From a Brother's Perspective

this post was sent to joe from ralph's brother, mark hall:


A GUEST RIDERS PERSPECTIVE:

I met the group in Farmington MO for a 3 day ride to Houston MO and this my take, experience, observations and explanation of what it means to ride across the country with this group. I'm Ralph's brother, Missouri is my home state and I wanted to ride with him while he was in Missouri. I also got to celebrate his 60th birthday with him and to experience a bit of the trip. I'm so glad I did.

My first sight of the group was tents on the lawn of a Fire Station in the middle of the city. Not a big city but big enough that the tents looked out of place. To the group, it was one more night in one more place - nothing out of the ordinary. It was well lit and we used the firehouse showers and bathrooms.

It took all 3 days to get to know everyone and by the time I left, I left with the feeling that if I ever do the Transamerica Ride, I hope it's with a group like this one. Let me correct that.. if I ever do the Transamerica Ride, it will have to be with a group like this - the ride is too hard, the group lives too close and the length of time is too long to have a bad group. This is a great group. They laugh, kid, respect each other, maintain appropriate independence & distance and work together toward a common goal.

The group is typically in bed by 8 pm (yes, it's still daylight out) and up around 5 am. Since I wasn't used to these hours or to sleeping on the ground, I didn't get a lot of sleep. I tried heavy beer drinking but that only made me wake up throughout the night to go to the bathroom - bad idea.

Everyone gets up in the morning at about the same time. I think the ears are tuned for the first noise, similar to an alarm clock. First thing you do in the morning is pack up everything, put it in your travel bag and put it next to the van. The cooks assistants set out the breakfast and lunch foods. They also make coffee. Everyone fixes and eats their own breakfast, makes a couple sandwiches for lunch and then hits the road.

The cooks assistants then put everything back in the van, clean up and they hit the road too.

There are two cooks and two assistants. Cooks are responsible for the dinner menu, buying the food and cooking. The next day the assistants become the cooks and there are two new assistants. This rotation happens every day.

The selection available for breakfast and lunch is similar to what you'd find in a typical large family pantry. Cereal, fruit, peanut butter and jelly, tomatoes, oatmeal, cheese, lunchmeat, different kinds of breads.. etc.. If you want something and it's available at the store and storable in the van, the cooks buy it when they go to the local grocery store (daily).

We had ice cream one night but it was pretty soft and we had to eat it right away. The reason for the ice cream was to celebrate my brother's 60th birthday, which was actually on the next day. I think we celebrated his birthday a day early because of the availability of a cake. BTW, Ralph doesn't look a day older than 60.

The group doesn't ride as a group. Some people team up and some people ride alone. At times you can see people ahead and people behind. Sometimes not. Each of the 3 days I rode, we stopped for breakfast at the first available town. This meal was on top of the breakfast at camp but it just never seemed to be too much. You burn a lot of calories riding the road. The table at the restaurant was a rotating collection of the group, some coming in while others are finishing and leaving. And, by the way, there are 9 riders plus two Adventure Cycling guys. The Adventure Cycling guys provide direction/help/support etc.. They switch off each day - one drives the van and the other rides 'sweep' on a bike. Sweep is the last biker on the road. He makes sure no one is left behind, broken down or lost.

The ride itself seemed like 'the job' and then afterwards was like 'after work'. We typically arrived at our next overnight camp by one to two pm.

First thing you do when you finish riding is to set up your tent. It has to dry out because it's usually wet from dew or rain from when you packed it in the morning. Then you take a shower & lounge around for a while. The new cooks make up the dinner menu, take food orders and head out to the grocery store in town. The two cooks fix dinner and around 5 or 6 pm we ate. There is usually plenty of food and it tasted great. Everything seems to taste great after 50 or more miles on a bike.

The evenings are interesting. This group is almost totally removed from society, news and most modern conveniences. They have to find ways to entertain and busy themselves without TV, XBox or even a light switch. Humor is always present. We had occasion to sit in the river to cool off a couple afternoons. One night David read from a book called Candy and Tom made the sound effects - it was hilarious. The bloggers (Cammie and Joe) drift away and type on computers for a while. Some fall asleep in lawn chairs, others read, some explore. If a laundry is available, they take advantage of it. Lots of conversation. One night I learned about a word that was removed from the dictionary back around 1908 that meant 'exit stage left in a crawl like manner' . I forget the word now and remember only the definition. Telephones are ever present and are the only link to the real world and family.

Each evening after dinner there is a map meeting. Everyone gets in a circle with their maps and the support leaders discuss the upcoming day's route, turns, conditions, things to look for etc.. People take notes & ask questions. This meeting always seemed pretty serious.

The weather rules. The group has no power over weather and have to take it as it comes. My second day with the group was heavy rain and thick fog for the first several hours. I stopped and wrung my socks out 3 times, then turned them inside out to get the dry side and put them back on. I knew they needed wringing when I could tilt my foot and feel the water run from the front to back of my shoe. That same day turned into a 90 degree heat wave after the rain stopped. Harsh weather might be the hardest part of the ride. Wind, rain, heat, humidity, fog, ....

The ride each day was completely new and different. The overnight facilities were each unique and the weather was always changing but I can see how they must begin to blend into a seemingly endless blur, into a place, a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity... It is an area which we call -------- the Transamerica ZONE.

While I only spent 3 days with the group, I miss them and think about them a lot. It's a small, compact world they live in. It's an extraordinary and unusual existence. It's monumental on so many levels.

I've got a feeling this group will be lifelong good friends and will stay in touch with each other for the rest of their lives.

Maybe after I retire.....

Mark