Anti Federalist
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Mike, you are a treasure.
Ride on brother.
Ride on brother.
LibertyRide - A Grassroots Journ3y
- Thread starter ronpaulhawaii
- Start date
disorderlyvision
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- May 7, 2009
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- 3,314
That is what I have been thinking. use he pics and stories to write a book, and he expressed interest in writing childrens books. I think he would have some good material. I would definately purchase a book
ClayTrainor
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- Sep 19, 2007
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- 12,840
Michael is the single greatest patriot in this entire movement!
Ride on brother!
Ride on brother!
UtahApocalypse
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- May 11, 2007
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- 6,991
Micheal, you are the man! When you finish this ride take some time, relax, stay inside, write a book, add your pictures, sale it. I will buy a case 
ronpaulhawaii
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I am what you all help me to be...
[h2]The Nevada Desert Pt 1[/h2]
July 19th, 2009 http://libertyrider.com/the-nevada-desert-pt-1/#comments
A perilous place, especially in summer. Relentless sun and baking wind. Craggy and blackened ridges, stark, tortured. One can almost imagine Frodo and Sam, lost. Hills, once verdant seamounts, now crumbling into featureless dunes. Sandy flats, where the heat soars and the vast emptiness stretches on. Awfully awesome, I’m very glad the worst is behind me.
Two days of skirting Death Valley, (a well named place.) I covered over 180 miles in those two days, in temperatures topping 150 degrees.
That’s kinda warm… no haha.
The first day from North Vegas to Beatty was absolutely brutal. Headwinds and narrow shoulders, with a hellish rumble strip.I rode on the road as much as I could, but that can get quite tiresome as I must always be aware of what is in front, and behind, contantly craning my neck for a quick look and snapping back to see I’ve drifted into the rumble strip. Or the traffic coming both ways would see me have to cross the divets to a narrow strip where one wheel of my cart would ride the edge of the desert and the other would chatter through them. Or the final few miles where even narrower sections saw me riding the bike itself through the nightmare. In the bright sun. Being rattled to pieces. And baked…
I can easily see how quickly madness and death could trap a person out there. I would look with longing at some shade on a distant ridge… I saw a little patch of shade from a small sign, barely enough to curl up in, and thought, maybe I should take a rest… NOT!. Get the heck off the road and out of the heat, ASAP… As careful as we were, it was still not the safest thing in the world to be doing…
Here is how I dealt with the heat. Long sleeve white shirt that Mike Mikkelsen from KC helped me get at a GoodWill in MO. White Hat that Dave had bought me, with a thin towel under that I would soak occasionally.
A Mister/Fan in my handlebar bag that I could lean forward and get a blast from.
And lots, and lots, of water. It was amazing feeling the cooling effect of the longsleeve shirt, the moist towel on the head was critical, and the mister heavenly.
One thing about being out in the desert, people are curious and know that I’m serious about my mission. Had a few people stop to give me water and ask about the ride. Can’t find the pic for that at the moment, and have to get on the road. I’ll break this post up into parts so I can keep them coming. The long days make it a bit harder to get the posts out.
Here is the bike, a speck in the empty vastness
pedal pedal
[h2]The Nevada Desert Pt 1[/h2]
July 19th, 2009 http://libertyrider.com/the-nevada-desert-pt-1/#comments
A perilous place, especially in summer. Relentless sun and baking wind. Craggy and blackened ridges, stark, tortured. One can almost imagine Frodo and Sam, lost. Hills, once verdant seamounts, now crumbling into featureless dunes. Sandy flats, where the heat soars and the vast emptiness stretches on. Awfully awesome, I’m very glad the worst is behind me.
Two days of skirting Death Valley, (a well named place.) I covered over 180 miles in those two days, in temperatures topping 150 degrees.
That’s kinda warm… no haha.
The first day from North Vegas to Beatty was absolutely brutal. Headwinds and narrow shoulders, with a hellish rumble strip.I rode on the road as much as I could, but that can get quite tiresome as I must always be aware of what is in front, and behind, contantly craning my neck for a quick look and snapping back to see I’ve drifted into the rumble strip. Or the traffic coming both ways would see me have to cross the divets to a narrow strip where one wheel of my cart would ride the edge of the desert and the other would chatter through them. Or the final few miles where even narrower sections saw me riding the bike itself through the nightmare. In the bright sun. Being rattled to pieces. And baked…
I can easily see how quickly madness and death could trap a person out there. I would look with longing at some shade on a distant ridge… I saw a little patch of shade from a small sign, barely enough to curl up in, and thought, maybe I should take a rest… NOT!. Get the heck off the road and out of the heat, ASAP… As careful as we were, it was still not the safest thing in the world to be doing…
Here is how I dealt with the heat. Long sleeve white shirt that Mike Mikkelsen from KC helped me get at a GoodWill in MO. White Hat that Dave had bought me, with a thin towel under that I would soak occasionally.
A Mister/Fan in my handlebar bag that I could lean forward and get a blast from.
And lots, and lots, of water. It was amazing feeling the cooling effect of the longsleeve shirt, the moist towel on the head was critical, and the mister heavenly.
One thing about being out in the desert, people are curious and know that I’m serious about my mission. Had a few people stop to give me water and ask about the ride. Can’t find the pic for that at the moment, and have to get on the road. I’ll break this post up into parts so I can keep them coming. The long days make it a bit harder to get the posts out.
Here is the bike, a speck in the empty vastness
pedal pedal
acptulsa
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Um, it reads better than it lives...
Cowlesy
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acptulsa
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I was being sarcastic
I know. I just like that 'reads better than it lives' line. Thanks for the chance to use it again.
Cowlesy
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Like Skoal, I am always here in a pinch
ronpaulhawaii
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No Mad Max, but Manuel... hmmmm...
[h2]The Nevada Desert Pt2[/h2]
July 20th, 2009
What can I say about the heat? It was intimidating, oppressive, and perhaps un-bearable in other circumstances, but these are the circumstances I faced and in order to succeed, must be born. KInda like the rising police state which inspired this ride. In the beginning the sheriff offices were intimidating, but after a while became less so. Same as the heat. It kinda spooked me when I saw the thermometer top 130 (shade). That meant I was pedaling in about 150 degrees… O.M.G.
But what could I do? Giving up while I can still walk is not an option. Yes, it would have been easy to say to Dave, ‘This is too dangerous and just too much, lets load up the bike and drive to the next town.” But the thought never entered my brain. It wasn’t the challenge, it wasn’t pride, I don’t think it was stupidity, it was simply what I set out to do, and shirking due to fear or discomfort is not the way to win a r3VOLution. To win we must push ourselves past where we thought our limits might be (and by doing so most find that their limits are not so easily found, and the strength of voice such activism empowers is well worth the discomfort)
150 degrees…
I won’t ever do that again, if I can help it. And if I do, I’ll be even better prepared.
More pics…
A vast emptiness…
But not completely empty. There are ghost-towns
and burros
and very expensive places to stay
The curiousity, and thought of AC, kept tempting me to stop in, (but I pedaled past…)
There are also, other wanderers
I pedaled up on Dave and this gentleman during the hottest part of the day. This pic was after Dave gave him the hat, white shirt, sunglasses, and water. He was dressed in heavy Carhart type gear (including an insulated vest), was pedaling a bike from Twin Falls, ID. to his camp in… Death Valley. Amazing… When Dave found him he was walking his bike due to the rumblestrips and seemed on his last legs. Dave, being the kind and helpful person he is, set him up for the next 30 miles to Beatty After we parted Dave mentioned to me his mother telling him, “be careful how you treat people, you may be entertaining an angel” Then I pedaled on.
to be continued…
pedal pedal
Great pic for the cover of your potential forthcoming book!
AdamT
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- May 28, 2007
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- 4,915
Indeed!
ronpaulhawaii
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- Jun 25, 2007
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- 11,874
I’m glad I waited till I was out of the desert before finishing reflecting on it. While researching routes I ran across an account where an Aussie was going W>E and saw a cyclist coming the other way who met his greeting with a blank stare… While Dave kept me from being reduced to such a state, days in that bleak, forbidding heat can easily color ones observations unnecessarily negative.
I remain in awe of the early pioneers; explorers, mountain men, 49′ers. I just can’t imagine heading into such desolation with no roads, etc.. The great unknown… I am fascinated by the remains of trails and railbeds that follow the modern strip of asphalt that led me, imagining the type of folk who have passed this way through history.
The Beatty to Tonapah run was long, but (for the most part) cooler than the day before. There were two valleys that got very hot, but was climbing into cooler temps (120 or so on the road side) the whole day.
I got to the top of this summit after 60 miles or so. And looked down on another hot valley with another summit in the distance. But what this valley had that the other had not, was the really cool old town of Goldfield, NV.An old mining town that, at it’s height, was the most populated place in NV. It has since shrank, and the ruins are everywhere, but it is not a ghost town by any means and had some great visuals.
If I was on a pleasure cruise I would have stayed and (with a better still cam) would have taken lots more photos. Still wondering what this thing is/was…
We found this place:
and absolutely had to stop in
bring them some literature and have a frosty cold beverage
The place had been open since 1905 and the original owner was killed in a gunfight. Jack Dempsey and Virgil Earp had stayed there, and we would have too, had the internet been up (or even if I had cel service). But alas, no connection at all, so after one cold one, I saddled back up for a 26 miles slog across another hot valley and up another large hill, to Tonapah, where we spent a fairly un-eventful night getting ready for the 104 mile day between towns to follow.
to be continued after I get some grub…
One more pic though. Here is Dave and I trying to figure out how the timer function works on his new camera - haha
almost there...
(and acptulsa, about thoughts on ending... just now starting to hit, but more concentrating on finishing... I'll certainly be glad to get off the bike, for a while...)
I remain in awe of the early pioneers; explorers, mountain men, 49′ers. I just can’t imagine heading into such desolation with no roads, etc.. The great unknown… I am fascinated by the remains of trails and railbeds that follow the modern strip of asphalt that led me, imagining the type of folk who have passed this way through history.
The Beatty to Tonapah run was long, but (for the most part) cooler than the day before. There were two valleys that got very hot, but was climbing into cooler temps (120 or so on the road side) the whole day.
I got to the top of this summit after 60 miles or so. And looked down on another hot valley with another summit in the distance. But what this valley had that the other had not, was the really cool old town of Goldfield, NV.An old mining town that, at it’s height, was the most populated place in NV. It has since shrank, and the ruins are everywhere, but it is not a ghost town by any means and had some great visuals.
If I was on a pleasure cruise I would have stayed and (with a better still cam) would have taken lots more photos. Still wondering what this thing is/was…
We found this place:
and absolutely had to stop in
bring them some literature and have a frosty cold beverage
The place had been open since 1905 and the original owner was killed in a gunfight. Jack Dempsey and Virgil Earp had stayed there, and we would have too, had the internet been up (or even if I had cel service). But alas, no connection at all, so after one cold one, I saddled back up for a 26 miles slog across another hot valley and up another large hill, to Tonapah, where we spent a fairly un-eventful night getting ready for the 104 mile day between towns to follow.
to be continued after I get some grub…
One more pic though. Here is Dave and I trying to figure out how the timer function works on his new camera - haha
almost there...
(and acptulsa, about thoughts on ending... just now starting to hit, but more concentrating on finishing... I'll certainly be glad to get off the bike, for a while...)
acptulsa
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- Jan 2, 2008
- Messages
- 77,275
Good Lord yes, I would think so. I'm a bicyclist, maybe or maybe not avid, but I do enjoy it. But I'm not tacking the Mojave today. Or tomorrow either. Much less after three thousand miles!
You're the Iron Man, Michael. I don't think mahalo covers it. Ho'ihi.
