Cycling Experiences…

Last night, David Yount, won the CE 100K Milestone Contest. Rather than collect his $100 winnings, he asked that I donate the money to my favorite charity [maybe cycling related].

I chose Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. David concurred and together we selected the Southeast Region to receive the money. I made the donation at 9:00 a.m. today. My receipt is below.

Thanks to David for his generosity and to my many readers for their multiple visits to this blog.

Rails-to-Trails Articles in this blog

See the receipt

Here is a bit more about the man who was closet in predicting the year, day, hour, minute, and second that the blog would reach 100,000 hits. David says: So, who is Contestant 3713277? His prediction was 12/4/2009  5:01:10 p.m., simply because December 4, 2009, is his birthday–belated, Happy Birthday. This contestant has chosen to NOT remain anonymous. He is David Yount, BROL member BlueRidge [who hails from the blue ridge area of North Carolina--Waynesville]. David is an avid cyclist, riding a RANS Dynamik Pro Crank Forward Bicycle. He enjoys riding single-track courses in the hills of Southern California. Jim, I don’t know that I have any words of wisdom. I am just continually amazed at how blessed I am to have a good job and healthy, happy family. And I’m grateful for interesting blogs like yours and my brother’s. One last time, a big thank you. David

Rather than collect his winnings, David has asked that I donate those winning on his behalf to my favorite charity(maybe cycling related) in his and Cycling Experiences… names. That is an excellent idea. I selected the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy [RTC] and David agrees. I will make the donation [$100] tomorrow, 12/08/2009. At David’s request, the money will go to the Southeast Region Rails-to-Trails ~ office in Tallahassee, Florida. David, thanks for the kind gesture. We may even see some mention of this on the RTC Trailblog.

Thanks to all the contest participants and viewers who followed along. –jim

Links:

• Special article from David’s brother Cecil “Zeke” Yount [Zeke gives us background]
• Rails-to-Trails Articles in this blog

Hey, that’s my picture!

Where’s the credit, although there is a link to my flickr photograph. Pdxnative [a BROL Member] pointed out the Gizmodo Feature in a BROL thread this morning. THANKS and thanks to Jack Loftus of Gizmodo for including it [my photo] in their blog.

I submitted the following comment to the article:

Thanks for using one of my [jalexartis] pictures of my adaptation to protect my iPhone 3GS from rain. I’ve done so for 3 of my 7 cycles. See more at my blog or my flickr photoset.

It’s pretty cool to have Universal exposure twice in one year: this article and the Rails to Trails Article.

Thanks also to my readers, who inspire me.

Jim

From their website: [my article]

For the Fall 2009 issue of Rails to Trails, we asked our readers: What’s the farthest you’ve traveled to reach a rail-trail? 

We certainly hit on an engaging topic, because we haven’t received such a flood of responses in quite some time. Many readers crossed several states, by car, plane or bicycle, to reach a trail and then covered many more miles on the trail itself. In each case, the extra effort of reaching the destination seemed to enrich the appreciation of the trail. We only have space for one response in the magazine, so enjoy these extra stories of dedicated rail-trail explorers below.

Thanks to Karl Wirsing, Communications Manager/Managing Editor, Rails to Trails, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, for the original article as well as the link above to my story. Read other stories in Karl’s article above by going to the Rails to Trails Fall 2009 Trails Tales Page–Good Reads!

Thanks to Russell [BROL Member Mt_Top] [his idea and reminder to me] and to Gregory McLean [BROL Member The Hipster] & John Yount [BROL Member Clu4U], there is a Rails-to-Trails Article that shows two recumbents [Greg & John took the pictures] and has words from me as I describe my journey and experience riding the Coeur d’Alenes Trails of Northern Idaho.

Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier this month, Russell [BROL Member Mt_Top] suggested that I submit an essay for the RTC Magazine, given my experiences last summer for the “Tater-TOT” in Idaho. I told him that I would try. Today, the deadline, I submitted this:

I traveled 2,630 plus miles from Fayetteville, North Carolina to Kellogg, Idaho to ride the Coeur d’Alenes bike path in and around Mullen and Plummer, Idaho. The ride was with a group of 30 cyclist who gathered late June ’08 at Kellogg to experience the thrill of recumbent “triking” across the panhandle. A blast it was, especially the ride from Mullen back to Kellogg. The slight downgrade gave just the speed boost for some incredible speed on our super-low trikes. I’ll always remember the journey and the beautiful scenery along the Coeur d’Alenes.

The journey began mid-June with a drive to south-western Virginia for a week of riding in the Virginia and eastern Tennessee mountains. Scenic and fun–a week of fitness training for the Idaho ride. I then drove, by myself [and 3 cycles], in 3.5 days to Kellogg for the meet up and ride the rail-trail. It took 3 alternators to get me there–the 2nd in Vermillion, South Dakota and a 3rd in Rapid City, South Dakota. There were times I wondered if I should continue my journey west or return home because it seemed this experience was not to be. Well, for the beauty of the trail and lake at Coeur d’Alenes, the trip was definitely worth it. From there, I rode the Seattle-to-Portland Classic and RAGBRAI in Iowa, with brief riding stops in Saint Paul, Minnesota and Morton, Illinois. Total experience–FANTASTIC! I’ll do the Coeur d’Alenes rail-trail again!

Thanks Russell, as I said in my reply to his suggestion, the experience [traveling to Idaho, the camaraderie, and the ride(s)] [all of them] were interesting and rewarding. Hey, if not published in the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Magazine, thanks to Russell, my essay made the Cycling Experiences Blog.