Pictures at last!

Over the next few days, I'll be posting the pictures Ed was able to send me at the Tok public library.

First, here's the map link of where he was last night:

HERE'S THE LINK YA BIG FREAKS

Now, getting internet access from the library in Tok is no easy task. The facility is staffed by volunteers and the hours posted on the door are merely a suggestion. Luckily, the woman who ran the front desk at Ed's hotel was one of the library volunteers and she was able to open the door for him on her lunch break.

They do have standards at the Tok Public library, though - they will not open if it's -35 degrees outside. They're not animals, for Pete's sake.

Now for a recap of Ed's first week on the road:

Here's Ed leaving our house - which is sold, by the way. Thank God for that!

Notice the gray and gloomy day. Our friend, Glenn Cravez called and wished Ed, "Tail winds, brother, tail winds." Unfortunately, he did not say "poo-poo-poo" like a good Jewish aunty and Ed's had nothing but head winds throughout his ride. That will make any normal person reconsider, but not Ed. He just considered it a challenge. Still, when I talked to him last night, I repeated the wish AND added poo-poo-poo.

Before leaving Anchorage, however, he had to stop at Samurai Sushi for one last plate of fabulousness. When he told the owner what he was up to, the guy went behind the counter and made Ed a huge "sushi ball", which Ed claims saved his life on a bad section of road.

The Sushi ball:

The bad ride

The Sushi ball takes a break and enjoys the mountain view before being eaten.

Just remember, to leave comments, click on the word 'COMMENTS' below and register. Then you can make all the statements you want. Tomorrow: More pictures of Ed, the route and a shout out to our sponsor - Platypus Dreams.

Glennallen to Tok

Apparently, Ed met some other pilgrims on the road - going the opposite direction back to Anchorage, but still. Of course, being a boy, he did not ask them anything about where they came from, how long it took, or where they got their fabulous shoes. Honestly, don't boys talk about anything important?

We'd like to point out that Ed's not the only one who's ridden out of Alaska on a bike. A friend of ours rode TO Alaska from Michigan by herself and said it was the trip of a lifetime. She is a serious bad mamma-jamma, too - weighs about 90 pounds soaking wet and carrying something heavy. So anyone can do it.

Gotta cut this short - I'm the only wage-earner in the family and have to get crackin and get to work. Not all of us can just ride our bikes all dang day...

HERE'S THE MAP LINK YA BIG FREAKS

Peas out,

Where he's at...

Somewhere between Sutton and Glennallen, which in Alaska terms is not too far from home. He is on highway 1 (I think there are six highways all told). The way the land lies, he has to go North before he can go South, so don't worry about his sense of direction.

For those of you who have been calling and emailing that you can't find the links in the blogs

HERE IS THE LINK TO FIND OUT WHERE ED IS - CLICK HERE YA BIG FREAKS

What I like about the Google Map device he uses is that there are photos of the places he will be - they are not our photos and some of them are definitely from the Department of Tourism. They were probably taken while standing ON the city dump to avoid photographing the city dump.

Oh, I forgot to post Ed's last email before he left Anchorage:

"Anchorage Weather:Same as 97 of last 103 days, gloomy with promise of continued glomy.Various forcasts: Some Sun or more rain, or coninued gloom, or...Also various wind readings: South or East or West or North

Goal for Day: Possible will be short with late start. King Mountain past Sutton.~80 miles. Thank you again for being so supportive."

Yeah, like I'd crush his dream. Please.

Finally...

Ed finally left Anchorage today! Of course, he had a lot of last minute errands to run, and of course it was the Monday after Free Money Day in Alaska. Do you know about this?



Every year, Alaskans get a bonus check for braving out the cold, high prices for every freakin' thing, being far away from family and enduring the poor grooming of some of our fellow Alaskans. It's really a portion of the oil revenues that's put in a sort of investment fund and we get a check with our interest earnings.



Since Ed had this weekend to get the final things ready, he had to battle the crowds of people at REI, Wal-Mart and Best Buy all spending their Free Money. Ed was getting survival gear and others were getting, well, survival gear. After riding with loaded panniers (bike baskets) across town to the bike store for better gloves, he made it back to our old house and was met by our friends, the Magids.



Leah took pictures to document the historic start of the epic trip. He rolled out of the driveway and on to the greatest adventure of his 44 years.



But first, Ed stopped for sushi at one of his fave places in Muldoon, rode for about an hour then stopped in Eagle River for the night.



Click Here to see where started. Once he pushes the button again, I get an email with his coordinates and a link to Google Maps.



He's hoping to get to Sutton tomorrow or maybe further. Hey - he's on vacation, don't pressure him.

More tomorrow...

Is there a Cause?

The photo at left is Ed last winter


On Friday Ed spoke with the Canada Border Info [BIS]. He reports:

“After spending some time explaining to the Border Service agent the nature of my travel intentions, he replied, ‘Courageous‘. I explained I had heard a number of different words, but that was the first time I heard that word. I advised I would be forwarding it to my wife for her blog.”

Most people ask him - "Are you doing this for some kind of Cause like...?"

And the answer is Yes: Ed's Sanity [see Manifesto comment #1]

Alternatively, it‘s for “Freedom from the oppression of wage slavery.” [concept courtesy of Jack London]

The other questions are about his bike, gear, route and what he plans to take with him.

Ed says, “I have been accused at times of some gear freak leanings. I thought maybe there was some truth to the notion. Then I ended up on some fender mounting blogs. Now there are some freaks.

The heated exchanges regarding leather washers and rubber spacers were both passionate and troubling. Shout out here to the guys at Speedway Cycles in Anchorage for getting my Hondos well mounted."

As for travel equipment:

Wrong:
1991 Ford F250 Truck with 6 foot trailer - the biggest pain in the tuchus ever
That’s how we got up to Alaska

Now…

Correct:

• 2003 Gunnar Sport
• Shimano 105 w/Nashbar [yes, that’s right] 50/34 compact
• XT 11-32 cluster
• Hondo Fluted Fenders
• Nitto Noodle Bars
• Conti Top Touring 2000 700x32
• Axiom Rack and Panns
• Gortlieb Compact Bar Bag
• Egg Beater SL
• and of course: Brooks w\Ti rails

Other gear:

• Black Diamond Mega-Light [Pyramid\Teepee\Tarp]
• Custom Feathered Friends Bag [Fat\Overstuffed\PTFE] (Maybe the best fathers day gift the other side of the Dumpster. Thank you dear)
• Old School Thick Camp Rest
• No Stove\No Pots [Road Houses and No Cook Groceries]
• No Water Filter [Public Services\God's Creeks\Water Pills]
• 8x8 floor plastic left over from trailer move.
• Mini BD HeadLamp [Thank you Evelyn for the loan]
• Conrad[Always]\Kerouac[Its about time I read]
• Small 1st aid Misc Toilet BugDope\SunScreen
• Misc repair and just in case kit developed during 14 Alaskan years
• Bike Tools\Tubes\Tire\etc.
• Ipod, DigiCam, Cell, HeroCam, SPOT
• Bear Spray
• Candle Lantern
• Stuff I forgot to list
• Stuff I plain forgot

List subject to pending subtractions additions and angry destructions.

And, just so you know where he is, here’s the map link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=61.1389,-149.8193&ie=UTF8&z=12

The Manifesto

So Ed's getting things in order for the epic journey from Anchorage to Denver. His last day workin' for the Man is Thursday. After the requisite good-bye potluck (featuring Little Smokies and Ro-Tel), he'll have all weekend to get ready for the roll-out. I hope some people will join him on the ride.

Here are some answers to the FAQs:

1. It will take him about five weeks.

2. Yes, I am totally okay with his trip.

3. No, I'm not worried about him.

4. Yes, it is cold sometimes in Alaska.

5. No, I did not vote for Sarah Palin; I campaigned for Andrew Halcro

6. He will have a device on his bike for search and rescue but it features a link to Google Maps.

7. Family and friends CAN add to this blog by entering their comments below. Let 'er rip.

And, with a little encouragement, Ed emailed me the following:

The "Manifest Bike Manifesto"

Laws according to Ed

Statement 1:"I am not crazy, most everyone else is, really."

Statement 2: "My trip expectations are some of the great days of my life. With maybe a couple of the tough ones."

Statement 3: Quotes by other people that are awesome:

"If you have paid your debts and made your will, and settled your affairs and are a free man, then you are ready for a ride."

- Thoreau/Witterholt, Walking/Cycling

"One of the gladdest moments of human life, methinks, is the departure upon a distant journey into unknown lands. Shaking off with one mighty effort the fetters of habit, the leaden weight of routine, the cloak of many cares and the slavery of home, man feels once more happy."

- Sir Richard Francis Burton

(and Tara's personal favorite)

"Don't sell all your time." - Dick Gregory

Next up: The machine. But first, a picture -

Ed finally got the living room the way he likes it and now he has to move:

A Little Bit about Ed

The Crazy Bike Guy believes in extremes - about two years ago, he decided to really be a bike guy. Sure, he has a day job, but that should never keep anyone from doing things they love.


It all got serious when he and our daughter decided to ride a 50-mile race on a tandem in the Fireweed Bike Race in Alaska. Now, Ed had done the Fireweed a few times before - first a 50, then 100 miles, then he did 200 miles alone. That last one nearly did me in - he underestimated his nutrition and electrolytes by about 50% and wound up finishing but nearly passing out at the finish line in Valdez.

Let me just say it's very hard to keep yourself together when the man you love arrives at the end of a long day looking jaundiced. You never want them to see the panic-stricken facial expressions, but it's important to get them Gatorade and bananas ASAP.

So I shuffled him back to the hotel, drew him a hot bath, gave him two foot-long subs and made him go to sleep. The next day, his color returned and he insisted on driving us back to Anchorage.

The following year, he did the full 400 miler with our friend, Glenn Cravez. Glenn is the manager of our synagogue's softball team, the 10 Plagues. The team members took on one of each of the plagues. Ed chose Darkness and Glenn chose Blood so their team name for this race was - you guessed it - Blood and Darkness. I drove the support car with another guy from Ed's office, Steven.

Now, Steven was a really nice guy and interesting conversationalist, but he kept sneaking into the Blood and Darkness food stash. I could only see the yellow-pallored Ed the year before whenever Steven would pull out the pack of Fig Newtons or the Fluffer Nutter meant for Ed or Glenn. I was not interested in picking up two jaundiced guys after 400 miles, so I may have come off a little terse.

However, I think he got the message the second time I flung the food back to the stash area in the hatch and reminded Steven that he had his own peanut butter crackers and bottled water to rely on.

The following year, it was time for our daughter to ride. Ed borrowed a tandem bike and bought our kid a hot pick riding kit. Since she was too short to reach the pedals, he got plastic electrical cases from Home Depot and attached them with hot pink duct tape.

They finished the race and her comments made it into the post-race video. Lucky for me, she doesn't want to ride from Alaska to Denver with him. Date of departure is about September 13-ish.
And yes, he's decided to go all the way to Denver. Next blog will be about his nutrition plan that lost him about 40 lbs and got him leaner and meaner for those tough climbs. Plus, we'll talk gear - yay!