[Vision2020] Moscow city councilman bikes across US

Thu Jul 19 17:36:24 PDT 2018

This TRANS AM bike event is very different than the RAM (Race Across
America) bike ride that I have read about.
RAM is about 3000 miles, much shorter than the TRANS AM 4200 miles.  RAM is
a "supported" race, with motor vehicles that
can assist riders.  Not that this means they ride in the vehicle!  The
TRANS AM is not supported like this, if I understand
correctly.  It is totally "self supported."  But the speed of the fastest
riders in these events is very different!

These two bike events include any resting or sleeping time in the final
time count, if I have this correct.   Imagine having to skimp
on sleep while at the same time bicycling nearly all day long!  And people
think they must drive a motor vehicle to commute to
work in little Moscow Idaho every day, or they will be overly fatigued!
Like we really need the Third St, bridge to facilitate even more
motor vehicles in Moscow?

Consider the top solo finisher in the 2018 RAM:  About 8 days to cover 3069
miles... Averaging
close to 380 miles each day, about 8 days consecutively? My math must be
wrong!  That is super
human!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The TRANS AM average solo rider winning per day miles
over the 4200 mile
course is close to 247 miles for 17 days, in the 2017 event, again, if my
math is right.  Again,
unbelievable!

The results for the TRANS AM race indicate the 2017 race... I tried to find
the exact time for the 2018 event... Where?  But the RAM results below are
for 2018:

https://transambikerace.com/results/
*Place* *2017 Solo Race* *Days:Hours:Minutes*
1 Evan Deutsch 17:08:58
-----------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/results.html

2018  RAAM  Solo Male  ( Under 50 )
CtryRankEntryBikeTS#MilesArr DT Race TMAvgStatus
  1   377
<http://raceacrossamerica.org/raamx/rcracer.php?s_N_Year_ID=42&s_N_Entry_ID=3726>
-
  Christoph Strasser
<http://raceacrossamerica.org/raamx/rcracer.php?s_N_Year_ID=42&s_N_Entry_ID=3726>
Std
55
<http://raceacrossamerica.org/raamx/rcracer.php?s_N_Year_ID=42&s_N_Entry_ID=3726>
3069.80  06/20/2018 17:56  8 *d* 1 *h* 23 *m*   15.94  OFCL

---------------------------------------
Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett

On Thu, Jul 19, 2018 at 1:06 AM, Moscow Cares <moscowcares at moscow.com>
wrote:

*Ride on, councilman !*
>
> Courtesy of today’s (July 19, 2018) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
>
> ———————————————
>
> Moscow city councilman bikes across USJim Boland, 64, completes
> month-long bicycle ride through 10 states
>
> Every year, hundreds of cyclists train for the Trans Am Bike Race, a
> multi-state race covering approximately 4,300 miles and spanning 10 states.
>
> Jim Boland, 64, owner and operator of Hog Heaven Sausage Works and a
> member of the Moscow City Council, biked the course this year, though not
> as an official racer.
>
> "I didn't participate in the race, but I wanted to do the route," he said.
> "I started three days before the race started because that fit into my time
> frame, and I figured race people would catch me in about a week."
>
> Starting in Astoria, Ore., Boland biked to Yorktown, Va., in 30 days and
> eight hours.
>
> "The winning people (from the race) did it in under 20 days," he said.
>
> Boland had the opportunity along the way to bike alongside several race
> participants who did catch up with, and eventually pass, him. To complete
> the route, Boland biked primarily during the day.
>
> "The people riding 20 hours a day, I rode with some of them. They were
> more willing to suffer," he said. "I was attempting to not ride at night
> and not to the point of injuring myself."
>
> The ride took Boland to several places he had never been before.
>
> "I had never been to anything from Kansas over," he said. "From there, it
> was all new turf."
>
> Boland biked through Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas,
> Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Virginia. Along the way, some family
> members joined him. His daughter and son joined him at the start of the
> route in Astoria, his wife rode with him at another point and his mom, who
> is 87, joined him in Wyoming.
>
> "I hope when I'm 87 that I can still have a smile on my face when I'm
> riding a bike down a pass at 40 miles per hour," Boland said.
>
> For Boland, biking has been a "lifetime thing" that has expanded over
> time. He regularly rides around the Palouse, averaging about 150-200 miles
> per week in the summer. One motivation he had for completing the Trans Am
> Bike route was to see how well his fitness program has prepared him for
> endurance-type events or situations.
>
> "I'm happy with the result (from this)," he said.
>
> Boland said he learned several lessons on the route he would like to share
> with others.
>
> "Some of my motivation was to learn things about cycling on the roads
> across the U.S.," he said.
>
> One of the lessons was the West is friendlier to cyclists than the East.
>
> "The West is way better in terms of shoulders on the road," Boland said.
> "There is nothing on highways and byways that was put in for the
> consideration of cyclists, and over 2,000 miles of this route, you're not
> welcome or safe in terms of motorists."
>
> Four cyclists were hit by vehicles during the course of the Trans Am Bike
> Race this year, and one of them died.
>
> Boland said he also gained a restored faith in humanity by the kindness
> and generosity shown to him by complete strangers.
>
> "When you're stopped, people are super kind and generous. People who I've
> never met before fed me meals," he said.
>
> Another passerby in Colorado helped him to get back to the nearest town
> when one of his pedals broke and he needed to repair it.
>
> One of the biggest lessons he learned, though, came not from a person or
> cycling, but from a dog.
>
> "There was a place in Missouri where dogs would run out to run alongside.
> One of them had only three legs, but he was faster and happier than any of
> the other dogs," Boland said. "They make the best of their situation and go
> on."
>
> ———————————————
>
> Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .
>
> "Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
> http://www.MoscowCares.com <http://www.moscowcares.com/>
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
>
>
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