The City of Warrenville has a population of 13,400 citizens. How many of that number are cyclists, I don’t know. But I keep meeting them, one at a time, and it’s been a lot of fun. My most recent acquaintance is Paul Hayes. Paul grew up in Harvard, Illinois and used a bicycle to deliver newspapers, like many of us did as young lads. His fascination with bicycling came later in life. In 1986 he rode an organized ride through parts of Wisconsin and Michigan covering 300 miles. He later rode RAGBRAI, The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.
About this time that Gregory James LeMond, a former professional road bicycle racer from the United States and a three-time winner of the Tour de France.was in the news. LeMond became the first American and the first non-European cyclist to win the Tour de France. The following year he was shot and seriously injured in a hunting accident. He was able to return to the Tour in 1989, winning it dramatically in its final stage. He won again for the third time the following year in 1990. He is one of only nine cyclists to have won the Tour three or more times.
This sparked even more interest in serious cycling and the differences in bicycles. Paul says until that time a bike was a bike was a bike. BUT NOW he discovered that there are some very real differences in bicycles.
Paul’s mother, in Harvard, is a friend of the mother of Lon Haldeman a participant in the first Race Across America also known as The Great American Bike Race .The event was originally organized 1982. There were four competitors, John Marino, John Howard, Michael Shermer, and Lon Haldeman. The concept caught on and the event grew bigger every year. The name would change and riders from around the world would compete. The original course started in Santa Monica, California and finished at the Empire State Building in New York City. Haldeman won. So this was also a part of Paul’s inspiration and love for cycling.
So what did all of this inspiration produce? Paul tells me he will join a small group of cyclists and will depart San Diego, California on September 18th. . The tour, sponsored by the Adventure Cycling Association, will cover 1,200 miles ending in St. Augustine, Florida on November 12th... WOW! I envy you Paul! Get this-“after ceremoniously dipping his bicycle wheels in the Pacific Ocean, he’ll climb eastward, riding through Southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico. Next up, Texas, where he’ll parallel The Rio Grand River before Hitting the bucolic hill country, Lance Armstrong’s training ground. From there it’s on to Louisiana and the spicy heart of Cajun Country. Finally he’ll pedal along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and Alabama; cross Florida’s panhandle, and ride to the adventure’s end at St. Augustine.” , where I ‘m guessing there will be a ceremonious dipping of the bicycle wheels in the Atlantic Ocean.
There will be a couple of ways to keep up with Paul/s progress on this adventure. I’ll cover this aspect in future columns. All of us wish you Godspeed, and many the wind always be at your back = Good Luck Paul!