Yendor72

Sorry, clean up your monitor.

I find this "fat guy" is trying to get famous for what people in this forum do every day, which sickens me. I do hope that some that are "inspired" by this guy do make positive changes in their lives. I like to read and contribute to this forum about doing positive things to change our lives, taking real advice from real clydes (or former clydes) to work on both the mental and physical parts of our lives. This helps me get into the correct mindset to tackle the obstacles I have. Not some guy that needs to beg his way across America (RI). If he wanted help he'd have come here. I have seen people give bike frames and all sorts of other things away here to someone that is sincere about their efforts.

Little Darwin

I just read a couple of his blog entries, and found the description of the epic climb of Martha's Vineyard very heroic. Then I looked up the geography of the island, and saw that the highest point is 311 feet. I weigh over 400 pounds and don't haul a trailer, but I usually describe my favorite ride as relatively flat with a mild incline... It has 550 feet of elevation gain in 8.5 miles...

Admittedly it would be much harder hauling a large trailer of crap, but you think after the 2 days of continual up hill on a relatively flat island he would have figured out how much of the stuff he had wasn't worth carrying... especially with the Appalachians just a few months riding away. I know I would have found a way to avoid a couple of motels in the next couple of days and upgraded my trailer to a Bob-like unit and jettison about 80% of the crap I was carrying.

I would LOVE to see the list of items in that trailer.

Jarrett2

Yeah, I think everyone on this forum can empathize with the guy and makes sense why we'd be behind him; but I've seen folks here do greater things with less need for attention grabbing.

And if he did ride through my neck of the woods and needed assistance, I'd help him as well.

Mithrandir

I'm willing to cut him some slack on that front. 4 years ago, I considered 40 feet to be an epic hill. Today I lovingly refer to that same hill as "The Lump". 3 years ago, I wouldn't even go near one town because it was too ridiculously hilly for me. This year, I'm happy when I ride there because it's usually "the flat part of the ride". My regular-weight cousin just bought a bike and was complaining to me about "all the hills" in downtown Buffalo, and I was utterly baffled because downtown is flat as a pancake. He's of course talking about a very gradual incline of 20 feet over a mile.

If he's legit, and this is the first time he's biked in a long time, then 311 feet is quite an achievement; especially at that weight.

Fahrradfahrer

Well, one way or the other, tomorrow is supposedly the day where he starts regular riding again. He also supposedly will share his GPS location, which means if he's not where he proclaims to be, that's gonna come out pretty quickly.

TrojanHorse

No, tomorrow is the day his WIFE gets there. Then they have to get her bike... (isn't she driving the truck? This is turning into a huge circus) and then she'll have to build up HER strength, because if you've seen her picture on instagram, she's also quite overweight.

I'm calling it now - no forward progress this week.

Fahrradfahrer

You know, that part I didn't get either. I've heard both, that his wife will drive the truck as a support vehicle, and that she will ride alongside him. Oh, and that she will join him biking in Indiana.

Haff

I just asked him for a list of his trailer contents. Think he'll answer?

Willbird

I have asked myself several times if this guys real name is "Todd Hoffman" from Goldrush.

WonderMonkey

Her trailer is the support vehicle. She's towing it. About the same contents.

WonderMonkey

I say that but I wish the guy luck. Though it is looking like most of the doubters in this thread may be at least partially correct I'd like to see him overcome his obstacles and turn out be legit, though maybe a bit lost.

RollingBlubber

He'll delete it.

ColaJacket

I bet he could kick that Fat Guy's ass.

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Even though he doesn't have any legs.

But seriously, this marine needs to pay the fat guy a visit, and either kick his ass in gear and back to biking or make him quit.

GH

ColaJacket

fify

gh

Little Darwin

Since I have seen nothing even vaguely negative, I would suspect so... However, I think he could be turning down the chance for legitimate opinions regarding what should and should not be taken on a long tour.

Even if he is only carrying legitimate things, he should get it compacted into a more touring oriented trailer instead of a cargo trailer.

For anyone who hasn't seen what a loaded touring bike usually looks like, here is what the cross country rig of the author of xcountrybike.com looked like:



And according to the site, he was typically camping on his trip, with only an occasional hotel. I don't know if this was before or after he jettisoned the things that he decided were providing nothing but extra weight.

Little Darwin

indyfabz

Over the weekend he claimed he was continuing to ride daily.

Beachgrad05

I'm wondering how wifey is getting to Newport, is shop donating ANOTHER bike and supplies? Has the truck been fixed?

Haff

Well, he didn't delete it. He even replied saying he would answer soon. Whatever that means.

Beachgrad05

And yes...this thread is like a soap opera.

indyfabz

Give him a damn break. He's too busy not riding to answer you.

Seriously....That seems to be his canned response lately. He's going to respond to this at that question soon. He's going to be posting his route soon. He's going to be adding photos and video soon. He's going to be posting GPS information soon. If he's not riding (his conflicting claims in that regard have me scratching my head), what in the world is he doing all day?

I tour. From the photos I have seen, his tent is huge and heavy. One photo shows numerous 2L soda bottles. Now I fully understand the occasional need to carry extra disposable bottles when you ride through long stretches with no potable water, but that's not what he's doing. Not even close. And I am not sure if you know that he was/is a self-confessed hoarder. I think it's mentioned on his web site.

Haff

I do know, but hoarders fascinate me. I think it would be cool to see what a hoarder thinks is important for a cross-country bike trip.

that and I'm not sure he actually knows what is in the trailer. From the photos I saw it looks like a bunch of stuff hastily thrown in and lashed down.

TrojanHorse

Well, I think you phrased your question in an interesting enough way that he might be tempted to answer.

"It would be cool to see in a couple months what was useful"... yeah, if you need to know what to bring to get from the western border of MASS to the eastern border of RI.

What on earth DOES he do all day?

ColaJacket

How hard can posting your GPS to Facebook be? I haven't done it, yet. But I see where Strava lets you press a button, and your ride goes to Facebook. How hard is that? Of course, if you haven't been riding, you might not have any rides that could be posted on FB.

GH

indyfabz

That's another thing. He wrote on several occasions many days apart that was going to reorganize his gear and lighten the load, but he has written that he has actually done it.

Reminds me of a certain someone who started a certain thread years ago who kept saying he was going to get his seat fitment dialed in, but it never seemed to happen.