What We See
Posted on 27. Jun, 2009 by carlos.
The middle of this country is more beautiful than one would imagine. Traveling to another country is great for the exotic feel, however, the middle states offer that same feel if you are not from around here. We pass scenes like this daily:
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Day 33: 106 Miles, 99 Degrees, 98% Humidity, 1 Siesta
Posted on 23. Jun, 2009 by carlos.
If you turned on the radio at any point this morning, it told you to stay in air conditioned rooms, drink “plenty of fluids,” and check on your neighbors. Joe and I decided to bike 106 miles from Lincoln, Nebraska to Hastings, Nebraska. Side note: Hastings is the birthplace of Kool-Aid. Oh yeah. We drank approx. 25-30 bottles of water, took a 25 minute siesta at 3:30pm in Friend, Nebraska and spent from 14 hours on the move.
Luckily for us, the road had a shoulder large enough for Joe and I to comfortably bike side by side. It helps pass the time when we are able to chat.
We met up with two cyclists a few days ago and just got the picture up. These guys are doing a less scheduled trip (which we envy at times) from San Fran to NY.
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Day 29/30: Tripletts, Escorts & Bridges
Posted on 22. Jun, 2009 by carlos.
- Currently in Lincoln, Nebraska watching SNL digital shorts and playing World of Warcraft with our uber-geek-hosts.
- Please forgive us for the delay in posts. We are going to try posting more frequently, instead of longer (more overwhelming) ones.
Jerry Triplett
Jerry Triplett is 75 years old and forever young. On the back of his family tye-die t-shirt, it read, “Team Triplett,” and on the front, “Only when attempting the ridiculous, can the impossible be achieved.” He has biked across the country when he was 62 and all the county courthouses in Iowa.
He started running when he was 48 because everyone in his family had passed away from health issues. He has ran 21 marathons, and still runs 13 miles every weekend. He journals everyday, and categorizes hundreds of newspaper clippings.
He sang to Barack Obama:
He built a miniature golf course in the back of his house to have a reason for his 26 grandchildren to visit. “I don’t think they will come back purely for our glowing personalities,” Jerry said when explaining his 9 hole course, open to the public.
Taking a picture with the mayor, on a miniature golf course, in the back of Jerry and Nancy’s house:
Signing the bridge:
He sang to us!
And if you still can’t enough of Jerry, here is a life lesson:
The Bridges of Madison County
We visited one of the 6 bridges of Madison County.
Of course we had to go back home and watch the movie!
Police Escort Out of Winterset
About 1 hour into the movie, there was a knock at the door. Any story that starts off with ‘knock at the door’ is required to be epic. Epic it was! The mayor of Winterset was at the door and asked if him and his grandchildren can come over to play miniature golf. After Jerry explained why the 2 random people were in the living room, the mayor offered us a police escort for the next morning. We felt like kings of the road the next morning:
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Day 27: Goodbye Daniel, Iowa City!
Posted on 17. Jun, 2009 by carlos.
Our host in Iowa City was a Taiwanese masters student of Sports. Keep doing good things, Daniel!
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RgR on The Alleghany Front (Radio Interview)
Posted on 17. Jun, 2009 by carlos.
This interview was a blast to do.Leah Kauffman put many hours into this interview, and it shows. In my opinion, this radio interview is the best capture of our campaign thus far.
From the Alleghany Front:
Two tech workers without much cycling experience are biking across the country, hoping to show that if they can pedal the nation, you can pedal to work. The Allegheny Front’s Leah Kauffman met up with the guys from Real Geeks Ride during a stop in Pittsburgh.
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Day 26: Rock Island, Barges, George Eaton
Posted on 17. Jun, 2009 by carlos.
On the morning of Day 26, we received a tour of ‘Rock Island‘ by George Eaton, our host and a military historian/documentarian. He is a recently retired 22 year veteran of the force and a house filled with military history books. He non-chalantly brings up history on any topic at hand as though it’s normal conversation.
During the tour of Rock Island we saw the second largest federal house, right under the White House. We saw an atomic cannon, a power plant that powers the entire island, and a blacksmith shop that has been out of commission for many years because of the use of chromium.
One of the best stories came from the confederate cemetary we saw. George mentioned that the tombstones were peaked and explained the origins in one quote. “We never want a damned Yankee sitting his arse on these stones.” I’ll never forget that one.
The bridge below spins a full 360 degrees to let the barges through. It doesn’t have to wait for the entire barge to pass for it to start closing (hence the 360). To say the least, it was an Ordeal to have this ship move along it’s route. Every 10 to 20 miles it had to pass some form of lock and damn system. It was also one of the only valid excuses to be a few minutes late for work. “Bridge open,” one would say.
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Day 25: On the Road, Turning Left, Our Future Children
Posted on 15. Jun, 2009 by carlos.
- Within 30 minutes into the ‘On the Road’ audiobook, I realized an eery similarity of routes. From NY area to Pittsburgh to Chicago to North Platte…Kerouac even mentions Ogallala Nebraska (one of our stops).
- Finding a small bit of food to play with in your mouth is a lot of excitement on a 40 mile stretch. It becomes even more fun when you realize it was a bug that had flown into your mouth.
- Boring roads make the time slow down.
- Only eating Nature Valley bars for lunch heeds a rough night for your stomach.
- After a long ~60 mile stretch of road, the most exciting thing we did was turn left.
- We are contemplating not following detour signs anymore. Cars probably can’t get through, but bikes can shimmy around most.
- The longer stretches of corn require us to carry backup water bottles.
The Real Children of the Corn
We arrived to the outskirts of Moline, Illinois to find an increase of the lower income urban feel. The shock was not the town, as we had passed through a few of these before, but rather a group the 5-6 year olds jumping on a trampoline to our right. We were going at a slower speed to make sure our directions were correct. At first we only heard shouts, which became more audible as we approached. “Gay bikes you *ssholes,” said the milano’esque ring leader. “Suck my d*ck, you cock sucker,” he screamed with little knowledge of the meaning.
We turned the bikes around just to see him sprint to the back of the house. It was a small win for us, but a game he never should have never been a part of.
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Day 24: 101 miles with Suburbans in Suburbia
Posted on 14. Jun, 2009 by carlos.
Chicago was a relaxing time to let our bodies rest. I spent most of my free time looking for a vintage 1950’s fedora. Joe spent most of his time taking pictures.
A few days of rest and we are back on the road. Today’s ride was nothing exciting. The roads are not beautiful, and the cars don’t want us on the road. Long stretches of strip malls and suburban homes have equated to teenagers giving a quick and sharp shout to scare us and some of the older crowd driving uncomfortably close while telling us to use the sidewalk (which doesn’t exist).
Bleh. I miss the Amish.
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Day 17/18: JP, Aboite, Ronald G. Repka
Posted on 10. Jun, 2009 by carlos.
Ava:
JP, Fort Wayne’s Bike Commuter
In the early planning of RgR, we made contact with JP of fwbikecommuter.blogspot.com. A few months later, Fort Wayne, Indiana would take hold as one of our strongest stops.
Organized by JP, we had a community ride from Fort Wayne Outfitters to the Deer Ridge Elementary School in celebration of National Trails Day. Someone even drove 1.5 hours to ride with us; when we heard that, it sunk in that we are impacting people’s lives, even on small levels.
Thank you JP, and to everyone that showed up. We will never forget Fort Wayne, the city that surprised us.
Aboite Trails
We celebrated National Trails day with Lori Keys, executive director of Aboite New Trails. Their mission is:
To improve the quality of life for area citizens through the development of a multi-use trail system in Southwest Allen County and its surrounding communities.
Ronald G. Repka Foundation
From site:
In the fall of 2001, Ron Repka tragically lost his life at the hands of a speeding motorist while cycling on a country road. Ron’s love for athletics and the spirit of competition lives on in the memory of his family and friends.
The Ronald G. Repka Foundation, Inc. is dedicated to perpetuating Ron’s interest in youth sports, fitness, recreation and cancer patient support. The Foundation is a not-for-profit organization funded by private donations, fund raising events and other charitable organizations.
Sharon Repka, the wife of the late Ronald G. Repka, stopped by the Aboite Trails. They provided us two bright jerseys (shown below) and the the story of her husband to keep us safe throughout the trip.
Please visit here if you would like to make a charitable donation.
JP and Angela’s adorable kids:
BBQ at JP’s House:
RgR on the News:
