Ryan's "Ride For World Health" Blog

Front Tires in the Ocean....aaaanndd We're Done!

2006-05-25T13:09:00.000-05:00

Thanks for reading along with me on my trip. Here's to your next adventure--Cheers!

I Thought Wags Was Joking....

2006-05-25T08:51:00.000-05:00

....about riding his bike into the Atlantic. (note that the pony is safe and dry on the beach. I did dunk just the front tire into the Ocean though. Poor Wags will be cleaning salt and sand out of his drive train for weeks. He knew it though, and says it was all worth it. Speaking for the ride, it most certainly was.

So, So Happy

2006-05-25T08:49:00.000-05:00

Gina and Donovan

Bethany Beach, Delaware

2006-05-25T08:47:00.000-05:00

Suchocks and I.

At The Nation's Capital

2006-05-25T08:44:00.000-05:00

Moments after this photo was takenAndrew Wagner and Thomas went to the hill for their audience with one of Ohio's Senators (can't remember which off the top of my head) where they discussed the ride and our global health agenda.

The Vigil

2006-05-25T08:37:00.000-05:00

Gina, T-Bone, Emily, Dan, Alyssa

Vigil In DC

2006-05-25T08:34:00.000-05:00

Our own Libby Loft addressed a crowd of over 150 people in DC during an AIDS candle light vigil. Before Libby was a Bishop, a congresswoman, and a mayoral candidate. Libby absolutely brought the house down. I wish I could post videos on this blog; I've got a great one.

Above The Law

2006-05-21T10:04:00.000-05:00

We asked some locals where there was to go in the evenings around Front Royal. They told us there were a couple nice places off main street. Suchocki then asked about any not-so-nice places. They directed us here, to the bar you can hear well before you see it.

A local member of a biker gang with one of the highest tattoo-to-tooth ratio I've ever seen, was selling raffle tickets for a, you guessed it, free tattoo. Thomas and Megan talked to him first, then returned with the following question:

Do you think in describing how a tattoo would look on Megan "Snuff" said

A) "Spectacular"
B) "A beautiful addition to a lovely lady" or
C) "Gooder than shit."

If you guessed C you were correct!

We talked to many other colorful characters last night. The evening ended with my rendition of "Baby Got Back." One woman noted that "That guy sounds just like Sir Mix-A-Lot." Most would disagree but regardless it was a lot of fun. We were celebrating with Fausto as today is his last day with us. I'm at our first rest stop right now, 37 miles into the day's ride. The day is sunny, warm, and we're sailing along with a 20 mph tailwind.

Virginia!

2006-05-20T19:01:00.000-05:00

Read that milage sign my friends--tomorrow we'll be in DC!

Just got back from a wine Festival in Front Royal, Virginia. I secretly taped one woman (who'd been sampling from the vine for a tad too long) dancing to the Rap-Cover band's ("Souled Out") rendition of "Roses" by OutKast (otherwise known as "sh*t don't stank.") I got a photo of another charming woman being taken away by 4 police officers after she experienced several bouts of emesis on the sidewalk. (To get the shot I had Suchocki pretend to be posing for a picture in front of the band.) Quite a number of morbidly obese citizens were confined to electric scooters which they used to propel themselves from one vender to the next. Suchocki has a friend in visiting from Ireland; I think she was quite impressed by what she saw of Americans today.

The Lion's club just put on a wonderful dinner for us, and now T-Bone and I are sitting inthe parking lot of a motel borrowing free wireless internet.

It's very, very hard to believe that tomorrow we'll be in D.C. As my dad said to me the other night, we've crossed the continent!

Malta, West Virginia

2006-05-20T18:53:00.000-05:00

West Virginians come in all sorts. This was in a small tavern in Malta. The man with the woman in his lap was the bar-keep, Neil. Our conversation was deep and varied but one moment stands out.

Neils (after giving us free t-shirts): Send me a picture when you get to D.C.
Me: Okay, but you'll have to excuse the spandex....we really don't have a choice; we gotta wear it.
Neils (to another patron, a regular): they don't know what I do on the weekends.
Me (after a cautious look to Thomas): What DO you do onthe weekends?
NEils: I dance for women.
Me: Oh Lord
Neils: For their birthdays and special occassions.
Me: Wow.
Neils: I've got a pair of leather chaps and a vest, and I ride a little stick horsie. When I squeeze his ear he goes Reeeeee-Reeeeeee.
Me (laughing): I don't know what to say.
Neils: Then sometimes I bop the women on the head.
Thomas: With what?!
Neils: My HORSIE!!!

The guy in the photo with the beard works 12 weeks out of the year as a welder in WV, then collects unemployment for the other 40 weeks from Maine, because they pay higher! Has been doing this for 20 years he says. BRILLIANT!

Thanks for the t-shirts!

The Birthplace of R4WH: Ohio State

2006-05-15T19:19:00.000-05:00

It was a real thrill for us to arrive in front of Ohio State Medical School and Hospital Complex this morning on our bikes and be applauded by the hundred or so people who had turned out to welcome us. We actually arrived yesterday afternoon after an 80 mile ride from Dayton, OH. This was our official "bike in" though (we biked a total of about 3 and a half blocks this morning ;-)

All 200 first and 200 3rd year med students from OSU attended our lectures today. This is Suchocki giving an introduction as well as Partners In Health Lecture. Right after this I delivered the lecture that I wrote on HIV/AIDS in developing countries. It was sort of a thrill to give my own lecture to so many medical students.

To wrap up the day the VP of the American Medical Assoc, (AMA) gave a talk on the AMA's views on covering the uninsured. There are 45.8 million of them in this country so clearly something has to be done. His lecture was fine but it was the discussion afterwards that was the most interesting.

I should mention that there's a slight chance that I'll be wearing the shorts tomorrow. Before he spoke the VP of the AMA was talking with a group of us. He asked us about flat tires and how our luck had been (I think I've had 4 in the 2,400 miles I've put on so far). Thomas said he bought special tires for the bad roads in E St. Louis. I told him that everyone I knew including my mom warned me to avoid E St. Louis because of how violent parts of it can be (we did by-pass it completely by the way.) The VP looked at me and said, "Really...I was born and raised in E St. Louis." Can't win 'em all I guess. Tomorrow we're going to McConnelsville, OH. Forecast is for rain again so think dry thoughts.

The Longest Day: 136 Miles

2006-05-13T15:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we left Bloomington, IN and arrived in Oxford, OH.

It was 118 miles if you managed to stay on the route. I didn't. It was raining for 6 of the 7 hours I was on my bike yesterday. The temp was in the mid forties all day long. The rain was so bad that it was washing away our spray painted arrows on the road and making them hard to find. I was the first rider behind the cobalt (which marked the route) but still I missed a turn. I took IN101 all they way north to Liberty, IN. I got there, cold, wet, shivering, tired and out of water with my odometer already reading 120 miles. I wish I could have captured the look on my face when the guy in the gas station told me I was off track, and that Oxford was 16 miles in the other direction! I felt very close to being defeated. But I took my last powerbar out of my jersey pocket, stood in the gas station a while to warm up, then navigated my way towards Oxford. I rode 136 miles total. Took me 7 hours and 4 minutes. I did manage to squeak out another century in less than 5 hours but after miles 120 i started running out of steam.

On a different note, I got to wear the "Special Person Bandana" today (Fosto had to wear the shorts.) After my ride I was completely exhausted. I got dry and went immediately to BW3's for wings and refreshments. Fosto, who was on support yesterday, thought it would be funny to steal a man's beer after he'd just ridden 136 miles in the rain. I, in turn, thought it would be funny to give Fosto an atomic wedgie (if you are unfamiliar with the term atomic wedgie see the urbandictionary.com for an erudite description.) For causing a bit of a ruckas Fosto and I were chosen for today's special person award....it was really only a matter of time.

Last thing: two days ago while driving the van with the trailer down Airport RD in Bloomington, IN I had to stop very quickly to avoiding pulling our van (which is 12' with bikes on top) through a 10'6" clearance railroad overpass. After squealling to a stop, a lady in an oncoming truck stopped, rolled down her window, and said to this panting driver, "I don't think y'all are gunna fit!" Thank you, lady in the truck. Thank you very, very much!

My Lecture In Bloomington

2006-05-11T19:41:00.000-05:00

Originally I was supposed to give the lecture I wrote at this event that local IU students put on for our arrival. An hour before my talk, Maynes told me we'd actually be outside, have no powerpoint, and would I mind just speaking off-the-cuff about R4WH. I said sure! The IU students did a great job setting this up and advertising. A guest lecturer, Dr. Kanes of IU, spoke before me about her work with HIV/AIDS as an anthropologist, then an assistant to the mayor read a proclaimation declaring this global health day in Bloomington in honor of our arrival (it was very nice, though we didn't hesitate to poke a bit of fun of it afterwards..."Whereas 21 riders left San Francisco on April 2nd, and whereas they will arrive in DC on May 21st, and whereas, and whereas, and whereas...." the mayor needs a new transition line, that's all). Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Next up was me, I talked for about 20 minutes or so about who we are and why we're doing what we're doing. My talk seemed to be pretty well recieved and a lot of people came up to me and our other riders afterwards to talk more. Thanks IU!

Thanks to Graysville RCA

2006-05-11T19:33:00.000-05:00

RCA is the local charter school, Rural Community Academy. It serves K-7. They were nice enough to put us up for the night in their gym then serve us dinner and breakfast in the morning. On the way into town they had little paper signs guiding us in, encouraging us--there must have been 20 of them! For dinner they made each of us our own individual placemat. This morning I had some riders pose for a picture in front of the big welcome banner they made for us. Libby, on the right, gave a wonderful, toned-down lecture to the older kids, filled with LOTS and LOTS of pictures from our trip. Thanks, Graysville!

Gravel Gravel Gravel

2006-05-10T18:12:00.000-05:00

I got a little banged up today when I didn't notice some gravel on the road during a turn. Our Advance team marks every turn of the day's route with bright orange spray paint. This intersection happened to have conflicting arrows. I was busy staring at the arrows trying to figure out which way to go. I found out a bit too late and tried to make the turn on the far side of the road (the near side was clean.) I forget exactly how to care for wounds so I just let a group of friendly farm dogs lick it until it was clean.

Today was wet but all in all a great day. Light south wind, fast, empty, paved country roads, great fun. We finished with Illinois already but unfortunately Suckocki just made me promise not to use the title "Going Through States Like They're Going Out of Style" as he plans to use that on his blog.

Not As Cheesy As You'd Think

2006-05-10T18:08:00.000-05:00

Darn thing's 630 feet tall. Who knew...

Important Photo Op

2006-05-08T22:56:00.000-05:00

Meet Me in St Louis

2006-05-08T22:51:00.000-05:00

My mom and dad came to visit me this weekend. Ate some good food, listened to some nice irish music, caught an imax movie about Lewis and Clark (whose historic route we've been following recently) and had a great time. Interestingly, it seems the only time Lewis got mad on their entire 2.5 year journey was when a group of indians stole his big black Newfoundland dog. Eventually he got the dog back.

Speaking of dogs, most of the country dogs we've been meeting so far have had a bark-to-bite-ratio that's been soundly in our favor. However yesterday, on what was billed to be a 100 mile day but wound up being 110 miles, at mile 95 a large german shepard-looking mutt saw me coming from a long ways off (usually they ignore you until you're right on top of them) and met me square in the middle of the road. I was going 22 but I kicked it up to 25 for good measure. Still he stood there, not backing down. I kept on right at him and swerved at the last moment. Without a single bark he took one flying/snapping lunge at me and missed. He chased me to the end of the property but never got that close again.

Back to St Louis--my mom and dad met me at Forest Park on Tuesday morning to send me off. It was pouring rain. I think my mom was more disappointed by the weather than anyone of us, bless her heart. It was also our costume ride out of Missouri. Among the best were Libby dressing up as Icy/Hot, Katie dressing up as a highway complete with cars and roadkill, and Gina who placed a toy bike in her bra and called herself a "bike rack."

Miss Those Iowa Chops

2006-05-06T22:10:00.000-05:00

For the most part if you're riding in the midwest and an animal is chasing you, its a dog. This curious little guy--who evidently didn't get the memo--crawled under his farmers fence to say hello.

Rolling Hills

2006-05-06T22:08:00.000-05:00

Eastern Kansas and Missouri look a lot alike--rolling green hills that go on for ever.

And The Award Goes To...

2006-05-06T18:32:00.000-05:00

Time to fill you all in to a little R4WH tradition. We have two awards that we give out each day that we think they're called for. One is the "All-Star award", and the other is the "Special Person Award". The latter goes to the person who, regardless of how smart they may be, did something rather uningenius. This person has to bike with the shorts you see in the photo for the entire day. Past reciepients have been Suchocki for mooning me on the side of the road but inadvertantly hittting poor unsuspecting Karen with a frontal glimpse, LL for punching herself in the face while trying to put her armwarmers on, Logge for poking her hand with a fork while stabbing potatoes (still not sure why she was doing that in the first place).

Today Gina started out the day wearing them (yesterday she called the Missouri River a pond) but before we arrived at the first rest stop it became clear that she would have to give them up early in favor of Alyssa. I was in the front of the pack today and so I was the first to see our little green Cobalt sticking out of the ditch at a rather curious angle. She'd tried to pull off the road to wait for the riders to pass but ended up getting stuck in a ditch in rural Missouri. It took 4 men to push her out. Suchocki, trying to console her, said, "That's alright, Alyssa. This is why we have the shorts." Thankfully no one was hurt and the cobalt is undamaged.

Suchocki's Navigational Skills Questioned

2006-05-06T18:25:00.000-05:00

Our head logistics man, Suchocki, is now famous for estimating distances very precisely (for example yesterday he said, "today's ride will be about 81 miles," and it came out to 80.7) But nevertheless when I passed this sign yesterday I became concerned.

Lodge #490

2006-05-03T11:26:00.000-05:00

We've decided that people who take the interstate across america miss 90% of it. For instance, you'd never know how beautiful the green rolling hills of eastern Kansas were if you just stayed on I-70. You'd also miss your chance to visit the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge #490. This must mean that there are at least 489 other lodges of this kind. Amazing. Also, can anyone tell me what a "Rebekah" is? (quick addition, visit www.ioof.org to learn more about odd fellows and rebekahs. Aparently in 17th century England it was considered very odd for a man to give aid to a fellow man in need. Those that did were thus considered "Odd Fellows.")

This was our 3rd rest stop of the day yesterday, just before we got into Kansas City. An old man in a pickup truck stopped to talk to us. Asked if we needed any water, we said we were fine. Then spent 10 minutes telling us about how the place down the street had the best homemade pie he'd ever tasted. He said every biking group that comes through this way hoping to make it across the country stops there as a sort of right of passage. Then, once he had us all drooling, he causually mentioned that it had closed down over a year ago. Old Man: 1. Ryan: 0.

Funny thing about Kansas City: if you drive North on State Line Road you're in Missouri, but if you drive south then you're on the western side of the road and you're in Kansas.

Haven't Seen This In A While

2006-05-03T10:55:00.000-05:00

Donations have kept coming in and I wanted to thank those of you for continuing to help R4WH meet its goal. I've now surpassed my individual rider goal of $2500 but we're still well shy of our overall goal of raising $250,000 as an organization. Currently we're just under halfway there, at $120,000.

Thank you all so much, and I'm hoping to send some more thank you post cards out very soon!

Today is an off day in Kansas City, KS. We cheated yesterday and T-Bone and I drove to Missouri to give a lecture to the medschool there. We had a great turn out, about 25 2nd years showed up to listen to our lecture on Access to Healthcare. We spoke for an hour and afterwards we started a discussion that lasted almost another hour. Even as 2nd years these med students have seen the trouble with how medical care is given to the uninsured in this country.

I told the story of one patient I had while on medicine who was 23 and was being hospitalized her 7th time with Diabetic Ketoacidosis, a potentially life-threatening complication of type I diabetes. If she had had insurance and were able to pay for her meds all of those episodes of DKA could have been avoided, as would the cost to society of those 7 very expensive hospitalizations. We've got a big problem in this country, but it was refreshing to see that so many soon-to-be-docs are so concerned about it.

Saying Goodbye to Thomas

2006-04-30T17:26:00.000-05:00

Thomas, aka T-Litz, seen in this picture encouraging another rider on from the van, is leaving us tomorrow. He's been on almost permanent support duty since his knee started bothering him in Nevada. He tried shoe inserts in Baker, massages in Cedar City, acupuncture in Telluride, and tons of rest and NSAIDS but nothing's done the trick. He'll be renting a car in Topeka and driving back to Columbus, OH. Last night we and the Saturday night bar crowd in Ellsworth (you won't regret asking for stories next time you talk with me) gave Thomas a proper send off.

T-Litz is the second rider we've lost so far. Clary left about a week ago. He wasn't injured but I think the ride just wasn't what he expected it to be. So they'll be 19 after tomorrow. We're hoping to catch up with both Clary and Thomas back in Columbus. Maybe they'll even rejoin us there if they're both feeling up to it.

Celebrating Two Big Events

2006-04-30T17:05:00.000-05:00

One was Zipper Day. Yesterday we finally crossed the zipper our Jerseys. Okay, well, for us it was exciting. Today was just beautiful riding from Ellsworth to White City, Kansas (sounds diverse, I know.) Rode 88 miles in 3:50 thanks to a wonderful WNW tail wind that stuck with us the entire day.

The more exciting event today, however, was my nephew and God Son's first communion. (I'm SO proud of you, Tristen. Everyone says you did great today.)

Tomorrow we make Topeka.

Jealousy Has a New Name

2006-04-30T16:50:00.000-05:00

The City of LaCrosse, Kansas hosts America's only (at least I hope it is) Barbed Wire Museum. Unfortunately, it was closed yesterday as we passed through on our way to Ellsworth. Riding is great in Kansas. These green rolling hills just never get old to me.

13 Minutes

2006-04-28T18:28:00.000-05:00

Rode 80 miles today from Leoti to Ness City, Kansas. Total ride time 4:35, total time riding in the rain, 4:22. Thank god the people here make the time pass a bit easier.

The best part of today: after feeling achie and crappy all day I finally take some IB Profin for the last leg and start to feel better. I'm out in front of the pack, 20 miles into the 29 mile leg, and the trailer passes me by. Screaming behind the trailor, going 35+ mph is Dangler yelling, "I found a great drafting partner!!!" then ZZZZZOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM, he was gone.

I'm looking forward to meeting everyone who's coming to visit me in St. Louis! U Chicago guys, any word on if you can come down and ride for the day? I promise to only use my small ring ;-)

Kansas Is Flat

2006-04-27T17:42:00.000-05:00

Actually everything east of Pueblo is flat. In that sense Colorado really ends there. Yesterday was Pueblo to Eads, 113 miles. Being fresh off a rest day in Pueblo I decided I wanted to do a century by myself, without ever drafting off anyone. I did it in 4 hrs 46 minutes, then coasted in a draft line for the last 13 miles. I felt great at the time but that was really a long day of biking.

Today after lunch we crossed into Kansas (then 20 miles later we entered into the Central Time Zone, go figure. Hackett happened to be nearby when I passed the sign.)

We did 80 miles today, and now are in Leoti (the I sounds like an A, the natives will let you know), Kansas. I was just telling someone that you know something has changed when everyone was talking about today being a "partial rest day" or a kind of "half-day." Before April my longest ride was 60 miles. Now 80 on flat land feels like a "partial day off." Both today and yesterday the wind was out of the south, neither bothering or helping us too much.

Out here the grain elevators are the tallest things around, and the place is so incredibly flat that you can literally see them from over 15 miles away. Biking towards them gets a little aggravating because for the longest time you can see this giant white thing on the horizon but it never seems to get any closer. Dan (from Iowa) calls them the Cathedrals of the Midwest.

Lecture in Pueblo

2006-04-25T21:28:00.000-05:00

Today was my first lecture. I gave Global Health 101 to this group of junior and senior highschool students. In Pueblo everyone from the 4 separate high schools have a chance to apply to enter into their "Health Sciences" program. 120 apply, about 60 get in, and it lasts all four years of highschool. Those 60 spend half their day at their home high school, and the other half at this magnet program. That all adds up to a very informed, very curious bunch of young people. Dan, the other tall guy in the picture, was nice enough to come along to help set up.

Thanks for having us, Pueblo!

*Forgot to mention the funniest part of the day: After my lecture the students were asking me different questions, one was about my diet. Without thinking I recounted a couple of my most recent meals, including a McDonald's adventure or two. The room got very quiet. Then their teacher (Who is wondeful, by the way!) said, "Actually we just finished a week long unit on nutrition; the kids know they're not supposed to eat like that." I backpedaled a few steps then said something about it being okay if you're biking 100 miles a day...but the moral of the story: kids, don't do as I do.

A Typical Lunch

2006-04-25T10:30:00.000-05:00

This picture is from a week ago in Utah. I had forgotten to post it. This is Litz, Hackett and Suchocks dangling their feet over the edge of the canyon. That day we would have given anything to have been able to go swimming in that lake.

2nd Century

2006-04-24T20:05:00.000-05:00

This was the worst, and 2nd century of my life. Ave speed, just 17.3, nasty. We went from Salida to Pueblo, back roads. From the pass at 9,200' some odd feet to Pueblo at 4 grand we could hardily tell we were descending. 20 mph headwind or crosswind the entire way. The highlight? the warm van waiting for us. I am spent. Dinner's right now, gotta run.

this is me after riding 100.3 miles, telling 3 highschoolers and 1 youth minister about R4WH.

The Continental Divide

2006-04-23T17:50:00.000-05:00

From now on all the rivers we see will be flowing into the Gulf or Atlantic rather than the Pacific. This was another good climb, category II someone told me (I have to read about categories of climbs, I don't know anything about them yet.) We did just shy of 3,000' of vertical over the course of 9 miles. It felt plenty steep to me. I averaged 10.5 mph going up. I think this might be highest point of our trip, 11,312'.

I actually felt a lot better on this climb than on the climb out of Boulder, and that was less than 10,000'. I must be becoming acclimatized to the elevation. We're in Salida tonight, and have almost a hundred miles to ride tomorrow to reach Pueblo. Thanks for everyone who's been sending me emails and calling. Also thanks to our new friend Scott from Telluride who not only rode with us for two days, but also paid for a great evening out for the whole team last night in Gunnison.

Blue Grass Festival in Montrose, CO

2006-04-22T18:37:00.000-05:00

Well I'll be a chicken in a bread pan pick'n out dough!

Chilling in Tom Cruse's Neighborhood

2006-04-20T12:28:00.000-05:00

So the home I and 4 other riders (Suchocks, Dangler, Heather and Alyssa) are at is actually in Tom Cruse's neighborhood in Telluride, CO. When we drove up last night 50 Elk were coming down from the mountain to graze. We snapped this photo from the car. Jeff and Heidi are the ones putting us up. Its hard to thank them and their 3 children enough for their hospitality. We're in their guest apartment, complete with kitchen, living room with entertainment center and steam shower! Its going to be a difficult 24 hours but I'll overcome the best I can.

In a few hours I'm going down to participate in an educational talk we're putting on in a local coffee shop, Restore The World Cafe. Wish me luck.

Its Ugly Here

2006-04-19T22:19:00.000-05:00

Here again we're at over 10,000'. This is Suchocks, myself, Wagner and Dangler. After this we had an amazing descent into Telluride. A speed limit sign with radar gun (the speed limit was 35 mph) clocked me at 48. The road was smooth, quick, and very safe. My Raleigh is rock solid at those speeds.

Colorado!

2006-04-19T17:17:00.000-05:00

We made it to Colorado yesterday. Last night we stayed in Dolores, CO. Hopefully the good people of Dolores aren't reading this but we did, in fact, have a double header for dinner last night. First the Catholic Church made us a spaghetti dinner complete with wine, then we headed out to the Dolores Brewery for act II, pizza and beer.

Today we climbed up to 10,222' on our 68 mile ride to Telluride. The air up there was pretty thin. We had an amazing tail wind pushing us up the mountain though so my ave speed was 17.5 mph. At the top? yeah, hurled again...not sure what's happening with that.

what is beauty?

2006-04-18T23:20:00.000-05:00

You can't buy this hair in a store or in a salon my friend. There are no unnatural products in this dew (I'm looking in your direction, dave). This was 70 miles into our 86 mile trip into Hanksville, UT. This is what the team gets to see everytime I take my helmet off.

The Climb Out of Boulder

2006-04-18T23:11:00.000-05:00

Right after a huge helping of oatmeal (circled on pavement) we climbed 2,700' over 10 miles to the 9,400' summit. I decided I wanted to push it a bit and made it in one hour flat. I made it but this, unfortunately, was the result. (As I hurled Suchocks and Litz who were support, got out the spray paint we use to mark the route and circled the hazard I created.) After this the next 76 miles were mostly downhill and a lot of fun.

Recruiting Young

2006-04-18T23:04:00.000-05:00

After Bryce we biked to Boulder where host families put us up for the night. Mine, in particular, was amazing, six kids, husbad away on business, and still puts up six riders....AWESOME. The next morning we put the youngest right to work on filling up our water jugs for the day. Thankfully the labor laws in Utah aren't what they are in other places yet.

This guy was pretty unsure about all of us until he had a very deep conversation with Brunell.

Anthony: Do you pick your nose?
Brunell: (lengthly pause--audible sigh)...Sometimes.

They were fast friends after that.

Bryce Canyon

2006-04-14T22:35:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we went to Bryce Canyon after our ride and hiked just a few miles. The park rangers loved us there, and made us pose for some photos by the rim of the canyon. Amazing scenary, reminded me of a cross between the bad lands of SD and the Grand Canyon.

Today we biked 70 miles from Tropic, UT to Boulder. It was a dusty two lane highway (highway 12) with amazing dropoffs on both sides of the highway, to just expansive views of the Glenn Canyon system. One climb hada 14% grade at parts, another was 12%. Today was the first day I had to get out of my saddle and stand to get upt he hills, even with my somewhat easier gears in back. On a long, winding descent i hit 47 again and nearly passed a car. I think I could have but it wouldn't have been too safe, no shoulder and I'm not about to cross the double yellow line, so I just slowed down instead.

Oddest part of the day: on one descent while I was going 42, a middle aged german tourist woman, who was walking with three other women on the shoulder coming at me, jumped into my path when I was only 30 meters away, assumed an athletic stance and yelled "AHHH!!!" Can anyone tell me; does this pass for a joke in Germany? I had to swerve to avoid this nut. Its a good thing spandex is machine washable...

We're doing home stays while in Boulder. I'm with 4 other riders ina home with SIX young kids, 4 kittens, and 45 deer in the back yard. We played, and played, and played, and now I'm ready for bed. Tomorrow we climb 2,500' right off the bat. The rest of the 86 miles is supposed to be mostly downhill.

Day Off: "Slack Rope Walking"

2006-04-12T22:42:00.000-05:00

This kind of stuff just doesn't happen in Chicago. I was helping make dinner tonight outside (pizzas on the grill) when Brunell told me that a couple of college kids asked him if he wanted to go "Slack Rope Walking." Having no idea what that was he said yes right away, then made me come with him to investigate. This, my friends, is "Slack Rope Walking..." The most fun part was not getting hurt and ending my ride.

Day Off: Free Massages

2006-04-12T22:37:00.000-05:00

Today was our day off in Cedar City, Utah. A group of massage students heard we were in town and offered to give us all free massages. During mine they noticed that I'm not the most flexible rider in the pack. Thomas (front) told everyone my (actually I think it was Chef's first) theory that "tight muscles are strong muscles." The instructor disagreed.

Pedaling

2006-04-11T23:35:00.000-05:00

I’m spinning my pedals 92 times a minute; have been for two states. My legs aren’t tired, at least not yet. I’m careful to drink my Gatorade and eat my granola bars before I’m thirsty and hungry. I’m burning 900 calories an hour. If I don’t replace them I’ll run out of gas. Then I’ll really be in trouble. I’m 41 miles into today’s ride; it’s the halfway point and I feel like I’m really moving.

There’s a lot of time to think while riding. In California I spent the rides remembering all the amazing things I hope to do with my life. I don’t need to be anybody’s hero but I can’t wait to really be needed. I figure my best chance is to become a surgeon and travel to some hell-hole after a natural disaster or armed conflict, someplace where lots of people will require emergency surgery. But a trip like that is not going to happen anytime soon—that’s probably why I’m on this two month bike trek across the country. Surgical training alone takes seven years. I’m realizing that the enthusiasm of this young man will have to weather a lot over those years. At times I’m concerned that it won't hold up as well as I’d like. I’m so worried that now, in Utah, I’m riding to forget some of those plans. But forgetting is hard and for now ignoring is the best I can do. Thankfully the bright sky, smooth highway and crisp air help me do that.

This stretch of road is perfect, very fast, and on it I’m pedaling one of the most elegant pieces of machinery in the entire world. There are people who claim that modern bikes are the most efficient machines ever constructed. I’m mesmerized by mine. At the last rest stop a friend caught me smiling to myself. I was thinking about how sweet my bike is. Before this trip I hadn’t thought about how sweet my bike was since I got my red Schwinn Ten Speed in the 4th grade. The road slopes down gently and my speed bumps up by 2 miles per hour. Soon I’m spinning my pedals over 100 times a minute. For me that’s too fast. So I shift into a higher gear and I return to my favorite rate.

I really would like be needed--maybe help someone whose hope has left them. But that’s not the kind of thing you can tell very many people. At best they’ll pity you for still believing in unrealistic, romantic ideals. People are supposed to lose those in their early twenties. Bills and responsibility make them go away. Or maybe time does. It’s hard to say but probably it’s something that just sneaks up on you one day.

Maybe the man I’ll become in seven years won’t be interested in those things. Or he will be but something else will keep coming up. If that happens I hope I won’t recognize that man.

42 miles down. Another sip of Gatorade. My cadence is still 92. If I just keep pedaling I’ll get there soon.

Roughing it in Utah

2006-04-11T18:06:00.000-05:00

It turns out there's not too much between Baker, NV and Cedar City, UT. We decided to camp last night on some public lands. We stopped just at the end of a seemingly never-ending 7 mile, 1,200' climb. Support group 4 made fajitas and after dinner we sat around, checking out the Mountains and hoping that the dark clouds above us wouldn't do anything (they didn't.)

Hard to Caption/Altitude Sickness?

2006-04-11T18:00:00.000-05:00

Taking a break from driving the support vans, Suchocki (pale man with tire), Paul, Thomas and Megan put on an impromptu dance party at the top of a 1,300' climb (to I think 7,400') to encourage the riders on. Matt Clarry (on bike) was understandably confused.

Utah, baby!

2006-04-11T17:51:00.000-05:00

I wish I had pictures from Baker, a town of 70 people just 6 miles before the Nevada/Utah border. To give you just a glimpse: a man who lives in a commune came to our talk wearing a fishing hat with 2 horns glued on to it; a woman showed us her hand-dug underground lair which, she claims, a cougar told her to build (I'm not joking) and two forest rangers had us over to their house to drink home-made brew. Can't believe we're in Utah already...

Requesting a Fly-By

2006-04-11T17:48:00.000-05:00

About 50 miles outside of baker was Sacramento pass (the mtns just behind these riders). For me the road/wind was good for a big chunk of the descent (I hit 47.5 mph) but then turning a corner some serious cross-winds threw everyone around a bit.

Negative Ghost Rider...the pattern is full

2006-04-11T17:42:00.000-05:00

My zoom isn't huge so this is really just 15 feet away. I was sitting on the road as they zoomed past me at about 20 mph (Chris and Suchocks...I hope you know I wouldn't trust just any two riders to do that.) In fact later I tried it with Gisslen and he scared me so bad I rolled away from him and didn't get the picture.)

What all the climbing earns you...

2006-04-08T19:41:00.000-05:00

....some breath taking views.

quick side note: my bike lost its front tire 2 days ago (a sidewall blowout). I had to replace it with a spare I brought from Chicago. Its a wonderful, high pressure (160psi!!!) tire, but its very ugly and very blue :-(

Climbing...and climbing...and climbing...

2006-04-08T19:31:00.000-05:00

Two days of tough climbing. From Austin, NV to Eureka we had 4 summits to climb. The highest was the one in the photo. That was 72 miles total. Today was 80 miles and another 4 summits! I think we got to 7,600 today, on our way to Ely, where we're currently camped at the public highschool.

I can't explain how happy i am that I switched from my racing rear cassett 11-23 teeth, to a more general purpose 12-27 teeth cassett. Even with the easiest gear I'm climbing around 10 mph with a cadence of only 75-80 (I prefer 95.) A lower cadence is harder on your legs, whereas a higher cadence draws more from your heart and lungs, which is good because they can recover quicker than spent quads can.

During today's ride I went thorugh another 7 liters of gatorade and 4 power bars (not including lunch). Then we pulled into Ely around 3pm. Right away I went to McDonald's (the first of the trip) and ate 2 double cheeseburgers, 2 McChickens, a large milk shake and a large coke. Its now 5:30 and I'm starving for the dinner that the support team is fixing. It's a little sickening how much I'm eating but i still feel its not enough; the idea of taking Ambien strickly for its side effect of nocturnal binging is sounding better and better.

Lunch Along The Way (note the snow)

2006-04-06T21:40:00.000-05:00

I was on support today, along with T-Bone (Katie) and Thomas. We have 5 teams so every 5th day we take off to drive the SAG wagons, set up lunch, and make dinner. Lunch featured hot sandwiches, hot chocolate, and tons of cheese.

Leaving Middlegate

2006-04-06T21:37:00.000-05:00

The Open Road

2006-04-05T20:53:00.000-05:00

Andy taping a couple riders (Mark and Suchocki) shortly after they screamed down sunflower pass. My top speed today was 43 mph.

Carson City to Middle Gate, NV 111 miles

2006-04-05T18:07:00.000-05:00

Submitted for your approval, the figures from my first century (varified by 16 bike speedometers, the van, and google maps.) Carson City (4,600') to Middlegate (4,600') pop 40 (aka MiddleGREAT once we found out they have wireless internet) 111 miles. Total ride time: 5 hours 10 minutes. Total time for the first 100 miles, 4 hours 41 minutes. Ave Speed 21.5 mph. ave cadence: 95 rotations/minute. total stops: 3. Litters of gatorade consumed: 8 (about 2 gallons). Powerbars: 3. 1 gue packet. An enormous lunch, and 1 16oz protein shake. Making this all possible...a weather front moving in from the west chasing us the entire way and psychopath riding buddy (Matt Clarry, far left in photo), WSW to W winds at 10 - 20 mph.

The support team, in addition to providing us meals, gave 3 lectures about Partners in Health at 2 highschools today (Stagecoach and Falon).

Its 3:45 and I'm on about to go eat a hamburger for every ten miles I biked today. The running joke of today? WE COME FROM FRANCE! CONSUME MASS QUANTITIES!!!

Ah...the elements

2006-04-04T02:53:00.000-05:00

RAIN!!! LOTS OF IT!!! We rode from Sacramento to Folsom (as in "I shot a man in Reno....just to watch him die") and then to Placerville. Early on the bike trail was flooded and we had to forge it in our bare feet (Oregon Trail jokes abounded, ie., wagons brook apart while forging the river, lose 500 lbs of food and Jonny breaks an arm...)

After that it was about 65 miles,almost all of them uphill and in the rain. My riding buddy and I decided to make a little detour today (my fault, unfortunately, not his) and rode an extra 7 miles (and 1,000' vertical) to pay for it. Loved the entire day though! My gear held up great. My body temp was fine (as long as i didn't stop too long for breaks)despite the 48 degree temp outside. The scenary was incredible; huge, flooding rivers, pine trees, mountains, everything. Along one river front trail we saw one coyote and 3 wild turkey.

Bad news...we had to scrap tomorrow's ride because of snow over the pass to Carson City, Nevada (yes, dad, you did tell me so) Yesterday the pass was completely clear and bikable, but today a storm is moving in and its a no go (See picture). The pass climbs to 8,500 feet and at the top we had to buy chains for the vans' tires because the place got a foot of snow in a matter of hours (this is the pass we were supposed to bike over tomorrow, we crossed a day early because after tonight it might be impassable even to vans).

We'd love to stay and wait out the weather but our lecture schedule just won't allow us to. So now we'll only be riding 3,630 miles, not 3,700...sorry folks. (actually, when you tack on the century ride from D.C. to the ocean we'll be over 3,700 again :-)

Rolling with High Schoolers

2006-04-02T23:12:00.000-05:00

The last 18 miles of the ride was with a concerned group of highschool students. They read Mountains Beyond Mountains (see earlier posting), heard about our ride, and wanted to do something to help. Each person had to raise $40 for Ride For World Health. At the end we gave them a lecture on activism (which they probably didn't need, judging from their efforts already) and they fed us a pot luck dinner.

Tonight we're staying at a YWCA, the top floor is a women's shelter. Girls get to shower here...guys don't. Lucky i can't post smells to the blog....

three educators

2006-04-02T23:04:00.000-05:00

Erin, left (my right) is the education chairperson, I wrote the HIV/AIDS talk, and Katie wrote the Women's Health Issues lecture. Erin will begin a general surgery residency after this trip is over, and Katie will go into family medicine.

Team "De-Sat"

2006-04-02T23:01:00.000-05:00

Inspired during our first taste of climbing, we're both self and aptly named.

Day One, April 2nd

2006-04-02T22:50:00.000-05:00

We woke up at 4 am (though DST made it seem like 3am) so we could start our ride with a 7am live interview on the beach with NBC11. Our leader Andy did great. After the interview they taped us dunking our back tire into the pacific (well, the bay...its salty at least) and walking up the beach, hoping on, and starting our ride.

My Fundraising

2006-04-01T18:07:00.000-06:00

Thank you so much those of you who have already made a pledge. I'm thrilled to say that I made my personal goal of $2500! Now its on to our team goal which is $250,000. We're currently at $100,000. Right now we're at 60% efficiency, and if we reach our goal we'll be at 85% effeciency. For comparison The Aids Ride operates at 40% effeciency. When we factor in the attention and education we're bringing to this cause, we feel successful already. It means a lot to know I'll have so many friends supporting me on this trek. Thank you, very, very much.

If you'd like to donate you can mail a pledge to:

Ride For World Health
In Support of Ryan Carlson
PO Box 8234
Columbus, OH 43201

(1 cent/mile comes out to $37)

or you can use pay-pal at rideforworldhealth.org. Tomorrow's the first 80 of our 3,700 miles! We go San Francisco to Sacremento. NBC 11 in the Bay Area will be covering our departure live for any of you living in that area. Until next time, Stay Classy, San Diego (its a movie reference mom, you might not catch it ;-)

First Shake Down Ride

2006-04-01T17:56:00.000-06:00

Felt AMAZING to get on our bikes after (for me at least) a 5 day hiatus. We did the most beautiful 18 miles I've ever done on a bike. Ocean front Highway 1, then climbing some big hills, racing down them, all with wild flowers on both sides of these amazing paved, country, windy roads. We're sporting our new R4WH jerseys, of which we're very proud.

The Van Up Close

2006-03-30T19:03:00.000-06:00

Love the decals on the vans!!! We picked them up with 500 miles on them from Budget....40 hours latter and now each one has over 3,200.

Dinner On the Drive There

2006-03-30T18:59:00.000-06:00

Dan's parents hosted us in Iowa along the drive to San Fran. From left to right this is Matt, Thomas, Alyssa, Katie, and Ian. Iowa chops, it turns out, are really, REALLY thick pork chops. Thanks Gissners!!!!

Getting Picked Up By The Crew

2006-03-30T18:54:00.000-06:00

I met half the gang on Tuesday, and the other half on Wednesday night (late) when we arrived in San Francisco. Everyone has their own story about why they're here, and I can't wait to find out more about each one.

We have two identical vans to carry our gear to each new location. We also have a little Chevy Cobalt that we'll use to mark the course before each days ride.

The Drive To San Francisco

2006-03-27T15:41:00.000-06:00

I'll meet up with the gang leaving from Columbus, Ohio tomorrow in Indianapolis. From there its a straight drive to San Francisco in a 16 passenger van. 12 will drive, another 11 people will fly and meet us on the west coast.

Big thanks to DS and her parents for letting me park my car at their home in Indy for 2 entire months!

Match Day, March 16th

2006-03-16T12:51:00.000-06:00

Got my first choice; I'm coming home to begin my residency in general surgery on June 12th at the University of Minnesota.

Pritzker Pulse

2006-03-13T16:25:00.000-06:00

http://pritzker.bsd.uchicago.edu/pulse/current.pdf

The War Pony

2006-03-09T22:05:00.000-06:00

It's not the bike, but rather the engine that I'm worried about.

Big Thanks to Raleigh USA For Selling Us Our Bikes At A 60% Discount!

Skip ahead if bikes bore you...

Its a 2006 Raleigh Prestige, all carbon fiber design, Shimano Durace/Ultregra components. Shifters and brake levers are combined into one unit. It has a traditional gear set up front but a modified 12-27 tooth cassette in the back.

I have a speedometer w/ cadence mounted heads-up style and flashing lights front and back that make me very visible in the rain. I have aero-bars up front to cut through head winds and a hornless saddle in the back to keep the urologists out of business and me in; after three 60 mile training days in a row I was not one bit sore (perhaps we weren't made to sit on our crotches afterall.) I chose egg-beater style "crank brothers" pedals. Its a mountain bike design actually but very light and easy to clip in and out of.

At 17 lbs its just heavier than my youngest nephew ;-)

Caffeine: A Mean Bean

2006-02-26T14:40:00.000-06:00

There are a lot of data about the effects of caffeine on excercise. So far my personal experience supports what I've been reading to some extent. One meta-analysis in 2005 looked at 21 studies and found an average increase in excercise performance of 11% with a decrease in percieved exersion of 5% for athletes who used moderate amounts of caffeine either before or during their workouts. Click here to see the article.

On the flip side, one study so far has shown that with extreme levels of caffeine, blood flow to the heart decreases a modest amount during heavy excercise...I forget my cardiology, is myocardial perfusion really that important?

Winter Training

2006-02-15T21:46:00.000-06:00

Luckily Chicago has one of the most beautiful city bike trails in the world. It stretches 18 miles along the lakefront. This photo was taken at about the halfway point, on the curve around the Shedd Aquarium. Because there's been no lasting snow and temperatures have been in the 30's and 40's I've been able to be outdoors training this entire month. Two weeks ago I rode down south to Indiana and back with a friend. This weekend I put on about 95 miles mostly along the lakefront trial. I wish I could say that makes me ready for the ride; my legs are pretty sore right now and I'm going to need the next month and a half to build endurance for the ride.

When the weather's bad, or if its too dark to ride outside I spend time each day on my indoor bike trainer (thanks Mom and Dad ;-)

May - October: total of 1,500 miles riding, all on my sherman-tank of a mountain bike, which I love, but come on, that's got to count for almost 2,000 road bike miles. As well as running 6-8 miles three times a week, and lifting twice a week.

Nov - December: 5-6 indoor rides a week, between 20 and 30 miles each.

January: 5-6 rides a week, mostly outdoor, between 30 and 50 miles each.

February: 5 rides a week, almost all outdoor, in bursts of three 40-60 mile rides in consequtive days, followed by an easy 20-30 mile day and/or a rest day.

conspiculously missing: any hill training whatsoever (gulp!). Hopefully the Rockies can't smell fear.

8,000 Calories a day

2006-02-04T11:41:00.000-06:00

According to a couple of online workout calorie calculators http://dftools.ivillage.com/healthtools/calc_cb.cfm we'll each be burning between 800-1000 calories an hour. So if we ride 6 hours a day, that's a lot of gatorade. And because muscle only stores 1,300 calories in glycogen, the liver another 300, we'll have to constantly be taking in calories during the ride. If not we'll run out of gas.

Where do the donations go?

2006-02-03T21:44:00.000-06:00

Each individual rider has to raise $2500. Some money has to go towards the ride itself, to keep us moving and delivering our message. After our modest transportation/food/lodging costs are met every dollar will go towards Partners In Health, a non-governmental organization (NGO) whose mission is to treat HIV/AIDS and TB in Haiti. Many people enjoyed the book Mountains Beyond Mountains about the founder of PIH, Paul Farmer, MD. Check them out at PIH.org

The Route

2006-02-03T21:25:00.002-06:00

Here's the route we'll be taking. We leave from San Francisco on April 2 and hope to arrive in Washington D.C. on May 22nd.

If you live close to the route check the schedule on our website at rideforworldhealth.org then maybe you can stop by one night after we're done riding and say hi. (We put Alaska and Hawaii on this map so that they wouldn't feel left out.)

Getting the first post out of the way

2006-02-03T11:58:00.000-06:00

My cold weather biking gear comes in my handy when I'm riding on my indoor trainer ;-) I took this photo for an article in my med school's news letter, "The Pritzker Pulse" that's coming out this spring. I kind of wish I had 3M reflective stripes sewn into all of my clothes...