Oh, that we could.
Why are you doing this?
1. From an early age my family traveled back and forth across the continent by car (see Dedication
page). This is where I developed my love for this country.
Somewhere when I was a kid we passed a touring bicyclist in Colorado, and that's where I got the idea. It's stayed with me ever since.
2. To connect
my students in some way with this land of theirs, even if vicariously. I believe young people who get connected with their geography will become better citizens.
3. To raise money
for causes I care about. (see Fundraising page)
What is the significance of "Route 99"?
1. I work for
Community School District 99,
Downers Grove, Illinois*, which includes both Downers Grove North and Downers
Grove South High Schools, a combined student population of over 5000 students.
This trip is
as much an educational venture as it is a personal adventure.
(*Downers
Grove is a western suburb of Chicago, about 20 miles west of the Loop,
population about 45,000.)
2. I'm making the trip in the summer of '99.
3. The concept of "Route" conjures images of the old two-lane coast-to-coast highways of our past. These two-laners are the roads that bicyclists look for and are most comfortable on. These are the roads we travelled across the country on when I was a kid.
A. We've tried to combine the concept of the bicycle chain
(links) with the fact through our student projects we are really linking
the nation together, one county at a time.
Back to the Top
"Eastward I go only by force, but
westward I go free"
- Henry David Thoreau
(as quoted in our history book, The Americans, p. 264)
"Westward
the Course of Empire Takes its Way"
- attributed to several, including Horace Greeley
"Westward,
ho!"
- Lorne Greene
Fine for you,
guys, but you weren't riding a bike. And the prevailing winds in this fine
nation tend to blow from west to east. Ya notice how all those cowboys
looking into the sunset are windburned?
Back to the Top
Oh, that we could.
Isn't it dangerous/Aren't you scared?
(These are the
two questions that my students ask the most.)
1. In answer to the first, the greatest
danger will be that one driver whose concentration lapse occurs two
seconds behind me. So, in fact, my biggest risk by far will come in the
training I do between now and June 8 in my county of over 1 million
in population (and at least that in SUV's). There will be very few places
on the entire trip where traffic will be anything like here.
(I've been hit
once by a car. Actually I hit it as it pulled directly out in front of
me without stopping from a side street. Funny thing is, I thought I'd made
eye contact with the driver. I hit the driver's side, flew about four feet
straight up in the air, according to a witness, and landed on my butt.
I was lucky. And... I believe I did more damage to the car than the car
did to my bike (or me). Only a bent fork on the bike and a bent attitude
for me.)
In addition,
Lois and I took our bikes to Europe in the summer of 1998. We biked Milan,
Florence, Rome, Paris, Rouen and London. If you can bike those cities,
you can bike anywhere. (I've also done downtown Chicago numerous
times.)
I've biked the
California coast (Rte. 1)...
and have biked the Colorado Rockies
on three separate occasions.
I will be wearing a helmet for the first time in my life (I'm still not convinced of their value*, but it's a role-modeling must, even if they are the dorkiest-looking chapeaux known to man), and my bike will sport a flag.
*Please don't email me with your safety statistics. Send them directly to OSHA. Thank you.
2. In answer to the second
question, "No." Respectful, yes. Scared, no. I've done enough bike touring
and camping to know the difference. From my years in the ocean and on mountains
I've learned a great deal of respect for the power and whimsey of nature.
Regarding mankind, a friendly demeanor and a confident attitude go a long
way. (And you pray that the few real nuts don't find you.)
Where will you be staying?
I will be carrying camping gear and will plan on using it
frequently, particularly west of the Rockies. Favorite camp sites are
national parks, national forests, state parks, county parks, even city
parks. ANYthing but a private campground with blacktop tent pads and a
pinball arcade; this is a fate worse than death.
There have been several offers of hospitality from people my students
have made contact with in their counties and I am looking forward to
contacting each of them and accepting whatever it is they have to offer,
whether it be a bed or a place to pitch my tent. This has been a unique and
unexpected benefit of this project; I really will feel like we are linking
the country together.
Thirdly, I will look forward with great anticipation to towns where I
know I have friends and family. Number one on that list will be my home in
Naperville. I'm hoping to be home by July 15, our 5th wedding anniversary.
I hope to use hotels/motels only when necessary. In general, physical
or mental conditions dictate this. If the weather is absolutely foul, a
motel becomes not a luxury, but a logical conclusion. And there may be
times when the mental state gets more foul than the weather; in these cases
a motel can work wonders. As with restaurants I would hope to avoid all
chain motels, but I expect this will be tougher than avoiding chain
restaurants. Bed and Breakfasts are the perfect antithesis of 'chain', but
sometimes hard to find.
What kind of bike are you using?
My bike is a GT Force, which is actually a road racing
bike. I knew I'd be touring with the next bike I bought, but I just liked
the feel of this bike the minute I got on it. I've done many day trips
and some short tours with it (several days) and it feels really good. It's
very light (aluminum). I bought it at Midwest Cyclery
in Wheaton (Il), who said they don't sponsor individual trips, but hurry and make your appointment for your spring tune-up. Thanks, guys.
I'm not a techie. My bike has that
finger-tip shift system (I'm sure it has a cool name) that is absolutely
fantastic and provides a whole new outlook on changing gears on a steep
grade at 4-mph-and-losing-speed. I love the system, but worry about repairing
it myself on the road.
I had some concern (still do) about
the skinny wheels (700x23C), but as I said above we did all those European
cities without a hitch. Especially in Italy a lot of those streets were
last paved about 2000 years ago.
I've had the bike two years and haven't
had a flat yet, including the entire time in Europe. In fact, I didn't
even put air in the tires for three weeks in Europe. We couldn't figure
out the phone system; you think I was going to take a chance with a gas
station air pump? (And then my bike pump got stolen while the bike was
locked up outside the Louvre. My fault. The place is crawling with gypsies
and I forgot to remove it from the bike.)
We had an excellent system for locking
our bikes. We used two Kryptonite locks to secure our bikes together and
to anything they would reach around, and then a long cable lock to secure
both bikes again to each other and to something else again. We also covered
all the logos on our bikes with black electrical tape before we left to
make them look junked up. This was a good move as the average European
bike is more or less a junker.
All over Europe safely, and my last
bike was stolen out of my van in NYC, good old US of A. I had bought it
for $25 from my friend Joe Hakes who was moving to Tennessee and didn't
think he'd be using it. I biked the Rockies twice with that bike.
Considered it a friend.
There will be those who will tell
me not to use a racing bike for a tour of this length. Not enough shock
absorption, frame too weak, tires too skinny, not enough leg room. Maybe
they're right. We'll see.
What About Y2K? (Official Route 99 Y2K Compliance Policy)
I appreciate your concern. You should know that this trip was originally scheduled for the year 2000. But very real concerns about whether all, or only a select few, bicycles will cease to function properly (or perhaps only sporadically) as of January 1, 2000 forced me to re-evaluate and 'rush' this trip to completion earlier than planned.
I would also like to point out that 'Route 99 - Links Across America' is fully Y2K compliant with the exception of one tiny problem: Because of the unfortunate choice of the particular 2-digit configuration we've chosen to use as our name, and because you have logged onto this site and are reading this now, this configuration is now buried deep inside the hardest part of your computer's hard drive. We do need to inform you, then, that unfortunately your computer will explode in flames at 12:01 A.M. (Singapore time) on January 1, 2000. The only way to avoid this problem is to "de-bug" your computer by disconnecting it before midnight of the 31st and plunging it directly into a barrel of water. (Note: Remember to first disconnect the computer from the wall outlet.)
Q. So you can ride a bike. What "marketable" skills do you possess?
A. As a teaching professional, I'm offended by this question, but since it seems to be frequently asked, the following picture should clear up the matter once and for all
