Become a Ride Reporter - Don Loomis Lovin' 50 on his Bent



C

Cycle America

Guest
We have assigned a reporter to Don Loomis who calls in
every day on the cell phone he is using. It takes its
power from the solar panel he has rigged up on the back of
of his trailer. And as such Faye Saunders has volunteered
to call him back from her land line which has unlimited
dialing so she can capture his adventure as per the words
below. If any of U want to really learn what it's like out
there on the road, get byline credit and sharpen your
skills as a writer, we'd like to be able to assign
reporters to our other riders. Here, he or she can call
you from a pay phone which you can call them back on for
the story. Our awesome unicyclist, who can barely lift a
pen at the end of a day, needs such a writer, as does Skot
Paschal who is riding Boise to Salt Lake right NOW!! And
soon our east coast riders.

Perhaps if you are one of our riders, you might like to
recruit a friend who can cover your ride and then have them
send the stories to us here?? We really want your help in
this ASAP!!

Here's Don Loomis:
========================================

Don Loomis Lovin' Hwy 50 by Faye Saunders

http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/b-
ios/Faye_Saund ers.php

6/18 9:00 pm

As hot as it was cycling in Davis, CA, when Don was going up
into the Sierras he saw snow on the side of the road. He was
tempted to get off his bike and roll around in it, but it
was dirty so he refrained. After a couple of days of not
showering and wearing the same clothes, he was very pleased
with the campground he found in Carson City. It has a pool,
showers and even a laundry facility. He said it felt really
good to get his clothes washed and to take a shower.

He has gotten rid of a few things in an attempt to lighten
his load. He even wanted to get rid of the quarters left
over from doing his laundry being very aware of the weight
of his load after climbing the mountains.

Because it is so windy there, they gave him a campground
next to the fence so he could burn his campfire. He was on
his way to have dinner at what looked like a nice restaurant
across the street from the campground. He was sure he would
sleep well tonight.

7/19 3:00 pm

After a very nice dinner of chicken and vegies, Don hit the
road at 5:30 this morning, despite having gotten up at 4:00.
He thinks he needs more practice at packing up camp faster.
He is now about 8 miles from Fallon, NV on Hwy 50. He
figures to be in Salt Lake City on time, he will need to
ride 100 miles/day. Right now he is traveling on flat land
with the wind behind him, so that seems easy. It feels like
it might even be a very slight downhill ride, as he can go
almost 10 mph without even pedaling. There are mountains
visible up ahead and so he is not so sure about that.

A waitress at the restaurant this morning knew someone who
bought a ghost town and turned it into a resort. That
sounded like a place he would like to visit sometime. The
breakfast restaurant was in Sorensen, a town he and his ex-
wife had stayed at 4 years ago. It brought back some
memories. He also met a man at a bikeshop who was planning a
cross country trip with his wife next year and was thinking
of doing his ride on an Easy Racer Gold Rush. That got Don
thinking about the bike he is riding and whether a long
wheel base recumbent might have been a better choice. But he
is quite happy with what he has for now.

Since places to eat have been sparse, he has been eating
canned tuna and salmon, peanuts and almonds, and dried
fruits. And drinking lots of water.

As he was riding along this morning, he came upon a group
of 57 fraternity bicyclists riding cross country to raise
funds for people with disabilities. One of the cyclists had
taken a very bad fall and was being taken away by
ambulance. The name of the group is pushamerica.org.
Shortly after running into this group, he came upon a 2 x 4
broken in half in the bike lane. Wanting to help out any
cyclists behind him, he stopped to remove the pieces of
wood. As he was pulling the second piece, it hit him in the
head. How ironic it was that he hurt himself while trying
to help someone else avoid injury.

From Carson City to Silver Springs the "bike lane" had a
rumble strip right in the middle of it. He had to ride in
the road to avoid having his teeth loosened. From Silver
Springs to Fallon has been heaven, though -- an 8 foot
wide smooth lane to ride in. And Hwy 50 is really
beautiful. Even though the thermometer says it is 95
degrees, he feels very comfortable in his white 30 SPF
outfit. He is not hot at all.

There are some elderly friends in Colorado he'd like to find
time to visit with. Also a sister-in-law whose daughter is
#1 in archery who live in Cheyenne.

The plan for the rest of the day is to get about 50 miles
past Fallon, kick a rattlesnake out of the way, and set up
camp before it gets too dark.

"I may not want to go back to work after this. This is
great! This is nice. I could do this for a living."
 

Similar threads