indyfabz

Forget the cross winds. Speed and rough surfaces are going to be more of a challenge. In the second video linked to watch as he goes over that small dip as he crosses the driveway. You can see the trailer bounce. He's maybe doing 5 mph at that point. Imagine hitting a rough patch of road descending at even 15 mph.

As for all that stuff, he says he got rid of a lot of it. (No way anyone convince me he had 300 lbs. to begin with.) She's not carrying anything, which means if they are planning to camp and he is properly prepared, he's carrying the tent, two sleeping pads and two sleeping bags. Then there are both their clothes. On his journal he included a photo of a stove. (A canister stove, which is a poor choice, IMO, especially when cooking for two. The canisters don't last all that long if you doing more than boiling some water for ramen, and finding replacements that are compatible with your stove can be difficult in some places.) A stove without pots and cooking utensils is useless if you plan to cook meals. Properly prepared for what he claimed the plan is, volume-wise things can add up. (The tent he has been pictured with is huge and heavy for even two people on a bike tour. On tours with the GF I have carried a 3P hybrid tent weighing 6.25 lbs. His looked to be a 4P probably weighing twice that much.) With that said, I would love to rummage through his trailer.

BTW...Notice how she nearly runs off the sidewalk into the grass at 0:06 of the video.

Beachgrad05

I too remain skeptical as like mentioned no pics of camp or things I might expect from myself

indyfabz

IMO, 3,000 miles fro,m where he is now is conservative. ACA's Southern Tier route from St. Augustine, FL to San Diego is nearly 3,100 miles, and that's assuming you don't go off route to find legal camping places. He's nowhere near the start of that.

You also have the daylight factor. Days are getting shorter. Look at that second video. Assuming they are riding west in that second video linked to, it looks like the sun is already setting on them.

sbiker63

I sincerely hope they make it. But I have to say the whole camping thing has me a bit skeptical. Their gear does not seem to be light enough/durable enough for a cross country tour. Also, finding campsites every 10 miles seems to be quite a bit of work. Especially east of the Mississippi. My guess is that the "camping part" of it will change in the near future.

10 Wheels

Meet 55 year old Fred Tipps.



He rode 2200 miles from NM to FL averaging 26 miles a day, camping the entire way.

A disabled Vet with No Colon.

PLEASE Keep your posts positive.

WonderMonkey

Many people attempt to hike the AT (Appalachia Trail) each year. Regardless of warnings and information freely available they start out with too much stuff. Very soon they become veterans and start to lighten their load and realize what is actually important and what is not. Personally when I go hiking for the weekend I take too much but I'm always looking to see if this or that is needed. I'm hoping THEY become veterans very quickly and learn what matters.

krue1971

I'm all for the guy making it, changing his life and such, but this kinder, gentler thread is boring as heck. I get the idea of being encouraging but when it gets in the way of pointing out challenges it becomes useless.

nordek

I got interested in FGAA because I think riding a bike cross country is so cool.I would like to follow a real biker,if any body can lead me that way. I wish FGAA was legit, but I really think he is just on vacation in RI and having others pay for it. Also does anybody know of a site where they talk about FGAA besides this one ,this one is a little PC.

Fahrradfahrer

Interesting, I had not considered that. His requirements on the density of campgrounds is far higher than for an in-shape rider. While a strong rider can plan to do a 80-mile ride in one day because of the spacing between camp grounds, Eric has to have them maximum 15 miles apart.
Which also plays into another weakness of his currently: as evidenced by the fact that he was riding around for a while trying to find a camp spot, he apparently still has not taken to planning his destinations. While crossing the US on a bike is certainly mostly a feat of strength, it however is also a feat of planning. You can "wing it" while you're still straddling Rhode Island because the town density is so high on the coast, but very soon he will have long stretches of nothing that he has to cover smartly.

Fahrradfahrer

Check out this page:

Interactive Network Map | Adventure Cycling Association

If you click on a route and go to its main page, there's a "Twitter" tab that lets you read the tweets of people who are doing those route, right now.

GinnyRED57

When the two pedaling videos up, I cheered, because forward movement is forward movement. Also, not sure if anyone noted his "Westerly direction" comment, but if you Google-map his likely route, I think the first town in Connecticut was Westerly, CT.

So, good enough. Like others, I would be overjoyed if his disorganized "randommeur" Tour de Rhode Island gets turned into steady, considered progress across state lines, and not spent sitting in camp or taking selfies with well-wishers. He's been wasting weeks on media interviews, laundry runs, and equipment issues. And I would be truly thankful for him if he does emerge a different person at the other end, even if he has to break off due to change of seasons and re-start next season. That's not unexpected, right? People who cycle tour have to break off for many reasons.

I can't imagine what it's like to camp and sleep comfortably night after night; if he and Angie end up taking a lot of hotel nights, their backs will thank them for it and they'll be able to keep moving better in the mornings. I don't begrudge them that, if they're careful about budgeting and make headway while they still can.

nordek

Thanks bud,just checked it out.

Beachgrad05

@GinnyRED57 I can't speak to others but I recently did the week long AIDSLifecycle (545 miles) and slept in a tent all 6 nights. I enjoyed the experience and slept comfortably. I can't speak to Eric's experience and whether they are finding sleeping in tent comfortable. Right now weather is nice...I worry about when it turns bad.

Fahrradfahrer

Westerly should ideally be their next spot, but that's a solid 28 miles, 3 times as much as he did yesterday (I'm assuming he didn't ride today, so he's still in Narragansett). So now he's already faced with an interesting choice: Take the nicer route that includes a dedicated bike path, which however requires all 28 miles to be done in one swoop, or ride on Route 1, where oftentimes there isn't a shoulder, and cars are driving 60mph, to then make a stop in Charlestown.

JohnX

there's some good stuff in there! did not know about Florida's coast to coast trail

chibul

No updates at all today. Not encouraging.

Beachgrad05

On the wife's page she mentioned attending church this morning and riding in afternoon. She also asked for prayers for her mother in law. My inner skeptic recalls what the brother said about how FGAA would exit this and one was an illness in family...

PedalHard2014

So I was directed to this thread by someone who had seen a cheerleading post I wrote about Eric's journey.

I've actually had my suspicions from the very beginning, but was giving Eric the benefit of the doubt. Who wants to rain on anyone's parade?

My perspective is unique, because I once weighed more than Eric at his heaviest and am now an avid cyclist. Here is my problem with the whole thing:

Physics, logic and reality.

Some background, so you know my perspective: 5 years ago, I weighed 577 pounds. I decided "enough was enough" and over the course of about 3 years, lost the weight on my own. My dream had been to ride a bicycle again, and I was able to achieve that. Once I reached 300 pounds, I bought a beach cruiser at Target with the full knowledge that I would destroy it. I rode that quite a bit and once I got down to about 225, a very generous friend of mine donated his Ritchey Road Logic road bike to me (I know, right? It was like winning the lottery.)

It took me months to build the stamina to ride 20, 30, 40 then 50, 60 miles and finally I did my first century ride. I've done several century rides all over the state of South Carolina. It took a lot of preparation.

Now back to Eric.

At 500 pounds, it was physically impossible for me to ride a bicycle. Perhaps it isn't impossible for Eric. I wish him all the success in the world. I want him to prove me wrong and ride from Massachusetts to California. But I doubt the story because it has taken me 5 years to get into the physical condition necessary to ride 116 miles in one day. Because of my obesity all those years, I have extreme osteoarthritis in both knees, scoliosis and other physical ailments.

I consider anyone who rides any bicycle a legitimate cyclist. I don't care if you're riding a $10 yard sale Huffy with knobby tires or the latest carbon fiber dream you mortgaged your house to buy. Exercise is exercise.

But I smell a rat here. I hope he makes it, though!

GinnyRED57

Rather than reply individually, something that's frowned on in a different forum that uses this same software, here's the swell foop reply for the evening, as it appears we're all tucked in.


I've spent a few nights sleeping outdoors in tents, sometimes on padding sometimes not. All I remember is not sleeping and being really uncomfortable, and at my heaviest it made my back ache. That on top of riding all day? Yeeowtch.

At my current level of fitness, a 28-mile ride on a path would be very do-able, but I agree that Eric and Angie probably can't do it all in one go and would struggle to find a place to stay midway.

I hope Eric has taken advantage of that info. Being positive here. Hoping.

Ah, nope. Probably a rest and regroup day, with a side of "WTH?"

Ah, I hate when my inner skeptic goes all hatey and prescient like that, too. Recalling that after many loud calls for "PIX or VID or it didn't happen" and like magic, pix of them in jerseys appear, and a video appears, also as the brother described "in classic Eric style." But then, a local supporter had the video of them both riding along, which made me think "shut up, inner skeptic!" and will keep me satisfied for a day or two.

Really, it would be okay for them to admit it hurts. We've been there. We know it has to hurt. That's why the lack of commentary on the usual aches and pains of riding that beginning cyclists suffer is so strange and troubling. At least Angie's update mentions the kind of discomfort we gals suffer. That's oddly reassuring.

Maybe the "Big Development" will be announced tomorrow, the fitness guy on the Fit With page was hinting. Hmm. TLC has a hole in their schedule, and also they'll be looking for future subjects of "My 600 Lb. Life" on the same network. That would be... an interesting challenge for a show-runner.

JohnX

congrats on your weight loss. that is extremely impressive. as far as Eric goes, obviously he is riding, because they had a video of him and he has been spotted riding. it would take him a long time to get to 116 (ok 100) miles a day; maybe even 5 years. but that's not what he's doing. he's doing 10 miles at a time. i'm thinking he is actually fairly athletic for such a large person; at least he looks like it in the one video we have seen. but, notwithstanding that, i'm sure 10 mile rides take a huge amount out of him and trying to diet while burning up thousands of calories is a double whammy. when you are very heavy outdoor camping is a hassle for lots of reasons. i can imagine the warmshowers hosts might even think twice. hope his mother is ok. we will find out pretty soon what is going to happen here.

TrojanHorse

I dunno... I've lived in Newport, Groton and Enfield and while it is definitely rolly terrain inland, along the coast it's pretty dang flat. Regardless, your point about their mass and aptitude is certainly valid, I'm just pointing out that what they consider a "hill" today will change quite dramatically as they keep pedaling.

I'm trying to rationalize a guy who was so heavy he couldn't walk across a room without stopping for a break with a guy who says he's cycling over 10 miles a day (his tire was so flat in the parking lot demo ride, there's no way he rode any distance on that without pinch flat after pinch flat.

I don't know when the realization is going to hit them - they're going so slowly that they're going to have real weather problems.

beakersbike

There is one reason I would resist doing a trip that includes camping out along the way: Something a lot of us clydes and former clydes can relate to: Where could I plug my CPAP in? I'd need that trailer to haul a generator. Actually, at the 320-330 range, my last sleep test was borderline meaning I could probably make it without it, but I gotta tell you (and if you've had or lived with someone with sleep apnea, you can understand this) - getting on a CPAP and being able to sleep through the night was a Godsend - I have to admit being very hesitant to let it go.

JohnX

they have really good, light, batteries now; no more than a pound and a half. you would need to charge it up every couple or three days. the batteries cost about $300

bassjones

I'm really hoping to get rid of mine soon. I'm waiting to do a new sleep study after I reach my goal weight. At the very least, I may get to the point that one night without it won't literally kill me. Considering Eric hasn't ever held an insurance provided type job, I'd bet that he's never been tested for sleep apnea...

mahlers2nd

Not to hijack the thread but I'll give up my cpap when they pry it from my cold dead fingers! I just had a sleep study where the doc thought it would be a great idea to take the cpap away at 4:00 am. When I heard that before going to bed, I told the lab tech that I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. I was wrong... in the 2 hours between when they took the CPAP away and I finally conceded defeat, I had slept a whopping 20 minutes (presumably not consecutively) with what would have equated to 100 apnic events per hour if you extrapolated out.

Even when my last sleep study was done and I was a good 70 pounds lighter, I had moderate apnea. At this point, even if I didn't need it, I don't think I could sleep without it... I"m just so used to wearing it.