Trip Report: San Francisco to Milwaukee - August 10 - 26, 2007

Ron Wallenfang

Mike Jacoubowsky

mevermeulen@gmail.com

Thanks for posting this. After the inquiries of I-80 vs. other
routes,
it is interesting to read how things turned out. I'm surprised to see
two flat tires with Marathon Plus tires but perhaps that is a downside
to the interstates. Congratulations on finishing the lower 48 states.

--mev, Mike Vermeulen

Ron Wallenfang

On Nov 20, 1:05 am, "Mike Jacoubowsky" <mik...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> Incredible story. Thanks for taking the time to write it all out. A couple
> questions-
>
> First, it seems like you were on a mission, somewhat rushed & pressed for
> time. Starting out with the three hours of sleep you got upon arrival in SF
> (immediately before jumping onto your bike) and continuing along the way, as
> you piled on far more miles/day than even most sag-supported riders. What's
> the scoop?

It's mainly my personal riding style, common to all my long rides.
Why? Here's a guess: Like a lot of men, I'd like to have some
athletic achievement worth mentioning, and this is the best I can do.
I'm not very fast, not possessed of much upper body strength, not very
coordinated, not very agile, have injury prone shoulders, and more
often than not am a bit overweight. But I do have the ability to sit
on a bicycle for hours on end, day after day, grinding out miles, and
adapting to a fairly wide variety of weather conditions along the
way. So that's what I do!

> Second, just out of curiosity, which cell service did you have that had such
> wide areas of no coverage (when other cell phones did work)?

AT & T. Its maps showed spotty service in S.D., so I wasn't
surprised.

Bill Cotton

"Ron Wallenfang" <rwallenfang@wi.rr.com> wrote in message
news:11d18b86-8927-46b4-b752-cfba7aafbedd@l22g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
> On Nov 20, 1:05 am, "Mike Jacoubowsky" <mik...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>> Incredible story. Thanks for taking the time to write it all out. A
>> couple
>> questions-
>>
>> First, it seems like you were on a mission, somewhat rushed & pressed for
>> time. Starting out with the three hours of sleep you got upon arrival in
>> SF
>> (immediately before jumping onto your bike) and continuing along the way,
>> as
>> you piled on far more miles/day than even most sag-supported riders.
>> What's
>> the scoop?
>
> It's mainly my personal riding style, common to all my long rides.
> Why? Here's a guess: Like a lot of men, I'd like to have some
> athletic achievement worth mentioning, and this is the best I can do.
> I'm not very fast, not possessed of much upper body strength, not very
> coordinated, not very agile, have injury prone shoulders, and more
> often than not am a bit overweight. But I do have the ability to sit
> on a bicycle for hours on end, day after day, grinding out miles, and
> adapting to a fairly wide variety of weather conditions along the
> way. So that's what I do!
>
>> Second, just out of curiosity, which cell service did you have that had
>> such
>> wide areas of no coverage (when other cell phones did work)?
>
> AT & T. Its maps showed spotty service in S.D., so I wasn't
> surprised.
Congratulation Ron; I enjoys reading your reports for a few years now. My
first was when you rode south from Philadelphia. My style is much like
yours, long and slow. For about three years I set a goal of a century each
month. Then two centuries a month. My average speed is less than yours,
about 11 mile per hour on long rides so I would ride a lots in darkness this
time in the year.
Currently I have set up a trainer with a DVD player in the front bag
http://www.billcotton.com/my_training.htm I plan to continue the one hour
each day that I have done for 13 days now.

--
www.billcotton.com