SOME DETAILS ABOUT SAFETY, MY BICYCLE, MY TRAINING, MY MOTIVATION, MY STRATEGY, WHERE I’M STAYING ON THIS #COASTtoCOASTbicycleride, DONATION INFO & MORE. 🌊🚴🏼♂️🌊 I’ve been training hard. I realize this will be a lot more challenging than the 1,000 mile ride I did across England, France, Belgium and Holland, but I feel ready and eager for the challenge. My training over the past year has shown me that a long bike ride, in some ways, is simply a series of short bike rides.
The money you donate goes directly from GoFundMe to Bell Socialization. Bell is a nonprofit and your donation is tax deductible.
I’m peddling west across the country. I’m riding my favorite bike ever, a Trek Verve 2. I’ve had it for about a year and it’s a fantastic bicycle. It’s solid, reliable, fast and smooth and it fits me perfectly. I recently had the Trek dealer do a tune up and they helped me find a great set of panniers.
I’ll be extra safe on this journey. I’ll be wearing a large bright orange reflective vest and will be using a bright rechargeable flashing red tail light that you can see from over a mile away during the day. I’ll be taking non-highway routes and will be going extra miles when necessary to avoid busier roads. I won’t be pushing too hard miles wise, will be carrying extra water and will be taking plenty of rest breaks. As Forest Gump put it, I’ll sleep when I’m tired, eat when I’m hungry. . . and so on. 🙂.
I’m doing this trip as inexpensively as possible. I’ll be camping in my tent (sleeping in campgrounds, state parks etc.) and will be eating freeze dried food — which actually is pretty delicious and nutritious these days. I will be taking a small lightweight fishing pole, a few lures and a lightweight fry pan just in case I encounter a pristine lake now and then.
The “Dyrt” app on my iPhone will be very handy companion, especially since info on campgrounds and state parks across America is now available even without cell coverage. (All info is already downloaded on my phone).
I’m doing this solo bicycle ride across America in an attempt to raise $10,000 for Bell Socialization which runs York, Pennsylvania’s homeless shelter. Bell Socialization is near and dear to my heart because I worked as a caseworker in their homeless shelter not too long after graduating from Colgate.
Thanks for taking the time to read this message. More news and details on this journey and other adventures soon.
Take care and don’t worry: I’ll be safe.
Bill Swartz
billswartz@mac.com
GoFundMe link and trip info at link below. (All donations go straight from GoFundMe to Bell Socialization which runs York, PA’s homeless shelter. Donations of any size (no matter how small) make a real difference. 🙂
Facebook page link for this cross country bicycle journey: https://www.facebook.com/Coast-to-Coast-Biking-Across-US-for-Homeless-129363498649748/
This Clear Blue Sky 