I had Bob’s schedule and his email address and I’d communicated to tell him that there was a possibility we could meet. The meeting depended on where Bob was toward the time we were leaving the USA. The last thing I wanted to do was bombard Bob with messages or requests for updates on his progress. He was under enough pressure as it was. Hence our decision not to book any accommodation over the last few days to see where we needed to be. By the way the record is held by a mere stripping, Bruce Closser, who got into the record books in 2016 at the age of 78. Not only will Bob get the record but it seems inconceivable it will be broken for many years to come. Just being prepared to document for tens of days to satisfy the organisation that runs these records may have put off other riders.
Bob had been posting some images taken on his ride:
Bob took this stunning image in Rodeo, New Mexico.
‘The Wall’ on the Mexican border at Jacumba Springs in California.
Lunch on the road. Look at all that sun. It looks so hot. One of the party here rode with Bob for a week and Jack, on the right, is the support.
So by emails and then telephone we agreed that we’d meet in Del Rio. That meant our driving 175 miles west (Texas is a big State!) to the Mexican border to say hello. He planned to be there early on our second to last day in Texas. We drove to the town and phoned Bob. Where was he? Well he was around the town and ironically we’d passed him on the road but not known it. In our faulty understanding, from the telephone call, I set off up a road where after several miles we couldn’t find him. Anna then asserted that I was wrong and that he was going in the opposite direction. We drove back. Pleasingly she was also wrong!
Anyway another call and under instructions we stayed put in the car park of the Motel 6 and Bob and Jack came into view. Jack is his support man trailing or parking up the road in advance as Bob trundles on. He carries the luggage and ferries Bob around when he’s not pedalling. Jack also gives Bob’s bride, Kathryn, comfort that out in the wilds of this wide country he has a guardian Angel. A true star in this record breaking ride.
So with 1,500 miles under his belt since San Diego we met Bob. What a man. Fit as a fiddle, jovial and insistent on buying Anna and myself a meal and having a beer.
Bob’s ridden this Southern Tier route before and knew what to expect. (For what it’s worth I have also ridden several hundred miles of this route from New Orleans to the Florida coast in 2015.) on this ride he was disappointed by the headwinds and some days were tougher than others but he’d rolled along ticking off the targets and was shortly to release Jack back to Oregon whilst Kathryn took over the support duties around San Antonio. We joked that the regime might be tightened up with a few more rules and admonishments when his wife took over!
We were interested in the detail of the ride including tyres, road surfaces, lodgings etc. However, the stories that make these trips so memorable started to flow. The best was when staying at Van Horn,TX it was the same time Katy Perry and her homies borrowed Jeff Bezos’ rocket for a 11 minute spin in space. (Van Horn is close to the launch site.) The celebrities in the rocket had had friends come to Van Horn to see off their pals. Some had arrived from NYC to cheer film producer Kerianne Flynn, in a stretched limo, and were staying at the Motel 6 where Bob and Jack were. Needless to say the friends/young ladies themselves were glamorous and barely noticed these old guys lurking around the hotel until it was volunteered that Bob was also going into the record books. Instant kudos.
Later that evening at a swankier hotel in town the girls all bowled up in their finery and were an immediate attraction to the younger men in the vicinity. However, on Bob and Jack’s arrival there was a demand by the girls for selfies and mobile/cell phones were swapped for a selection of snaps. Bob showed us the photos. I was impressed! I was too discreet to enquire what happened later that night but I know I’d have been looking at the inside of my eyelids fairly early after a long bike ride, a few beers and the thought of another 80 miles the next day. Another story involved meeting the lead singer of an Indie Rock band (Big Thief) near the Wall who was worried she was being followed by a drone. She was, the Border Patrol were tracking her!
Anna and I were privileged to sign a Guinness World Record witness statement. They were amassing tens of pages. We are now part of the history. Then it was time to go as Bob and Jack had to check in and then do their administration and Bob also wanted to give his Surly Disc Trucker a good look over and clean prior to the next ride toward the Hill Country.
We said our fond farewells in the car park when Bob was hailed by a burly chap in a pick-up. This guy it turned out to be part of a railroad gang who’d been working and staying out west when Bob and Jack were staying in the same place. There, they’d offered a beer and BBQ meal to these weary travellers. Again the kindness of strangers was evident and here in Del Rio they’d met up again by chance.
Anna and I had the small matter of heading east to be in striking distance of Austin to fly back the next day. We had another 120 miles to drive to our accommodation up the I90. Anna and I drove away elated at the meet up.
I shall keep you informed of Bob’s progress in the blog.
So our vacation was over and the long trek to Heathrow and then York began. By the time the car was returned to Thrifty at the airport I’d driven 2,500 miles.
FINISH
Tony Ives’ Blog 