Hi all-
We have received nearly $5,550 in donations thus far and Tracy's story continues to gain traction on local media in New England. Check out this story:
Man biking cross country for cancer travels through Maine (wabi.tv)
To make a donation, click here: : https://raiseyourway.donordrive.com/campaign/ACSCA
Cheers!
Tracy is a HUGE Robert Frost Fan and one of the reasons he is doing this ride is to find interesting places along the way across America. Well, when he saw the Robert Frost Farm, the bike magically turned that direction!!
Day 14 - 4 Jun 24: Day started out great - a full breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes and OJ. Just what's needed for a day of cycling. Cycled south down Weare Road and through the little village of Weare, NH. Weare is the hometown of Gary Chag, a very close friend from my Air Force days whose name, unfortunately, is at the top of my friends "In Memory of" shirt. Once again today, I had a Warm Showers host who had confirmed that I had a place to stay in Derry, NH, so my destination was set and my mind was at ease. I was cycling back south, not in the direction of my general destination, but I had seen something on the map that I could not "unsee" - Robert Frost Farm State Historical Site. Robert Frost has been my favorite poet since my early teens and I couldn't pass up the chance to see his farm. I was making good time to get to Chris McCallum's home in Derry, NH, very near to the Robert Frost Farm, until I took a bike trail. Once again, a nice paved trail for a ways, then unpaved, followed by extremely loose sand and gravel - treacherous for a fully loaded road touring bike. I ended up having to walk my bike through certain areas to avoid falling in the loose sand and gravel, or unrideable rocky surfaces. I've decided to piggyback on Forrest Gump's phrase - "bike trails in New England are like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to get". And I think I will be looking to spend more time on paved roadways and less on bike trails, because you never know what sort of surface you're going to end up with. At 41 miles, I arrived at Chris's house, had some great conversions about cycling, route planning and several other topics. Chris had a bike stand, so I tried deflating and re-inflating my rear tire with the "hop" and had no success. Took a nice warm shower and, once again, slept like a log.
Day 15 - 5 Jun 24: Got up to watch a 6:00 AM Rugby
League game from Australia (Chris's home country) and some more good
conversation. Chris had to leave for work way too early, I think we could
have spent several hours discussing lots of topics. I left to go see the
Robert Frost Farm (pictures). This is a Robert Frost trip - I have taken
many roads that are less traveled, and it seems like I constantly have miles to
go before I sleep. And today, I am supposed to make Portsmouth, NH and
meet Gary Chag's two brothers, Mark and David, and his other daughter,
Melody. Not quite having learned my lesson on bike trails, I ended up on
another one where I had to walk my bike through the loose sand and gravel and
it became apparent that I would not get to Portsmouth by our agreed meeting
time. It also turned out that something came up at Melody's place of work
and she would not be able to come. Mark and David agreed to drive out to
Newfields and meet at the General Store. As I pedaled up the road, I
spotted two men sitting at a table outside the store and knew immediately that
they were Gary's brothers. There must be some strong genes in the Chag
family - the resemblance among the 3 brothers is remarkable. We spent a
great couple hours swapping stories about Gary outside the store and then in
the car as we sat out a pretty severe thunderstorm. We also got to talk
with Melody for a bit on the phone. Our time ended much too soon and it
was time to pedal off to Portsmouth - a good share of the ride in the
rain. 43 miles got me to the Portsmouth Hilton Garden Inn. I went
across the street to Legends for dinner, showered and slept.
Day 16 - 6 Jun 24: Promise of a good day.
Known destination - Bruce & Janice White in Saco, ME. Bruce and I
worked several assignments together over the years, but we hadn't seen each
other for probably a decade. Through the grapevine I got his number,
called him up and we're set for a reunion. They had already given me a
choice of lobster, steak or pasta for dinner and what else could I choose in
Maine but lobster? One of their neighbors is a cyclist and wanted to meet
the crazy guy who was on a trip to circumnavigate the US, so his family came
over and I learned a world of information about the technical side of
cycling. Bruce & Janice's neighbor is very analytical about most
things, including cycling. After the neighbors left, Bruce and Janice and
I discussed various topics, and Janice, being a bit of a cyclist herself,
recommended the Gorham Bike Shop as a place to get my tire with the
"hop" fixed. It was great to see Bruce after too many years and
a pleasure to meet Janice.
Day 13 - 3 Jun 24: Doug made me a wonderful
breakfast and we said our goodbyes - a very, very nice overnight stay.
The route Doria set up for me was just as nice as she said - beautiful NH back
roads through the woods and over the streams (see pictures). The only
negative was the climb to Peter White Cycles, and there was no way around
that! Peter welcomed me in to take a look at my electrical charging
system, and before he got to that, I mentioned the issue I'd had with my rear
rack on Day 1. Peter took a look at that, noted that mounts were
counterbored and had been put on backwards - and promptly fixed my rack.
Then he and Bob discussed my charging system and Bob put a new unit in my head
tube and everything seemed to work. During the financial end of the deal,
Linda asked about where I was coming from and my response of Binghamton, NY got
a reply that the Finger Lakes region of New York is very scenic and they have a
cycling friend in Ithaca, NY. I asked who (there is only one cyclist who
came to my mind from Ithaca) and it was Glen Swan. I never really knew
Glen personally, but back in my younger years, I rode in some team triathlons
in which Glen also rode. He was the premier rider in the area and always
cleaned up in the bike portion of the events - not even close. His
sister's family lived nearby and his nephew and niece, Matt and Katie Noxel
were friends with my sons and I coached them for a couple years in youth
soccer. It is indeed a small world. Bob put air in my rear tire,
which shouldn't have been so soft and gave my a bad feeling. After a few
miles and arrival into Hillsborough, my bad feeling came to fruition and I
stopped to fix my first flat tire of the trip. After mounting the new
tube, I had a hop in the tire, but it held air fine. At Peter's
suggestion I had lunch at Tooky Mills Pub and pedaled off toward Henniker along
the Contoocook River (pictures). At 42 miles I stopped and spent the
night at the Henniker Hotel.
Day 12 - 2 Jun 24: After a couple extra days relaxing off the saddle, it was time to say "good-bye" to Reid and Andrea. Andrea packed me up some goodies to take with me, Reid took a picture of my loaded down bike and I pedaled off. I had a definite destination as I had a Warm Showers confirmation from Doria and Doug Harris, so some peace of mind with no worries about the night's lodging. Very warm day again but paved trails and roads made for a pretty nice ride, although at 68 miles a bit longer than my saddle sores liked - and they let me know about it. Doria and Doug welcomed me to their home, Doug took care of my bike and put it in the garage and Doria showed me my suite for the night - a private downstairs bedroom with my own bathroom. Then Doria fed me a delicious dinner and told me about some of her touring (she's done a LOT) and how to use Ride with GPS more efficiently. She set me up with an alternate route to Peter White Cycles in Hillsborough, NH that she said would be a little shorter and better scenery. Slept like a baby.
Day 11:
Final day of rest for the saddle sores. Didn't do
much today. Set up a couple days' routes for my Garmin and sent some
requests to Warm Showers hosts. Given the heft of my bike and gear, I've
decided that I'm going to leave some of that gear that I'm now thinking are not
worth carrying with my cousin Reid and he'll take it back to the Binghamton
area when he goes to the family get together later this year. Back
on the road in the morning!
Day 10:
Beautiful day for cycling and I did ride to the American
Cancer Society AstraZeneca Hope Lodge in Boston. Nice ride along the
Charles River and the saddle sores were relatively quiet. The Senior
Manager, Angela DeMarco gave me a tour of the Lodge, gave me a Hope Lodge
t-shirt and took my picture. The Lodge is a very nice facility and I'm
sure that, by providing a place for the families of cancer patients to stay,
lessens the strain they are going through. I also spent some time on
the phone with product support at Garmin and I believe perhaps I'll
be able to start using my Garmin device like it should be used!! In the
evening I met with Tiffany Chag, the daughter of an Air Force Academy
classmate, pilot training classmate and then fellow T-37 instructor pilot, Gary
Chag, whose life was taken by cancer. One of the prime reasons for the
journey I am on. We spent a good couple hours reminiscing about her
father.
Read more about the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge Program:
https://www.cancer.org/support-programs-and-services/patient-lodging/hope-lodge.html
Day 7:
Day started well - took care of a lot of communication with
various people and set off to get on the Airline North State Park Trail - part
of the East Coast Greenway. It started out a paved trail, became a fairly
nice unpaved trail and degenerated into, in various sections, an eroded,
rutted, muddy, sandy treacherous route unfit for loaded touring. I think
for the first time ever while touring, I had to dismount and walk my
bike. Impossible to make any kind of time. so once again, my intended
destination was not to be. Ended up at West Thompson Lake
Campground. Interestingly enough, a very close classmate from my days at
the Air Force Academy lived right across the lake from the campground. I
was best man at his wedding at the church right across from the road into the
campground. He and his wife will be celebrating their 50 Anniversary
of that event next month. Sent some pictures to them to bring back
the memories. Hope to make Boston tomorrow. Only made 32 miles
today.
Day 8:
Got a fairly early start, and after debating for a bit,
I decided to follow the Southern New England Trunkline Trail, hoping it would
be better than the Airline North State Park Trail. I guess it probably
was marginally better, but only marginally so. A lot of it was
pretty good, but parts were as earlier - rough, rutted, eroded or muddy.
My drivetrain is driving me nuts with constant squeaking. I've
lubricated the chain and the idler pulleys on the rear derailleur, tried
increasing the tension on the rear derailleur cable and eyeballed the rear
derailleur to see if it was out of alignment - all to no avail.
Weather-wise, one of the nicer days with temperatures in the 70s and a
combination of sun and clouds through the day. My aim was to reach
my cousin, Reid Squier and his wife Andrea's home in Somerville, MA and after
61 miles riding with severe saddle sores, I made it. Planning on staying
a couple days for some R&R for me and those saddle sores.
Day 9:
Rainy, dreary morning, so I was glad I wasn't planning on
going anywhere. I called the bike shop in Hillsborough, NH where I
believe I can get my electrical charging set-up fixed and found out they aren't
open on the weekend - pretty unusual for a bike shop. Since Hillsborough
is too far to make tomorrow (Friday), I can't get any work done on my charging
system until Monday, so I asked Reid and Andrea about staying a couple more
days and they readily agreed. My saddle sores and I were very
happy. Rain let up in the early afternoon, so I pedaled to a local bike
shop to see if they could help with my squeaky chain. The chain was
basically silent all the way to the shop and they could find nothing they
thought would be causing the squeaking. Had some excellent pizza at
the Avenue.
Day 5:
What a day - started out well as I received my first positive response from a Warm Showers host, so I had a free place to stay for the night, but is took 72 miles through the hills of west Connecticut to get to the host. A bear of a day. And speaking of bears, as I was riding down East Street N. toward Goshen, CT, I saw this big black dog on the left side of the road and thought, "Wow, what kind of dog is that?" As soon as it moved and lumbered into the underbrush, I realized it was not a dog, it was a bear 🐻🐻🐻!!!!
The Garmin continues to terrorize me and I've given
up on it for the time being. I will give Garmin a call and get more help
on how to use it, but it is NOT easy. So using Google Maps for navigation
(which is not the best in the world for bike navigation), coming up out of
Torrington, CT, my phone died. I stopped at a gas station and asked if
they could plug my phone in for a while and they agreed. Back on the road
toward West Hartford and my host for the night. Keeping a better eye on my
phone battery, I made another gas station / phone charging stop. I have
tried charging both my phone and a battery off my dynahub - no luck with
either. Finally arrived at Jack and Beth Rose Dougherty's house about
9:00 - 9:30 - third day of riding after dark, which I was not going to do on
this trip. Jack and Beth were outstanding. Refrigerator was mine
for whatever I wanted, wonderful bedroom and bed, and a warm shower. Jack
and Beth are both pretty heavy into cycling and Jack was able to give me
detailed directions through Hartford on the East Coast Greenway. A very
nice evening and morning, including a nice hot breakfast. No pictures to
share, I spent all my time pushing the pedals. There are very nice hills
and hills and hills and hills in western Connecticut. Jack told me they
are known as the Litchfield Hills and they're notorious among cyclists. I
have started thinking some nice flat prairies would look pretty good!
Day 6:
After that hot breakfast, I left the Dougherty's in a light
sprinkle which developed into a real rain for a short while - enough that I put
my rain jacket on for a while. After yesterday's 72 miles, my legs were
complaining to me. I got a decline from the Warm Showers host that I had
requested a stay with - they were away from home. It became apparent that
I was not going to get as far as I planned. It was dreary for a while and
then cleared up some, but the legs weren't having it. It started clouding
up again and I started looking for a place to stay. A nice lady in
Willimantic, CT told about a nearby hotel and I go there just ahead of the
rain. It is absurd trying to find hotels online - Google "hotels
near me" and you don't get hotels, you get Expedia or some other
"helpful" website that provides not very useful information.
Anyway, I found my hotel and stayed dry. Only covered 39 miles.
Day 3:
Nice night in the tent - peepers and bullfrogs sang me to sleep. It's been years since I heard a bullfrog. The legs were better today and it turned out to be a good thing. Left the campground and headed further into the Catskills. Beautiful hills (I couldn't take pictures of them all), pretty streams (I only got Middle Creek and the Schoharie Creek). I also saw more Monarch butterflies than I've seen in the past 10 years. I had lunch at TP's Cafe in Stamford and when the lady at the cash register asked where I was riding and I told her what I was doing, lunch was free! Finding reasonably priced lodging proved to be a challenge in the "ski country" of the Catskills and I had to pedal all the way to Catskill, NY to find a room. The descent out of the Catskills was exhilarating, a bit too much so. I had to ride the brakes a bit. Ended up riding after dark for the second time to get to Catskill.
Day
4:
Not
a good day. Started nice, crossed the Rip Van Winkle Bridge across the
Hudson (pictures looking up and down the river). From then on, navigation
and logistics proved to consume WAY too much time. I believe you need a
phD in Garminology to be able to use a Garmin efficiently. It seems to
have innumerable quirks. And I'm surprised at the lack of places to get
lodging, food and water. I was expecting this out in the plains, not in
New York and New England. Finally stumbled on to the Waubeeka Campground
and they were nice enough to give a 10% discount. With all the stops to
check my route, I only covered 32 miles. Hope to get to the East Coast
Greenway tomorrow evening and then ride that for several days.
First Day! Left a couple hours later than I wanted, and given the
temperatures on Wednesday, 22 May 24, that was not good as temperatures rose to
mid-summer levels. Pedaling in upper 80's F was draining. Carrying
supplies for a year has made my bicycle heavy and riding Route 7 up Martin Hill
with such a load was every bit as bad as I expected. Riding down the
other side was a pleasure! I crossed the Susquehanna at Nineveh (picture
looking down the river from the bridge) and rode the back road all the way to
Sidney. It became obvious I would not make it to the campground I had set
as my destination, so in Bainbridge I called the Hampton Inn in Oneonta to see
if they had rooms available if I made it that far. Kerry told me that
they did. Bad luck in Sidney - my rear rack rotated off the back of my
bike!! I was able to get it re-mounted and started off for Oneonta and
had an unwanted noise. It was my rear fender scraping the rear tire
because of the rack failure. I decided to have dinner and see about
finding a place to buy some zip-ties. I asked the gentleman at the next
table if he knew of a place that would have zip-ties and he said
"no", but thought he had some. He ended up giving me two, and I
was able to fix the fender issue. I decided it was too late to ride to
Oneonta and headed to the Super 8 Motel in Sidney. There I found out that
they were experiencing a Spectrum failure and had no internet, no TV and, since
the system was down, couldn't even tell me what a room would cost, Off to
Oneonta at a hour when I should have been done for the day. I ended up
riding for about an hour after dark - which I had wanted to avoid doing at all
on this trip. The day ended well - Kerry, the evening clerk I had talked
with on the phone, and Anthony Forte, the night manager, were great when I
explained what my ride was all about, and ended up giving my room for free!
Good ending to a fairly trying first day.
Day 2
I slept about 9 hours and got up fairly late.
Breakfast was over by the time I left the Hampton Inn, so I asked about a good
place to have breakfast and was told Nick's Diner. If you're ever in
Oneonta and want a good breakfast, to to Nick's Diner. Outstanding
breakfast. I decided (my legs helped me make my decision - they made it
clear they weren't up for a long day) that I would just try to get to the
campground I was aiming to make on day 1. Back roads into the Catskills
and riding along Charlotte Creek (picture) was pretty and peaceful. Legs
were not happy with the rolling terrain but it was short day and I made it to
the campground in good shape. Ordered dinner from a place that delivered,
and had a short chat with the fellow veteran (ex-Marine) that brought the
food. New tent and camping gear worked like a charm. I zonked out
early and got another good night's sleep.
I'm embarking on a circumnavigation of the United States by bicycle and will be raising money to support the American Cancer Society. I’m asking for your support! The American Cancer Society’s mission is to lead the fight for a world without cancer, to save lives and to celebrate lives.
I’m cycling to raise funds to help lead that fight through
cancer research and to improve the lives of people affected by cancer. I would appreciate your support as I bring my
fundraising vision to life. Please support me and the American Cancer
Society today.
This year alone, more than 600,000 Americans will die of cancer.
That’s approximately 40 people for every
mile I will cover on my ride and more than 1,600 people per day in the United
States. That’s why, with our 1.5 million
supporters, we are taking action. The money I raise through my bicycle ride
will help fund the fight to defeat this deadly disease that has claimed too
many of my family members and friends, and the critical programs and services
that people count on every day.
In
2024, the Society is happy to offer a
wide array of services that are so valuable and trusted anytime a family faces
a cancer diagnosis, including our Hope Lodges, which re-opened to serve
patients and their family members. Our
1-800-227-2345 phone number which operates 24/7/365 is a lifeline as was our
website www.cancer.org.
In addition, online support programs that were established during the
pandemic continue to be available to help patients and their families.
Donations may
be made online at Website https://raiseyourway.donordrive.com/campaign/ACSCARide
Or
American Cancer Society
C/O
ACSCA Ride
PO Box 10727
Rochester,
NY 14610
Soc
Key: DW94UW
Thank you for your support! Together we can make a difference and
contribute to finding a cure for cancer.
Thank you,
