Rode just over a 100 miles. This way Casey could feel like he accomplished something on his trip. He's been complaining about not biking enough. Fine, I'll ride your ass into the ground. Then we'll see if he changes his tune. It was a pretty chill ride. Did a few thousand feet of climbing and my GPS claims I burned over 9000 calories. Last time I'd checked I'd burned over 500,000 since I began. Figuring I'm close to about 5k miles so far with plenty to go. Bike trip facts.
Glad to have the new IPhone. This thing is lighting fast. Had no service all day yesterday. Just thought AT&T was slacking over here. Then after 85 miles I see an AT&T store. I'm like "what?" The guy at the store just did a hard reset on my phone and it was fine again. I like staying connected.
Two days ago, August 20th marked a day 20 years ago that will remain as vivid as any. It was the day I was on a Campus Life bike trip to Maine. The 7-11 bike tour. A fully supported bike trip for our youth group that was biking 7 states in 11 days.
That day we we're staying in New Hampshire and just biking up to Maine for the day to eat lunch then back. The trip ended abruptly just like Kim Masterson's life. Kim was 18 and off to college when we returned. We were biking up a slight ascent on route 1 in Maine. There was about 8 people in our group. We had been riding for about a week already. I was in the back of the group. Kim started losing control of her bike. It was a narrow shoulder on a two lane road.
It's customary to call out things in the road. ie. If your in the front you call out "glass.". If your in the back on a small road, you call out "car back.". We called out truck back when Kim was staggering back and forth from the shoulder into the road. This tractor trailer got way over. He was halfway into the other lane. Kim went right under the trailer. The back wheels went over her and snuft out her life.
That image and what took place right after have been replayed in my head many times. It is a day that I will never forget. When I planned this trip I thought about that day quite a bit. Had lunch with my buddy Jack Crabtree who was leading that bike trip just before I left. He was at the front of our group. Both of us went right over to Kim. I was feeling for a pulse while he started administering CPR. I think she was gone instantly.
Believe both of our lives were changed forever that day. He has biked across the country twice. Him sharing about those trips sparked my interest so many years ago. Three months later and across the country myself with an excursion to Ak and the Yukon. Just want to say, RIP Kim.
From here it's a days ride to Portland. Gonna kick it here and bike the 75 miles to Portland tomorrow. Broke a spoke yesterday and need to have that fixed. Gonna spend a few days in Portland and then take a bus to Reno. From there I think it's a 150 miles to Burning Man.
Bought my ticket the other day. Gonna come back to Portland after that and continue down the coast. Til next time, stay tuned.
The pix are just some random pix I've taken with the new phone. That one is a vending machine at a bike garage in Seattle.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Broadway St,Seaside,United States
Wow man. I remember you telling me you were gonna do this. Congrats man. Thanks for reaching out and putting me in the loop. Safe travels man. See ya when ya make ya way to the NYC. Peaceee.
ReplyDeleteMy memory is foggy and don't remember a whole lot of people from the trip.. I didn't know a whole lot of people before the trip, but I was there for Kim's accident. Those images are still fresh in my mind even after 20 years.
ReplyDelete