Taking a Trek

[Pat]

My oldest son, David, is taking a sabatical from the work 20 and treking across the midwest from St. Louis to Utah and back down through the lower tier of southwest and deep south states.

He'll be gone for four months, more or less. Here's a picture of his start, which was Friday the 13th.

I'll visit him from time to time on the road.

Pat

[SC Cheesehead]

I think the idea of a sabbatical is great, but would rather do it in the 'rauder vs. a bicycle...;)

[guspech750]

Thats awesome!!! I hope he has a great time.. thats one thing I wish I would have done. One thing I really miss is Bike racing. I used to do a lot of off road racing back in the day and lots and lots and lots of road miles and many century mile rides too. My back is in too bad of shape though. Good luck to him from a fellow ex-rider.

[jdando]

Nice! If he swings by the upper midwest tell him to stop by.

[Pat]

David called in this PM. He's in Houston, Missouri. He made about 100 miles today.

Traffic is courteous of him except for logger trucks and they seem to relish "brushing" him and honking their horn to startle him. He's careful.

He checks in with the local LEO when he stops for the night and they have been very helpful in steering him to camp sites and then follow with a check during the night to see if he's OK. That's good, way to go Missouri.

He should be a little north of Springfield tomorrow. Equipment and bike are holding up well, needs a minor adjustment on the sprockets (?).

Pat

[sailsmen]

Very inspiring. May I suggest you bring him a taller pole with flags at different heights and a loud air horn.

He is a very brave man.

[Pat]

I passed your suggestions to David. Sailsman.

Last night after about a 113 mile ride he was racing toward the town of Larned, Kansas trying to beat a storm coming in from the NW. It was a tie. He made it to a park pavilion just as the storm broke. 60 MPH winds sideways rain and dark.
He broke out his sleeping bag because it was cold. The storm let up around 4 AM.

He should make the Colorado Border today.


http://l.yimg.com/g/images/spaceball.gif

[Pat]

Well it's day 14 and David's over the Colorado/Kansas border and should make it close to Ordway, Colorado tomorrow.

Farmers are very friendly and helpful in Kansas, offering him lodging and meals.

They love to talk about working the farm, their crops and seeds. With the info he's accumulated he could farm tomorrow, J/K.

Wind is the biggest opposition but he is thoroughly enjoying the trek.

In a couple of days he will be pedaling up the Rocky Mountains.

[sailsmen]

I hope he is able to take pics.

[fastblackmerc]

Sounds like a great adventure!

[Pat]

He can take pics with his cell phone and "gorilla". Apparantly that's a flexible rubber/plastic device that grips your phone/camera and a post or rail while you set the timer and move a little distance away. Oh, the modern miracles of technology.

I thought he stopped people along the way and asked "Hey soldier, wanna take my picture? LOL.

(the link is not working when entered, but works from my favorites file. (???)
I'll have to look into this.

Regards,

[Pat]

Well David has passed through Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah and is headed into Arizona Grand Canyon area. So far he's covered 1900 miles. He's doing well and having a existential experience purging his mind, body and spirit.

The first picture with "bob" the trailer is at the start and the second is from a day or so ago.

[Pat]

I'll close this thread out, David has travel 2350 miles and is in Globe, Arizona. He will rent a car and come on home with a couple of days visiting us here in Louisiana.

His prospective employers want to interview him in a couple of weeks so he needs to get back and get ready.

He said it was a great trek and went better than expected.

Yesterday his credit card was canceled because the company, VISA, noticed the numbers on an unauthorized website.

No charges were made but the number was pirated. They overnighted him another card.


Regards,

[rumble]

Very cool!:beer:

[SID210SA]

Wow....cant believe I missed this thread.....great story...great trip.

[scruff]

wow very bold thing to do your son must be in awsome condition body and mind to acomplish such a feat ,,congrats from the great white north david