Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Wedne reda J CJoL from ( By Kimberly Cihlar t Staff Writer 1 Many of us would huff and miff after a bicvole ride from ' the Business Administration 1 building to Gambrell Hall, J but not so for three ad- . venturous USC students, who rode 1,100 miles from ' Columbia to New York this j summer. ' In mid-July, Mark Francek, Regina Bell and d ^ A Glory B. Gault packed up their 10-speed bicycles, selected a northern path and hit the road for Rochester, N.Y. The three originally met on a spring break backpacking trip on the Ap palachia Trail. After experiencing the countryside by foot, they decided to try i another form of tran- ; sportation. i The instigator, Francek, a graduate student in geography, has always been interested in bikes. He just recently completed his thesis on bicycling and says it was just a "natural progression from school to a vacation interest in biking." A NATIVE OF ROCHESTER, Francek "Not everyone can trip like this you can rigors of life." mentioned biking back home to Bell, a marine science junior, also from New York. Together they arranged the excursion, inviting Gault, a business junior. Others were - invited, but they eventually dropped the idea. To prepare themselves physically for the journey, they trained during the first part of the summer. Gault, at home in Gaffney, S.C., bicycled, while Bell and Francek ran up to 10 miles a day in Columbia. Obtaining the correct equipment, especially a good sday's * 1 li pa< ? student* Columbia bicycle, was one of the most t mportant preparations. t Francek said a good louring bike costs a i minimum of $200. He had his ( )\vn bike, a Schwinn La fc rour, but Gault had to a Dorrow one from a relative, r Bell recently hau purchased t i Puch from a Columbia ( bicycle shop. n THE NEXT STEP before \ leparture was packing. They each took a pair of pants, a couple of T-shirts, one pair of shorts, some underwear and a rain slicker. These they rolled up in their sleeping bags and 4^ A-1 L 1- 4.1 ueu iu me uacK 01 uieir bikes. Francek brought necessarv extras like a stove and a lightweight tent. The tent, Francek said, provided a measure of security at night, plus it kept out the mosquitoes. He said it is important to balance the J load between the front and sp the back of the bike, which? makes the bike handle W better. Their bikes were heavier in the back, though, and do it, but after a face other, harder Krancek s DiKe weignea almost 50 pounds when loaded. The girls' bikes weighed slightly less ? Bell s averaged 40 pounds when equipped. They also packed a pot, some pans and utensils, limiiH enan n flnchliaht ariH "M1"" ??? a spoon for each of them. Francek stressed the importance of valuable tools such as a spoke wrench, a crescent wrench, spare inner tubes and extra spokes. Fortunately, without any flats or breakdowns, cker 5 bike tht i to New hey had little use for the 1 ools. ! COMPLETELY PACK- 1 CD, Bell and Francek left 1 Columbia on July 17 ? a Mistering 110 dregree day ? ind rode 100 miles to Gaffley where they stopped for he night. They stayed at fault's house, and after a light's repose, headed oward the Blue Ridge 5arkway. They got up with the first sign of light and scanned the map. A goal was chosen at the beginning of each day ? a place to "shoot for." "We had our destinations planned. It was flexible, fhnntrh Wp npvpr had anv ? * ** v ? J breakdowns, so we could basically get to where we wanted," Francek said. After a small breakfast they hit the mountain roads, Francek said, to ride with the morning coolness. Midmorning, they stopped at a restaurant tor a larger breakfast, looking forward to the chance to meet "local, indigenous people and hear their different accents.'' THEY WOULD LOOK FOR a sood soot for lunch 1 J ? anu umner, considering campgrounds, historical features and points of interest. Lunches, usually eaten on mountain overlooks, consisted of "a lot of fresh fruit, vegetables and carbohydrates, like raisins, no a n ii I hn K or pV/U II U V W U V V V/ I O II U crackers," Francek said. They didn't eat much meat because they mostly needed energy-producing foods. Their access to food, however, was often limited. They were tempted to pick fruit along the road, Francek said, but never did. Occasionally, open-air markets gave them fresh fruit, but on the whole, places to eat were hard to find on the Blue. Ridge Parkway. Stores were sometimes 40 miles apart and very ex Iff s 3 9 * *&. zvr way j Vnrlr I JL luff ff 1 pensive. They tried to plan I stops - in advance, but this wasn't always easy because there tended to be some disagreement on where to ^ stop, Francek said. j . "MAJORITY RULE was female," Francek lamented. "But what's probably so R good is that it tests your f physical and mental durability. You learn to compromise and control your temper when you're m hot. S ? "I consider it (the trip) an emotional building ex : * ? I pei icutc, uuijuaia vacauun. And that's what it's about: t learning to handle yourself. Not everybody can do it, but after a trip like this you can face other, harder rigors of , life," Francek commented. ' D XJ Dinner was usually a big u meal, the group said. ? Shoney's restaurant, where Gault had worked before the ? trip, sponsored the group, ex giving them T-shirts and w< free meals which thev took advantage of only two or th three times, Francek said. th sp The group drank a lot of bii water, milk and orange th juice, but the girls mainly d stuck to Diet Pepsi. Many times, people along u:i j. !i_ J .1 uic uiive rouie invnea me group into their houses for ice tea, dinner and showers. "The trust was tremendous. You'd think people would be afraid, but Ihey invited us to come right in," TiniiH caifl BELL SAID THEY didn't know the people, but she thought maybe they felt sorry for the group of tired bikers. A. "We were dirty and | sweaty. We averaged! showers every other day.^ une man lei us sleep in the ^j| house he was trying to ^ renovate and sell. We slept on the floor. There was a rug, but no furniture. I didn't IsjfjQKp fSC bikers Regina Bell, I f. Gau/t with one of thi veeks and 1,100 milei aster) i ? pect people to be like they jre," Bell said. Gault was impressed by e wide variety of people ey met. She said they oke with "hillbilly folks," it could barely understand em. One family that acmmodated them for the ght had six children, two of em foster children. "They didn't give out of eir surpluses," Francek iid, "they gave out of their iarts." Francek, who had traveled oss country from New ork to San Francisco with a -oup of guys a few years ?o, said it was the kindness jople exhibited that "made ie trio" to New Vnrlr On a dy even made them >memade ice cream, "just tea mother." Speaking of mothers, ell's was a bit skeptical of le trip. Gault's parents, on le other hand, were "very jpportive." Bell said her lother feared for her aughter's safety. ?; *L_ fihfedOf IS MM Bra ' 1 | Bi 131 ^ Mark Francek and Glory 9 vehicles they spent 3 ? on. (Photo by Deana ?!l THE SCARY PART of the trip, Bell said, was riding behind Gault and Francek and watching a car miss them "by a paint job." Roads heavily trafficked by trucks were frightening, too. "Every time one (a truck) Dassed vou. votir heart stopped," Bell said. At the end of each day they were tired, but not totally exhausted. Gault said she and Bell had expected more pain, but quickly got used to the grueling pace. "The first day that we went 60 miles, I could barely keep my eyes open long enough to crawl into the tent," Gault recalls. FINALLY, almost three weeks and 1.100 miles later. $100 less, and a little more experienced, the group arrived in New York. The vacation spent, Gault rode the train, Francek took the bus and Bell caught a i ride with some friends back to school ? three fairly typical modes of tran sportation after an atypical journey from here to there.