2003/2004

6th Avenue and 59th Street, NYC.

Riding on the left hand designated Bicycle Lane, livery car turns left, sees me but, attempts to move out of the way fast enough, doesn't, I clip the corner of his trunk with 2 month old Shimano XT M750 brakelever/shifter combos. I bent the lever 90º up, if my hand was there, I doubt I'd have those fingers. I splatter against the floor. My injury was a slight bruise to the back of my knee. He left.

----

Greenpoint Ave, Greenpoint Bridge.

Prior to my disc brakes, I was racing down the exit of the bridge, where a man was walking, he felt he needed the whole width of the walkway, so as I approached I realized I didn't have the distance needed to stop with my Shimano XT V-Brakes... I hit the front brake full force, leaned all the way back, the bike still started to flip so I hugged him, wheel went perfect inbetween his leg and I stopped.

----

Williamsburg Bridge, Manhattan Exit.

Coming down the exit, doing about 30mph, flying over their *speed bumps* with my 26 x 2.0 Michelin Wildgripper Jet S's, still without disc brakes, I didn't brake in time and completely taco'd this guy and his road bike. His wheel was bent in half. I walked with him to an ATM and gave him $30. He was more than greatful since he had some beatup looking thing.

----

All these accidents have occured while I was sober, which I believe is the reason for them. I have never had any conflict while intoxicated.

While adjusting mirror on helmt in August I hit a rut, pothole or whatever. Impact yanked handlebar out of my hand and the Lenear recumbent jacknifed and threw me to the ground- breaking my leg in six places. I have been layed up since while trying to heal. Never realized that a recumbent that puts you only 20" above road could be so dangerous in it's design. A real drawback of a LWB recumbent is that the front wheel will turn immediatly if handlebars are left free-judging from my case. Talked to another recumbent rider that wiped out going over railroad tracks and broke his leg also. Are recumbents that dangerous or are we just two unlucky guys that help to make percentages?

In article <[email hidden]>, "Ron Wallenfang"

Quoted message said:

Before we get too far into the new year, I think it might be appropriate to share stories of 2003
failures and successes and 2004 aspirations. How was 2003? Mileage? Trips? Commuting? Accidents?
Anecdotes? What are the goals for 2004?

My worst riding event for 2003 was getting hit by a car on March 21 - the car turned left and
right into me, who was going the other way, The good news is that I came out of it with no worse
than a separated shoulder, and no fear of getting back on the bike the next month.

I think the best part of the year was during the Tour. The july weather was beautiful, we went
riding nearly every day and then came home and watched the tour at night on tape. My whole life was
cycling. It was great!

My season ended last year when I got hit by a car, which really sucked, although it was late
october. Fortunately, I didn't have one unpleasant incident or accident all year this year, unless
you count falling over at a stoplight.

"Ron Wallenfang" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Before we get too far into the new year, I think it might be appropriate

to

Quoted message said:

share stories of 2003 failures and successes and 2004 aspirations. How

was

Quoted message said:

2003? Mileage? Trips? Commuting? Accidents? Anecdotes? What are the goals for 2004?

Highlights: I achieved my New Year's resolution to do a century in every month (metric OK if below
freezing). I finally did a brevet (OK, so it was only the 200K brevet, but ...) Touring: a 7 day,
650+ mile trip from Kalamazoo, MI to Petoskey, MI and back home to Chicago. This was a wonderful
trip -- no rain, no flats, and no negative incidents I can recall. I finally went mountain biking at
Kettle Moraine Forest in Wisconsin this fall. Mileage: 5079 (a new high for me).

2004 goals: Fewer miles. I'm using up most of my annual vacation on a trip abroad, and I want to do
more volunteer rehabilitation work in the local forest preserves. My resolution is not to obsess
about this. On the other hand, doing a 300K brevet would be an interesting goal, too.

Ron Wallenfang said:

Before we get too far into the new year, I think it might be appropriate to share stories of 2003
failures and successes and 2004 aspirations. How was 2003? Mileage? Trips? Commuting? Accidents?
Anecdotes? What are the goals for 2004?

2003 was the best biking year I've ever had, period. After thirty years of my dreaming about it,
this was the year my wife, my daughter and I did our sea-to-shining-sea self-supported bike tour.
Dipping the rear wheel in the Atlantic, then the front wheel in the Pacific and all that.

It was one of the greatest things I've ever been lucky enough to do. And to do it with these two
lovely ladies was just immensely wonderful.

<sigh> So many beautiful moments.

Five months later, I still sometimes look at the US map pinned on my office wall. I let my eyes
trace the path of little red dots - the towns we bicycled through - and think: "Wow."

If you get the chance, don't pass it up.

--
Frank Krygowski [To reply, omit what's between "at" and "cc"]

"Ron Wallenfang" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Before we get too far into the new year, I think it might be appropriate

to

Quoted message said:

share stories of 2003 failures and successes and 2004 aspirations. How

was

Quoted message said:

2003? Mileage? Trips? Commuting? Accidents? Anecdotes? What are the goals for 2004?

My worst riding event for 2003 was getting hit by a car on March 21 - the car turned left and
right into me, who was going the other way, The good news is that I came out of it with no worse
than a separated shoulder, and no fear of getting back on the bike the next month.

Ron,

I feel your pain ... quite literally. My apologies to those who have heard my account too many
times. Hey ... Ron asked.

In Oct. '02 I had the same thing happen to me that happened to you ... a car turned left and
didn't see me heading through an intersection. I got creamed and had a compression fracture of the
spine, a broken hip (3 screws), broken pelvis, broken ankle (2 screws) and a major laceration of
the lower left leg.

I was still on crutches when I commenced indoor trainer rides in mid-Dec. '02. I started '03 still
on crutches and in therapy, but I progressed quite rapidly. By mid-January I was cleared to begin
some road riding. I completed a metric century the first weekend of April (actually rode 94 very wet
miles that day). The first Saturday of May I was in a mountainous full century and had a personal
best time, finishing in just under 5 hours. (I had lost a good bit of weight just before the
accident. That was a big factor.) I went on to have a very strong season and finished with just shy
of 10,000 miles in my log for the year.

Oh ... and the best part. I completed my settlement with the driver's insurance company and got
enough to pay off the mortgage on my new 22-acre farm ... TWICE!

I hope your shoulder is doing better. Glad you got back on the bike.

Bob C.

frkrygow <"frkrygow"@omitcc.ysu.edu> wrote:
: If you get the chance, don't pass it up.

amen. i did something similiar summer 2002 and i'm hooked. i'm trying to get laid off again.
absolutely awesome.
--
david reuteler [email hidden]

"frkrygow" <"frkrygow"@omitcc.ysu.edu> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

2003 was the best biking year I've ever had, period. After thirty years of my dreaming about it,
this was the year my wife, my daughter and I did our sea-to-shining-sea self-supported bike tour.
Dipping the rear wheel in the Atlantic, then the front wheel in the Pacific and all that.

It was one of the greatest things I've ever been lucky enough to do. And to do it with these two
lovely ladies was just immensely wonderful. ... Five months later, I still ....think: "Wow."

I've got a similar dream, with 5 more years until I expect it to become real.

It's nice to hear that these dreams can work out, and work out well. Congratulations to
the 3 of you.

On Wed, 07 Jan 2004 20:34:11 -0500, "frkrygow"

frkrygow'@omitcc.ysu.edu said:

Ron Wallenfang said:

Before we get too far into the new year, I think it might be appropriate to share stories of 2003
failures and successes and 2004 aspirations. How was 2003? Mileage? Trips? Commuting? Accidents?
Anecdotes? What are the goals for 2004?

2003 was the best biking year I've ever had, period. After thirty years of my dreaming about it,
this was the year my wife, my daughter and I did our sea-to-shining-sea self-supported bike tour.
Dipping the rear wheel in the Atlantic, then the front wheel in the Pacific and all that.

It was one of the greatest things I've ever been lucky enough to do. And to do it with these two
lovely ladies was just immensely wonderful.

<sigh> So many beautiful moments.

Five months later, I still sometimes look at the US map pinned on my office wall. I let my eyes
trace the path of little red dots - the towns we bicycled through - and think: "Wow."

If you get the chance, don't pass it up.

Care to share the map of your route? Ya can email it to me, or better post a link if you have a
digital copy or repro. I'd love to see it! I love maps.

If it's email, post here and I'll send you my real email addy, the one on the post is fake.

Did you take the summer to do it? How did you run the sag-wagon? ;-)

-B

On Wed, 7 Jan 2004 23:03:42 -0500, "psycholist" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

"Ron Wallenfang" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Before we get too far into the new year, I think it might be appropriate

to

Quoted message said:

share stories of 2003 failures and successes and 2004 aspirations. How

was

Quoted message said:

2003? Mileage? Trips? Commuting? Accidents? Anecdotes? What are the goals for 2004?

My worst riding event for 2003 was getting hit by a car on March 21 - the car turned left and
right into me, who was going the other way, The good news is that I came out of it with no worse
than a separated shoulder, and no fear of getting back on the bike the next month.

Ron,

I feel your pain ... quite literally. My apologies to those who have heard my account too many
times. Hey ... Ron asked.

In Oct. '02 I had the same thing happen to me that happened to you ... a car turned left and didn't
see me heading through an intersection. I got creamed and had a compression fracture of the spine,
a broken hip (3 screws), broken pelvis, broken ankle (2 screws) and a major laceration of the lower
left leg.

I was still on crutches when I commenced indoor trainer rides in mid-Dec. '02. I started '03 still
on crutches and in therapy, but I progressed quite rapidly. By mid-January I was cleared to begin
some road riding. I completed a metric century the first weekend of April (actually rode 94 very
wet miles that day). The first Saturday of May I was in a mountainous full century and had a
personal best time, finishing in just under 5 hours. (I had lost a good bit of weight just before
the accident. That was a big factor.) I went on to have a very strong season and finished with just
shy of 10,000 miles in my log for the year.

Oh ... and the best part. I completed my settlement with the driver's insurance company and got
enough to pay off the mortgage on my new 22-acre farm ... TWICE!

I hope your shoulder is doing better. Glad you got back on the bike.

Bob C.

Sir, I salute you.

-B

Badger South said:

Care to share the map of your route? Ya can email it to me, or better post a link if you have a
digital copy or repro. I'd love to see it! I love maps.

If it's email, post here and I'll send you my real email addy, the one on the post is fake.

Sorry, our only camera is "analog." I did trace the route out on another US map, but it's a large
one. It'd be very tough to scan.

Quoted message said:

Did you take the summer to do it?

Yep. My wife and I were both able to take the summer off. My daughter gave up her temporary job. It
put a big, big dent in our savings, but it was unquestionably worth it.

Quoted message said:

How did you run the sag-wagon? ;-)

We didn't need no steenkin' sag wagon. Just three folks on bikes, riding west.

--
Frank Krygowski [To reply, omit what's between "at" and "cc"]

On Thu, 08 Jan 2004 21:14:33 -0500, "frkrygow"

frkrygow'@omitcc.ysu.edu said:

Badger South said:

Care to share the map of your route? Ya can email it to me, or better post a link if you have a
digital copy or repro. I'd love to see it! I love maps.

If it's email, post here and I'll send you my real email addy, the one on the post is fake.

Sorry, our only camera is "analog." I did trace the route out on another US map, but it's a large
one. It'd be very tough to scan.

OK, so northern route? Atlantic City, Ocean City? Through Maryland, Pa, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Missouri, Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona, California?

Southern Route? Florida, Mississippi, Lousiana, Texas, Oklahoma, NM, Arizona, California?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Did you take the summer to do it?

Yep. My wife and I were both able to take the summer off. My daughter gave up her temporary job. It
put a big, big dent in our savings, but it was unquestionably worth it.

Sounds like it. Envy, envy. ;-)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

How did you run the sag-wagon? ;-)

We didn't need no steenkin' sag wagon. Just three folks on bikes, riding west.

Wow. You've -got- to be kidding me? No part-time help in a car following you, or relatives to meet
you? Just motel to motel, or campground to campground?

I think I'd want to pair up with another couple and have them follow in an RV, with plenty of spare
parts and a back up bike for everyone. How did you get up the courage, after all, it's a big, bad
world out there. Did you use a AAA trip-tick?

Forgive my probing, but it just sounds so interesting.

*(BTW, I'm a former Information Manager for a major Food Service supplier to the Healthcare
industry, and before that I was a Clinical Scientist/Pathologist at the University. Graduated Univ.
of Virginia in the 70s)

-B

South Park said:

OK, so northern route? Atlantic City, Ocean City? Through Maryland, Pa, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Missouri, Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona, California?

Sort of. Dipped our wheels at the Delaware coast, then through Annapolis, Washington DC, up the C&O
canal towpath (on and off) to Cumberland MD, mostly rail-trail to Pittsburgh (those paths to partly
avoid the killer Appalachian hills). Through Ohio's Western Reserve, then picked up Adventure
Cycling's Northern Tier route (on and off) as far as Iowa.

We made our own way across Iowa, then picked up Adventure Cycling's Lewis & Clark route along the
Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers. Followed that on and off to Astoria OR and the Pacific.

Regarding the "on and offs" : We'd ride the towpath until we forgot how bad the hills were; then
we'd ride the hills until we forgot how muddy the towpath was. ;-)

And on the Adventure Cycling routes, we used them in a sort of advisory way. If the wind was right
(or any other idea came into our heads) we took off in the direction that sounded best.

BTW, unlike the stereotypical male, I ask directions at the drop of a hat! We got lots of advice on
routes from friendly people along the way. Some of it was actually correct! ;-)

Quoted message said:

Did you use a AAA trip-tick?

The Adventure Cycling maps are something like that. Each panel shows you - I forget - something like
35 miles of roads in great detail. They have icons for groceries, post offices, motels, campgrounds,
gas stations, bike shops, etc. Our only quibble: the elevation data (which is important on a loaded
tour) sometimes seemed wildly off. And you still need other maps if you ever want to get off-route.
But those A.C. maps are a great resource.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

How did you run the sag-wagon? ;-)

We didn't need no steenkin' sag wagon. Just three folks on bikes, riding west.

Wow. You've -got- to be kidding me? No part-time help in a car following you, or relatives to meet
you? Just motel to motel, or campground to campground?

Yep. The self-sufficiency was a big part of the dream. We'd planned to camp much more than we did
(we had the gear) but the weather was pretty brutal. Lots of rain until Illinois or so (nearly every
day until Ohio) and tremendous heat from Montana to Portland. So we were in motels most of the time.

Quoted message said:

I think I'd want to pair up with another couple and have them follow in an RV, with plenty of
spare parts and a back up bike for everyone.

Bikes are remarkably rugged things. Except for one fairly serious (and extremely unusual) tire
problem, we had only very minor problems with the bikes. There was nothing that ever stopped us for
more than an hour.

Quoted message said:

How did you get up the courage, after all, it's a big, bad world out there.

No, it's not!! Honestly, we were treated so nicely by so many people! We were taken into the homes
of many people along the way - some we'd contacted via internet, e.g. the Warm Showers list, and
several that just suddenly invited us to stay with them! We had three or four total strangers offer
to loan us their cars for side trips! We were given free cold drinks, free beers, free inner tubes,
& a free pair of cycling shoes. We were interviewed by several newspapers. We got warm welcomes and
admiration from wealthy women in Cadillacs and from honest-to-God hobos, and everyone in between. We
had bearded, tattood Harley riders in pool halls say "Wow - you guys are _really_ tough!" We had
semi drivers giving us friendly waves all the way across the country. (Well, the ladies _are_ pretty
darned cute...) Really, it was a wonderful experience.

I think fear keeps so many people from so many great experiences. It's not a perfect world, but it's
a darned good one.

You should go see it. ;-)

--
Frank Krygowski [To reply, omit what's between "at" and "cc"]

On Fri, 09 Jan 2004 21:45:27 -0500, "frkrygow"

frkrygow'@omitcc.ysu.edu said:

(Badger) South Park said:

OK, so northern route? Atlantic City, Ocean City? Through Maryland, Pa, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Missouri, Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona, California?

Sort of. Dipped our wheels at the Delaware coast, then through Annapolis, Washington DC, up the C&O
canal towpath (on and off) to Cumberland MD, mostly rail-trail to Pittsburgh (those paths to partly
avoid the killer Appalachian hills). Through Ohio's Western Reserve, then picked up Adventure
Cycling's Northern Tier route (on and off) as far as Iowa.

Thanks, bud. Great story. Have you ever read one of those online travelogs?

Here's my favorite, probably the first and greatest site. The pics are awesome, and I promise you
won't go there without nabbing at least one Wallpaper. ;-) (they're 640x480, but thumbnailed.
Great story)

Travels with Samantha:

photo.netsamanthaOpen ↗

Philip Greenspun is a legend, IMO.

Maybe we'll do something like that, although, I'd probably just do side trips from an RV, since I
have a hip injury. My wife retires next year and my daughter goes to college. I retired in August
(2003), at
51.

Best, and thanks a bunch. (South Park is my other email)

-B

frkrygow said:

It's not a perfect world, but it's a darned good one.

You should go see it. ;-)

For those of you interested in our coast-to-coast family trip this summer, you can find a collection
of my e-mails from the road, posted on the Bicycling Life website.

It's at bicyclinglife.comALittleSummerRide.htmOpen ↗

--
Frank Krygowski [To reply, omit what's between "at" and "cc"]