Jeremy Bikes NEALS 30th Anniversary Ride
Follow my journey as I bike from Pittsburgh to Washington D.C. to celebrate 30 years of NEALS
July 14.
Today we biked 64 miles further west into Kansas. It was a hard day. The wind was against us and the temperature was about 105. As an added bonus, my gearshift stopped working about 3 days ago and I’ve been biking in one gear for the last three days. With the wind and a few hills it was pretty challenging.
Tomorrow, I hope to have a battery shipped to a bike shop in Wichita. I will get a ride there, hopefully get things fixed and catch up with the rest of the group tomorrow evening.
Today was a flat 61 miles through Kansas. Lots of farmland, lots of small towns, mostly boarded up. It was cloudy and drizzly in the morning which made for great riding, as it got really hot and muggy later in the day. We are staying in Chanute, Kansas, which was named for octave Chanute, a collaborator of the Wright brothers. There is a cool statue and model of the Wright brothers’ plane. Tomorrow is more of the same.
I got a chance to talk with one of my co-riders Paul, who left Vietnam in 1975 just as the Viet Cong were rushing his village. His story of escape and challenges and successes in the US is pretty amazing.
Yesterday we passed from Missouri into Kansas. The geographic transition was dramatic. Missouri was all rolling hills, woods, and farmland. Kansas is completely flat and completely agricultural. We stayed in Pittsburg, Kansas last night and have a rest day here today (July 12). The ride was less effortful as the hills died away. I think we have five more days of riding with no hills bigger than rises encountered when you go over an interstate. People have been very generous with food being prepared and some local attention from TV and newspaper. This has been six straight days of riding for me, and I am starting to get into the groove.
July 9 and 10th.
Yesterday we biked 81 miles and 6500 feet through the remnants of hurricane Beryl. Driving rain and wind all day. The country was quite beautiful, but it was hard to notice much. Today, it was lovely. 76 miles through rolling hills of the Ozarks. Mostly farming communities and open space. We have been staying primarily in churches. Even though it’s in the middle of the week, they are buzzing with activity. Bible classes, AA meetings, recovery meetings, and other events. You get a different picture of how important religion is in rural America than I would have perhaps guessed.
Tomorrow we bike into Kansas. Should be much flatter, but perhaps more windy. We will see.
Today was a long day, and I don’t have a ton of energy to write anything particularly creative. Here is a short update.
We continued our ride through the Ozarks. 92 miles, and nearly 7000 feet of climbing. It was a long day of riding. As usual, I am the oldest person in the group. Maybe that should tell me something. However the country is beautiful and many of the towns are well-maintained and very cute. We are staying in Eminence Missouri tonight. It had a very nice sleazy bar to hang out for an hour or so. Lots of Trump signs in this region, but that’s not particularly a surprise.
Today we biked over the Mississippi River and entered Missouri. After a bit of flat farmland, we entered the Ozarks; very healthy but quite beautiful. We stay tonight in a bike hostel which used to be a jail until a locally famous breakout in 1932.
Today is Day 1 of biking to San Francisco for me. I met the group yesterday; most started Jun 15 in Virginia, and biked to Carbondale Illinois, arriving July 4. Very nice group of folks; mostly retired people except for one 22 year old who must be wondering what the hell he is doing with this geriatric group. Today we biked from Carbonale to Chester Illinois; a very nice ride through farming communities. Chester is the home town of Elzie C. Segar, the cartoonist who developed Popeye the Sailorman cartoons in 1919. The town has more than a dozen statues of Popeye related characters. There is also a Popeye museum, which held at least five minutes of fascination. The political nature of the town can be gleaned from the firetruck which I got a picture of.
Tomorrow we cross the Mississippi River to Missouri; I would guess more rolling hills and farmland. The roads here are perfect for biking; empty, well maintained, picturesque. It is warm but not oppressive; however, we are apparently heading to another heat dome.
More tomorrow.
Activity Type: Cycling
Date: 7/6/24, 7:05 AM
Sensors Used
Total Distance: 9.52 mi
Duration: 40:20
Active Time: 40:20
Paused Time: 00:00
Activity Type: Cycling
Date: 7/6/24, 7:56 AM
Sensors Used
Total Distance: 37.04 mi
Duration: 3:39:39
Active Time: 2:58:31
Paused Time: 41:08
September 5 and 6
All done!! And Sunday night we stayed at a home of a former bike the US for MS rider, then had breakfast at a church. We biked 60 odd miles partially on bike lanes but also an 8 mile stretch on interstate five. Last night we stayed at a beach side campground and buked an easy 30 miles into San Diego.
Looking back at the trip, while I have not always been the most enthusiastic fan of church community rooms, it is amazing how generous people have been with their space and with their time. This has been true of former riders as well as churches. As a Jewish person riding with other Jews, I can’t help noticing that synagogues have not been sites where we have stayed. I don’t know whether this is because they haven’t been asked, but others Have suggested that security concerns as well as other issues would preclude the possibility.
Overall, this has been a great trip. The group raised over $100,000 for MS care, we rode past stunningly beautiful coastline and redwood forests, and the climbs were as challenging as I could’ve possibly imagined. The route has felt more dangerous than I recall from the 2019 northern tier ride. We have been on four-lane highway with no shoulders as well as narrow roads with hairpin turns and logging trucks. I don’t recall much of this on the previous trip. We all survived and I’m grateful for the continued capacity to make this kind of effort as well as the friends I’ve made along the way.
September 4
Third to last day! Today we rode from Santa Monica to Huntington Beach; most of it was a bike path although we rode through Central LA on city streets. It was much less hair-raising than yesterday. The Southern California beaches are endless. At least so far I guess I can recall, they started north of Santa Monica and have extended more than 100 miles south. They are all the same; on the stretch we rode today there is a bike path and vacation homes lined up viewing the water. Many of them are obviously incredibly expensive but they all look out on tens of thousands of people doing their thing probably almost every day of the year.
Another thing to note is that in the war of E bikes versus pedal bikes in Southern California, the e bikes have won. I would say that 80% of the bikes on the bike path are electric. In general they are driven by kids who have no idea how to use them, drive far too fast, and should be riding on the streets rather than paths. E bikes are a 21st invention century invention that have not significantly improved the state of the world.
Tomorrow we head down to Carlsbad on our penultimate day and San Diego on Tuesday.
September 1–3.
Last three days have been 90 milers with a rest day in between. On September 1 we biked to Goleta, 10 miles north of Santa Barbara. This was the first day where it got really hot while biking; I guess there is a heat watch over all of Southern California. Lots of biking on incredibly busy roads.
Kathy met me in Santa Barbara we spent a very nice day wandering around UCSB, the waterfront, and the mission. Today was an introduction to Classic Southern California biking. We rode on route one where there is a shoulder but it is completely clogged with cars and RVs. route one is a four-lane highway and all of the parked vehicles meant I was riding in the middle of the road for more than I was comfortable doing. The waterfront is probably pretty, but you can’t see it because of all of the vehicles. I am hoping that the next three days will not be more of the same. Regardless, we will be finished on September 6.
Jeremy Bikes NEALS 30th Anniversary Ride 