I had such a cool time this afternoon with my new cycling pals! And they invited me to join them for a group foto at the Aztec RV Park in Wickenburg where the guys are spending the nite.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Gerry (on the left above), Ron (to my left) and Jim departed San Diego eight days ago on their way to St. Augustine, FL. Ron hadn't toured much since college (he's a bio-tech engineer from Sacramento). Jim rides long distances regularly from his home base in Charlotte, NC. And Gerry, who's retired and lives in North Conway in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, decided on a whim that it was time for him to pedal from sea to shining sea.
Our intrepid cyclists connected on-line at crazyguyonabike.com . They actually met the day they left CA for FL. And from my observation, these three former strangers have bonded about as well as two-wheelers can do. Their adventures are posted on a blog at address above.
Nancy and I put together a care package to take down to Aztec: a big bag of peanuts, a can of sardines, white corn tortilla chips, organic salsa, bananas and some fresh blueberries. My new friends wasted no time inhaling the chow -- and thanking us profusely for the kindness. Indeed, Pina and I qualify for "road angel" status.
Cross country factoids that the guys shared with us:
* riding 50 miles per day is the goal
* 3500 calories is the daily food intake
* 50 calories burned per mile
* 18-wheeler drivers are super careful of cyclists
* the guys sleep in tents at RV parks, paying $10 per night
Someday, as I keep reminding myself; someday I will hit the road like Gerry, Jim and Ron.
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