding the "on and offs" : We'd ride the towpath until we forgot how
bad the hills were; then we'd ride the hills until we forgot how muddy
the towpath was. ;-)

And on the Adventure Cycling routes, we used them in a sort of advisory
way. If the wind was right (or any other idea came into our heads) we
took off in the direction that sounded best.

BTW, unlike the stereotypical male, I ask directions at the drop of a
hat! We got lots of advice on routes from friendly people along the
way. Some of it was actually correct! ;-)

Did you use a AAA trip-tick?

The Adventure Cycling maps are something like that. Each panel shows
you - I forget - something like 35 miles of roads in great detail. They
have icons for groceries, post offices, motels, campgrounds, gas
stations, bike shops, etc. Our only quibble: the elevation data (which
is important on a loaded tour) sometimes seemed wildly off. And you
still need other maps if you ever want to get off-route. But those A.C.
maps are a great resource.


How did you run the sag-wagon? ;-)

We didn't need no steenkin' sag wagon. Just three folks on bikes,
riding west.


Wow. You've -got- to be kidding me? No part-time help in a car
following you, or relatives to meet you? Just motel to motel, or
campground to campground?

Yep. The self-sufficiency was a big part of the dream. We'd planned to
camp much more than we did (we had the gear) but the weather was pretty
brutal. Lots of rain until Illinois or so (nearly every day until Ohio)
and tremendous heat from Montana to Portland. So we were in motels most
of the time.

I think I'd want to pair up with another couple and have them follow
in an RV, with plenty of spare parts and a back up bike for everyone.

Bikes are remarkably rugged things. Except for one fairly serious (and
extremely unusual) tire problem, we had only very minor problems with
the bikes. There was nothing that ever stopped us for more than an hour.

How did you get up the courage, after all, it's a big, bad world out
there.

No, it's not!! Honestly, we were treated so nicely by so many people!
We were taken into the homes of many people along the way - some we'd
contacted via internet, e.g. the Warm Showers list, and several that
just suddenly invited us to stay with them! We had three or four total
strangers offer to loan us their cars for side trips! We were given
free cold drinks, free beers, free inner tubes, & a free pair of cycling
shoes. We were interviewed by several newspapers. We got warm welcomes
and admiration from wealthy women in Cadillacs and from honest-to-God
hobos, and everyone in between. We had bearded, tattood Harley riders
in pool halls say "Wow - you guys are _really_ tough!" We had semi
drivers giving us friendly waves all the way across the country. (Well,
the ladies _are_ pretty darned cute...) Really, it was a wonderful
experience.

I think fear keeps so many people from so many great experiences. It's
not a perfect world, but it's a darned good one.

You should go see it. ;-)

--
Frank Krygowski [To reply, omit what's between "at" and "cc"]

On Fri, 09 Jan 2004 21:45:27 -0500, "frkrygow"
wrote:

(Badger) South Park wrote:


OK, so northern route? Atlantic City, Ocean City? Through Maryland,
Pa, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona,
California?

Sort of. Dipped our wheels at the Delaware coast, then through
Annapolis, Washington DC, up the C&O canal towpath (on and off) to
Cumberland MD, mostly rail-trail to Pittsburgh (those paths to partly
avoid the killer Appalachian hills). Through Ohio's Western Reserve,
then picked up Adventure Cycling's Northern Tier route (on and off) as
far as Iowa.

Thanks, bud. Great story. Have you ever read one of those online
travelogs?

Here's my favorite, probably the first and greatest site. The pics are
awesome, and I promise you won't go there without nabbing at least one
Wallpaper. ;-) (they're 640x480, but thumbnailed. Great story)

Travels with Samantha:

http://www.photo.net/samantha/

Philip Greenspun is a legend, IMO.

Maybe we'll do something like that, although, I'd probably just do
side trips from an RV, since I have a hip injury. My wife retires next
year and my daughter goes to college. I retired in August (2003), at
51.

Best, and thanks a bunch. (South Park is my other email)

-B

frkrygow wrote:

It's not a perfect world, but it's a darned good one.

You should go see it. ;-)

For those of you interested in our coast-to-coast family trip this
summer, you can find a collection of my e-mails from the road, posted on
the Bicycling Life website.

It's at http://bicyclinglife.com/Recreation/...SummerRide.htm


--
Frank Krygowski [To reply, omit what's between "at" and "cc"]