Were really doing it!!!

Discussion in 'Ride Reports' started by singlespeedrider, Sep 28, 2010.

  1. singlespeedrider

    singlespeedrider Member

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    http://werereallydoingit.com/

    This is a blog of two guys riding across country. They have no prior bike experience and one is an old pro skater. They are learning the ropes of riding on the fly.
     
  2. shudder

    shudder no big deal

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    I wince at some of the comments Jeff is making as they ride. Yikes, man -- going out there with no previous experience takes either a lot of balls or a lack of brains. Both, perhaps.

    Jeff has got a nice cam -- you can tell from the bokeh in many of the shots. Pro level stuff. Each shot tells a story of its own...

    - shud

    Ummm...

    Greg Hunt (Interviewer): You have a helmet?
    Heath: No.
    Greg: No helmet? Goggles?... Like, glasses?
    Heath: I got sunglasses.
    Greg: Aight.


    Hear the entire pre-ride interview here:

    http://www.huntfilmwork.com/reel/archive/

    - shud
     
  3. singlespeedrider

    singlespeedrider Member

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    They have made it to Vegas. I hope to see them hit their goal but man that is going to be tough.
     
  4. One_Track_Mind

    One_Track_Mind New Member

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    Those guys are idiots...

    They are doing a cross-country ride and he's afraid of breaking his chain because "he doesn't know how to fix anything!" Ha! This will be fun to watch...

    "People just told me what's the best and I bought it" - Translation - I have more money than brains...

    The best part - "We plan on arriving (completing the trip) in mid-December. I sure hope they are riding through MS, AL and FL because they are going to freeze to death if they ride through the mid-west.

    Good luck - sounds like a poorly planned disaster in the making...
     
  5. singlespeedrider

    singlespeedrider Member

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    All the reason to keep checking the blog. I for one hope they make it but if I was a betting man would not put my money on them.
     
  6. griplimited

    griplimited New Member

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    Regardless if they make it or not, they will have a great story to tell.

    Looking forward to follow this one.
     
  7. Garrett

    Garrett Active Member

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    Yea, these guys are screwed. They better learn fast.
     
  8. singlespeedrider

    singlespeedrider Member

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    So it looks like they gave up. So sad I was checking this every day it was cool to see how far they got and what adventures they were getting into.
     
  9. shudder

    shudder no big deal

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    Time to rename the blog, fellas... :wave:

    Okay. Raise hands: How many here did not see this coming?

    Still, I feel for the guys. They just bit off way, way more than they could chew. We should all try something like this before we die (not necessarily this ride thing, but something that is an immense challenge we may or may not be prepared for -- I mean, even massively prepared climbers die on the face of Mt. Everest more than occasionally...).

    - shud
     
  10. 2wheel_lee

    2wheel_lee Active Member

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    I have to give them a ton of credit for going for it, despite their lack of experience. How many people here dream of doing something crazy like this? Probably a lot. But these guys didn't just dream about it, they gave it their best shot and went for it while us keyboard jockeys are...well...sitting at our keyboards. :clap::clap:

    While they may not feel it, I think they succeeded in many ways.

    I'm still impressed by Jim Delzer (a friend and former coworker), who crossed the northern part of the country on his Kick Bike and got into the Guiness Book of World Records: http://suewidemark.com/delzer.htm
     
  11. Abui

    Abui Active Member

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    The telling event was when they rested in Vegas. Where was the enthusiasm?



    edit - the blog name is OK, we're is were {past tense}
     
  12. Bonsainut

    Bonsainut Was ich nicht weiß...

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    I think it was telling when they left in late September for a cross-country bike trip across Central US. Next step: complain about the cold and the wind. Final stop: bail.

    They didn't even make one month.

    Just saying... you do one of these trips, you have to plan it, then visualize it. You have to know going in that it is going to be hot as hell in the desert, cold as hell in the mountains, and windy as hell on the plains. They seemed completely surprised that it wasn't sunny and 70 the whole way. It's 3000 miles across the continent - as the crow flies. I don't know how indirect roads are, etc, but conservatively add 50% to this amount for side trips, detours, etc. Throw in a ton of hills and adverse weather. Throw in mechanical failures and illness/injury. How long do you think it will take? I have read a few ride reports that say people can knock it out in about two months if they are in good shape and average 75+ miles per day.

    For the first 21 days, they averaged about 60 miles per day. Hard to tell where they ended, but after 25 days they appear to have made it about 1/3 of the way?

    I would have enjoyed reading the updates as they pedaled across the Eastern US in late November...
     
  13. bvader

    bvader Long Live The Gorn!

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    Hey as long as they did not have to be helicoptered out at great expense to the taxpayers...or ended killing some innocents...Heck I admire their sense of adventure...but I do fear that next they may try something even more dangerous that they are not prepared for.
     
  14. singlespeedrider

    singlespeedrider Member

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    I did not think they were going to make it but at the same time I was really rooting for them. It is a bummer I do not have a blog to check on every day now and get some cool stories. I give them huge respect for trying something so huge with no training or real prep work. Something that right now with three kids and a wife at home I could not just up and do.
     
  15. iPhrankie

    iPhrankie New Member

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    100% agree.
     
  16. Monster Mash

    Monster Mash New Member

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    This is something I have always wanted to do but with running a business and raising a family I don't see ever happening. I kind of figured they wouldn't make it, they just didn't plan well and got upset at every mechanical problem. Real cyclists just deal with the problems as they arise and move on.
     
  17. Pho'dUp

    Pho'dUp Spam Musubi MasherSS

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    Actually I think those guys are pretty rad.

    Sure they didn't make it. And sure knock their planning. But it's not like they found out it was hard and quit after a couple days. They made it pretty dam far on their own. I call myself a cyclist but I ain't done anything as hard as that stuff.

    Kinda envy their ahh f-it we'll go for it anyhow attitude.
     
  18. calzone

    calzone Banned

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  19. Hotchkiss

    Hotchkiss human being

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    I'm bummed for them. But that's still a great run.

    reminded me of a zine I picked up at the late, great, Greene Records called "Drugs and Daydreams, 1,169 miles of beaches, new wave and crime... on a f*cking bike!" A great read of 3 gutter punks who fixed up their pawn shop bikes and rode from Portland to Orange County to see New Order.
     
  20. Bonsainut

    Bonsainut Was ich nicht weiß...

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    Your story reminds me of a story I read titled "Set Sail for Bora Bora" - about how every year there was a cookout/rendezvous for yacht owners who were looking for crew members to set sail for the South Pacific or other distant locales. You would show up, talk to some yacht owners, and if they liked you, you got to work your butt off for food and a bunk on a yacht that was sailing half way around the world. Awesome. I've had other adventures in my life, but damn. Sailing around the world...
     

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