UniMan Gutting It Out: Needs New gear

On Thu, 1 Jul 2004, Cycle America wrote:
So I talked to Patrick last night for a good while.=20
He =EDs going to try and call every few days and I'm
going to try and relay his whereabouts and mental and
physical state (he =EDs tired, but still in good
humor).=20

I'll never be able to comprehend the rationale motivating people to such
endeavours. Especially when they appear not to have thought out the
hardships before embarking.

There is an interesting Museum in Bolzano (Italy) where one can see how
clever a traveller could be, and better be so, even on the most
inhospitable terrain.

Sergio
Pisa

Here is Max Chen's report about our amazing TransAm unicyclist, Patrick
Thomas who has his own web at: http://www.pedalthewaves.org

========================================
June 30, 2004

So I talked to Patrick last night for a good while.
He ís going to try and call every few days and I'm
going to try and relay his whereabouts and mental and
physical state (he ís tired, but still in good
humor). When he has the time, he'll go back and fill
in everything in his own words.

He called from the Jailhouse Motel in Ely, Nevada.
The restaurant is called the Cellblock Steakhouse! He
notes that Nevada is full of gambling smokers and
completely devoid of fellow blacks - quite a change
from multicultural San Francisco.

In the two weeks since his last report, he's had a
number of adventures, and many have revolved around
the kindness of strangers. From being offered
rides/shelter/food/water to arranging newspaper
interviews, people have been very generous and these
actions have reaffirmed his faith in humanity. His
ride has been documented in the South Tahoe Tribune,
Reno Gazette Journal, Nevada Appeal, and on TV through
KTVN - the CBS affiliate in Reno. You can check out
www.ktvn.com . Apparently some guy in a CA arranged
the interview and the anchorwoman came out to meet him
along the banks of the Truckee River. These
interviews and talking to strangers helps him keep
going and put things in perspective. They remind him
of his cause, because on those long lonely brutal
stretches he has considered turning back. He's had a
brief cold, his (in my words) grossly inadequate and
underplanned equipment has been falling apart, ** he's
had to camp out twice without shelter on the side of
the road**, and he survived sand storms and pummeling
rain. Someone please secretly steal and replace his
tattered, sewn, and HEAVY backpack. And give the
man an emergency blanket too (maybe he can use it as a
sail as well as prevent his teeth from chattering in
the night). He checks his mail every few days and can be reached at:


He's been amazed at the diversity of people's stories
as well as the range of natural environments. Forest,
desert, plains, mountains. It ís all there and unlike
from inside a car, he can really experience it: the
smell of roadkill; the tortuous cross winds; the taste
of bugs; plus he's got a cool tan line.

Anyway, he's pretty tired and realized fairly quickly
just how hot and arduous this trip is going to be.
He's been eating lots of deep fried goodness and
cholesterol filled breakfasts. I suggested bananas
and kiwis, lots of water and trail mix or granola.
He's mailed back a few packages with unnecessary
things like his CD player, microrecorder, and reading
book. (Don Loomis had quite a bit of extra stuff too.
Come to think of it, so did my brother and I). In
the future he's got a 90 mile day on "the loneliest
rode," which will be his longest day yet. He still
plans on going to Salt Lake City even with Skot Pís
horrible opinion about the state of Utah. He's going
to visit his uncle up in Denver. And he is still
determined to reach Chicago for the NBG event. I
suggested doing whatever he can to join RAGBRAI. That
will pick up his wavering spirits for sure.

Well, until his next phone call, that ís pretty much
it.

Max Chen
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.c...ios/max_chen.p
hp

In article
,
Sergio SERVADIO wrote:

On Thu, 1 Jul 2004, Cycle America wrote:
So I talked to Patrick last night for a good while.
He ?s going to try and call every few days and I'm
going to try and relay his whereabouts and mental and
physical state (he ?s tired, but still in good
humor).

I'll never be able to comprehend the rationale motivating people to such
endeavours. Especially when they appear not to have thought out the
hardships before embarking.

There is an interesting Museum in Bolzano (Italy) where one can see how
clever a traveller could be, and better be so, even on the most
inhospitable terrain.

Sergio
Pisa


There was a swede but I can't remember his name. And this guy sailed a
21 foot boat that he built himself to india. Then he took out of the
boat a bicycle, rode the bicycle to the foot of Everest (I may have the
mountain wrong but it was a significant one) and climbed it solo.

Kurt

In article ,
wrote:




There was a swede but I can't remember his name. And this guy sailed a
21 foot boat that he built himself to india. Then he took out of the
boat a bicycle, rode the bicycle to the foot of Everest (I may have the
mountain wrong but it was a significant one) and climbed it solo.

Kurt


following up my own post. I did remember wrong. He used no boat but
rather bicycled from Stockholm to Katmandhu and then climbed Everest.
His name was Goran Kropp and he died a few years ago climbing in
Washington State.