Why am I doing this?


credits to Justin Bond of Star Talent Events for the audio.


Thanks for stopping in! This summer, I'll be biking 2500 miles from San Francisco to Gibson City, IL to raise $4000 for the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition and the Ford County Youth Soccer Club. My route map.

Why?
There are so many reasons. As a youngster growing up in central Illinois, playing soccer, as rare as it was for the area, was an activity that really shaped me into the person I am today. Not only combining the importance of fitness and teamwork, but also leadership and discipline. I have always wanted to have the opportunity to give back to this organization (FCYSC), and I feel that this is my chance.

Living just outside of Gibson City causes every child to be an avid cyclist to survive that stretch of Route 9 to make it into town. As I've progressed into my current career as an urban planner, I realize how much of an impact cycling can make in certain parts of the United States, in reducing our dependence on vehicles, increasing our health, among other benefits. Atlanta is the place that re-energized my spirit for transportation planning and I hope to be able to return some gratitude to the ABC, a cause that I still feel has an uphill battle in that town.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact me at supawanich@gmail.com

Monday, August 17, 2009

Welcome to the Flats - Pueblo, CO

Well here I am in Pueblo, the hilly portion of the trip ended yesterday and I am relieved to be done with it! Yesterday was pretty rough, I had headwinds for most of the day and the journey from Salida, CO to Pueblo was around 102 miles and had about 3000 feet of climbing. I think I was mentally checked out of climbing days since I went over Monarch the day before yesterday. However, I wanted to push through the day and start of today (Monday) on flat ground. The trip from here on out becomes more interesting. For the first portion of the trip, I had cycling maps which lead the way and provided me stop by stop information about what towns had to offer. Now, It's me and the little GPS and my eastward compass leading the way. I'm less worried. From here on out, I'm more likely to find towns, people, water, (the essentials) much more often. Also, there are about 50 different ways to get from point A to point B from here on out, whereas cutting the wrong way through the mountains could lead to sheer misery.

I got into Pueblo pretty late last night and was riding with my lights on as I got in after dark. I found a cheap (but rather shabby motel) right off of I-25. Catherine did a little searching for me and found me the great deal. I grabbed a footlong sub for dinner and retired around 11pm. I was debating whether or not if I should take a rest day here in Pueblo. But after my morning so far, I think I'll be leaving town here shortly. Not a whole lot going on and I haven't been overly impressed with what I've seen so far. I'd rather push for another town on the route that looks a bit smaller. I'm thinking I'm going to break up my next ride (to Eads, CO) which was slated to be 128 miles, and perhaps ride today to Ordway which is about half-way there.


Here's the sunset from last night showing those pesky mountains behind me. Unfortunately, when I took this picture, I was still about 8 miles from town.

Alright! Welcome to Pueblo!

So from here on out, weather, storms, and wind will become the prevailing factors. I'll be checking the forecast reguarily and hoping for the best for the upcoming weeks!

On another unrelated to biking-but related to transportation note... apparently Chicago is expanding its el system! hooray for transportation planners.

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