sherry's blog

This is Adrian Stingacui again continuing the message. I just wanted to finish up and say it was really awesome. Thank you everyone out there who supported us in the race, who gave us food and water, who happened to cross paths with us, who inspired us to keep going. I really love this race and I hope it continues on for a very long time. Good luck to everyone who is still in the race. Peace. I’m out. God bless all life. (recorder time: 2008-07-07 10:59:29 EST)

Hello this is Adrian Stingacui again calling back to continue the message. To Kevin Hall, pleasure meeting you and riding with you for a little bit. Sorry to hear that you dropped out of the race and good luck next year. To Reuben Kline, thanks for showing us what a powerful rider you are and good luck next year and all future races. It was a pleasure riding with you. To Matthew Lee, thanks for putting this race together. As well as to Kevin Montgomery, you guys are really awesome. Really giving of yourself and generous. Super. To Dave Nice, hope you’ve recovered from your cold, good luck next year, I am rooting for you all the way and I really hope that you get a fixed record. To Ardie Olson, thanks for making all those nice tracks in the dirt so I could follow along and Sherry Olson, thank you for transcribing the blog. To Leighton White, thanks for the many hours we rode together. To Felix Wong, who is probably right behind us somewhere, always watching my back for you, keep going man, you are almost there. To Karl Wilcox, pleasure riding with you, you will always be an inspiration, thanks for showing the world that you can have a total cholesterol under 100, you are an awesome vegan.

Final thoughts on the race. This has been a really awesome, awesome experience. I hope this continues for many, many years. The concept of self-supported racing with no entry fee and no award at the end is one that I really love. As far as self-supported racing though goes, as much as I love the idea and the concept of it there can be no such thing as a self-supported race. Out here we have had support from everyone we met, we have accepted food, water, sandwiches, everything you can imagine, it has all been graciously welcomed, as well as the power bar I found ….

(recorder time: 2008-07-07 10:57:41 EST)

Hello this is Adrian Stingacui calling in from Antelope Wells, NM at 9:50 AM on July 7th. Just got in here with Alan Goldsmith, Dominik Scherer, and Leighton White. We pulled in together, crossed the line at the same time at around 8:55 this morning which puts us in a tie for 3rd place, all four of us. Which was very nice. It has been a pleasure riding with those guys. It took me about a couple of weeks to catch back up with Alan, Dominik and Leighton. In Abiquiu, I caught up back to them in a hotel. Ever since then we have been riding and camping out together. It has been a wonderful grand tour. It has been a really incredible experience. Really awesome. Wanted to thank everyone for participating, for trying out, for lining up at the start and following their dreams. To all those who made it to the finish line already congratulations, to all those who are still in the race, good luck, to those who dropped out good luck next year and good luck healing. There are no losers in this race. There is no such thing. Only those who did not try can regret that they did not try. Those who lined up are all winners. All of us are. Remember we are the normal ones. To Andy Buchanan, thank you for the sound advice that you gave me early in the race. To Mary Collier, good luck at the 24 hour nationals. It was pleasure riding with you. To Mike Dion, hope you are feeling better, hope your knees are better. Sorry to hear that you dropped out of the race. It was also very nice riding with you. To Stephen Gleasner, I look forward to reading your book, good luck and stay in the race. To my fellow vegetarians in the race, Alan Goldsmith, Dominik Scherer it has been really nice riding with you, you guys are really strong riders.. (recorder time: 2008-07-07 10:53:28 EST)

Hello this is Dominik Scherer calling in from Antelope Wells Border Station. Its 7th of July, 9:41 AM. I recon the 4 of us, Alan, Adrian and Leighton. We crossed the border line at about 9 o’clock this morning. We are done. We are finished. It has been a long and tough ride, especially the last days. What brought me here, the thoughts of my close friends and family were always with me. I want to thank you so much for all you people being there. Believing in me. Thank you. I’d also like to thank Matthew Lee and all the people who helped organize sort of this thing, put it together and give us the chance to ride this route. I want to thank God for all the strength he gave me especially in the last few days to bring me here. Thank you very much. Thank’s a lot. This Dominik Sherer, last call in. Thanks. Good Bye. (recorder time: 2008-07-07 10:42:45 EST)

Hi this is Alan Goldsmith. I am sitting in the Border Station at Antelope Wells. It is done. We rolled over the border about 9 o’clock this morning. Me, Dominik, Leighton and Adrian. We put in a big day yesterday and pushed through the desert late into the night. Slept in the yard of the old Catholic Church in Hathicta. Set out at first light this morning with a good tailwind. Arrived here about 9 o’clock. So that’s that. What do we do now? It has been an amazing experience. Anyone with a bike who likes the outdoors should do this trail. Maybe not the race, but they should do it. Its awesome. Don’t really know what to say. Thank you to everyone we met along the way. We’ve met some really good people. Its all be good experiences. Nothing bad. Totally, totally enjoyable. We are going to get a lift back to Silver City with Leighton’s girl friend. She is going to be arriving soon with a truck full of beer, and fruit and good things. If anyone is going from Silver City to Phoenix tomorrow, I could do with a ride. I’ve got to catch a plane at 8 o’clock in the evening. Maybe I’ll call back with an number once I’m in hotel. It’s been emotional. Bye. (recorder time: 2008-07-07 10:37:48 EST)

Hi this Felix Wong calling at 10:40 from Grants, NM. Before I talk about today I wanted to add something to my last message that I forgot to mention. Another problem I have had mechanically. One of the eyelets holding my bike rack separated from the frame. There are two screws attaching the rear rack to the seat stay. One worked its way loose so I’m using a zip tie on one side. The rack was attached with one screw on the other side. Apparently all of the jarring from the really rough trail on the really long climb yesterday was too much stress for the one eyelets. Now the rear rack is attached to the seat stay with two zip ties and zero screws. Another interesting thing that happened yesterday when I was going up that really long climb was a guy a pickup truck stopped me and warned me about cougars that he claimed were mauling people in the day. That just motivated me to not stop and is why I did so well on the climb. Today was a big day for me. I managed to ride 170 miles today. I had a puncture on the rear tire. Other than that everything has been going well. Pavement really has helped me put on the miles today. I also saw Simon from the GDR again. I saw him maybe about 3-4 times today. I managed to just barely keep ahead of him for the 2nd day in the row. We’ll see how long I can keep that up. He is clearly a stronger rider than I am. It is great to see him out there and know that I’m not completely alone. Right now I am staying in a motel off Route 66. It is great. It was really cheep. Only $30. I’ve always wanted to ride on Route 66. Originally I was …. (recorder time: 2008-07-06 23:49:43 EST)

Hi its Sunday the 6th of July, 5 to 6 in the evening. We are in Silver City. Just been to the supermarket and loaded up with supplies for the final stretch down to Antelope Wells. We are going try to do as much in the dark as we can. Maybe catch a couple hours sleep and try to get there before mid-day tomorrow. I’m still with Dominik, Leighton and Adrian. If you haven’t guess, we planned to finish together and further the cause of the United Nations ____ Team. Today was a beautiful day through the Gila. Really nice stretch from Beaverhead Work Station. Very spectacular. Unexpected for me. Hopefully talk to you tomorrow. Bye. (recorder time: 2008-07-06 18:57:08 EST)

Hello this is Dominik Scherer calling in from Silver City, NM on the 6th of July at 6pm. I was a little lazy with call ins lately because all of the four of us are still together, Alan, Adrian, Leighton and me. I just wanted to let you know that I’m doing good. I’m doing fine. I feel good. We are going to have our last stretch of the whole tour. Looking forward to finishing. I guess we get there tomorrow. I’ll just make another call in there. Thanks a lot. I just wanted to thank my family and friends at home for their support which I can feel. I’m so glad that I’m going to see you all just a bit. Be good out there. Be safe. (recorder time: 2008-07-06 19:01:09 EST)

Hello this is Steve Gleasner calling in from Horca, just south of Platoro. Its about 3 o’clock. I was just about to have an ice cream when I realized that they whole thing had been melted in a funny shape and I took it back to the retail clerk, who was I think was 8, I kid you not, playing with his video game. He said "No sir, that’s shell". I told him he can keep it. But anyway I’m without ice cream. Apparently everything in Horca is melted and they are claiming that is the way it is supposed to be. So Steve Gleanser is down the road with no ice cream and leaving a confused little boy at the register. Here we go bye. (recorder time: 2008-07-06 16:15:08 EST)

Hi Felix Wong. Calling at 10:34 Sunday July 6 from Cuba, that’s Cuba, NM. Yesterday was an awesome day, never mind that I had a number of things going against me. For example at one point in the afternoon my thermometer read 105 degrees. While I’m not sure how accurate that is, it was definitely hot. But that didn’t bother me at all as I’d much rather be riding in dry heat than 30 degree temps (can not hear rest of sentence). Mechanical problems. I had a flat tire. This time was the front. It was puncture. Delayed me about 25 minutes, because I had to fix my air pump that was malfunctioning. My rear shifter also is extremely hard to press so instead of using thumb I had use my whole palm. Lastly there was a humongous climb. The climb took about 5 ½ hours to go up. I was feeling phenomenal. Despite all the lava, rocks, I really enjoyed the climb. Managed to ride just over 100 miles yesterday. Today I was rewarded by a screaming descent .into Cuba. I’m really looking forward to all the pavement in front of me for the next 121 miles. One message for Kevin Hall. I just wanted to say Hello to him again. I encountered Simon from GDR in El Rito yesterday. He mentioned that he met you in Whitefish and even gave you a bike box so that made me think of you and I hope you and your family are well. Take care and I’ll talk to you later. (recorder time: 2008-07-06 11:38:49 EST)