This practice however was not well accepted by all scientists: the ones who were more then happy to dig themselves right from the start in solving systems of equations with complex boundary conditions, were now smashing their heads against the table, trying to find the words to explain why are they doing it. As if the broader, lay public really cared! And besides, it is well known that those who ask too many "Why?"s will not understand the explanation anyway.
As late comers to the Motivation movement, bicyclists still find appropriate to include the reasons "why". So, here it goes.
It is easy to explain Mr. Iik's motivation. It is:
(a) to reduce the fat belt (popularly called "michelins" in his country) that accumulated around his belly during one year of unhealthy way of living, and
(b) to break the unhealthy way of living that resulted in the formation of the michelins, at least for a month.
OK, now that we sorted the motivation problem, let's move to the: Plan
As said in the introduction the plan was to cross the continent of North America from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Vancouver and New York City were chosen as terminal points because they were far apart enough to call it a continent crossing (unlike, for example, Santa Barbara and Corpus Christi), because the ride covers more than one country and because of the anticipation of the thrill on the dangerous NYC streets. The planned route runs mostly west to east through Canada: from Vancouver to Calgary to Winnipeg to North Bay to Ottawa and then swerving south to USA through Adirondack mountains to Albany, Poughkeepsie and NYC. Time available was fixed to 37 days, which ment riding 150 km per day on average to cover the estimated distance of 5500 km.
Equipment
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| Mr. Iik and his bike. Featuring special edition bear deterrent "Yellow submarine" cycling shorts. And matching color ultra-light "Liquigas helmet". |
The bike got a new stem which raised the bars for 1 inch. As good paved roads were expected all of the way, Mr. Iik put on the original 25x622 tyres which already had about 4000 km on them. "If they wore down before the end of the trip", he thought, "it would be an easy matter to get a replacement in a country like Canada or USA". The old rear rack was replaced by a new one of the same brand, just a bit shorter and 100 g lighter. A small change with big weight saving (105 g) worth noting is the omission of the second bottle cage and bottle - Iik correctly predicted that he shouldn't have problems finding water in North America. The bike got a rear view mirror too - a novelty so far.
There were some changes in non-bike stuff. Warm sleeping bag was replaced with 300 g lighter summer one. Also a rain jacket was replaced with a combination of a light wind-breaker and very light rain-shell, saving almost 100 g. However, being a bit worried about the performance of his rain gear, and also as an experiment, Iik took a 170 g light protective suit made of tyvec. This suit covers the body from the head to the feet and it might provide good protection in serious rain conditions.
All his stuff weighed 5600 g, including the bike it was around 15700 g, the base weight was 5 kg. "Base weight" is somewhat unclear UL cycling term which includes the total weight minus: (a) standalone bike (bike without carriers like racks, bottle cages), (b) water and food and (c) clothes worn on an average day (in Iik's case: cap, glasses, gloves, shorts, jersey, arm warmers, socks, shoes). For the sake of comleteness, we will list the equipment once again here.
ITEM WEIGHT POSITION [grams] BICYCLE Bicycle alone. 9500 bike 1 bottle cage with bolts. 72 bike Rear rack with bolts. 454 bike Computer with holder, magnet and reciever. 36 bike Lock. 48 bike Mirror. 34 bike 10144 CARRIERS Underseat bag used as handlebar bag. 92 bike Main stuff sack (30 L). 158 rear rack Stuff sack for medical kit, spare glasses, etc. 6 stuff sack Bungee cord for the main stuff sack. 52 rear rack Plastic bags. 50 stuff sack 1 l plastic bottle. 44 bottle cage 402 TOOLS & SPARES Flat screwdriver 30 tool sack Spoke key, allen keys 42 tool sack Razor blades (instead of a knife) 2 tool sack Pump 26 tool sack Patch kit 20 tool sack 15 mm pedal wrench (cut in half) 50 tool sack 2 tyre levers 10 tool sack Oil 8 bike Duct tape 16 seatpost 1 spare emergency spoke 4 rear rack 1 spare tube 98 bike 306 CAMPING Tent. 888 rear rack Sleeping bag with compression bag. 592 stuff sack Strip of bubble wrap (sleeping pad). 72 stuff sack Mini flash light (= bike taillight). 18 stuff sack 1570 FOOD AND WATER Water in plastic bottle. 1000 bike Emergency food. 0 stuff sack 1000 CLOTHES Cycling cap. 28 cyclist Glasses. 40 cyclist Merino cycling jersey. 230 cyclist Arm warmers. 62 cyclist Cycling shorts. 152 cyclist Cycling gloves 28 cyclist Socks. 20 cyclist Shoes. 616 cyclist Wind jacket. 168 rear rack Rain shell. 114 stuff sack Tyvec suit (for rain). 172 stuff sack Polar fleece top. 200 stuff sack Long trousers. 292 stuff sack Rain pants. 136 stuff sack Underwear. 34 stuff sack Rain shell gloves. 10 handlebar bag Light fleece gloves. 48 wind jacket Overshoes. 76 handlebar bag 2 pair spare socks (ligh + woolen). 78 stuff sack Nylon stockings as leg/arm warmers. 10 jersey pocket 2514 PHOTOGRAPHY Digital camera with battery. 336 handlebar bag Battery charger. 86 stuff sack Bubble-wrap protection. 4 handlebar bag 426 PAPERWORK Passport, air tickets. 70 cyclist Notebook, calendar and a pencil. 28 jersey pocket Distance card. 2 jersey pocket 100 MISCELANEOUS Tooth brush. 12 handlebar bag Skin cream. 10 handlebar bag Razor. 6 handlebar bag Dish washing cloth used as a towel. 12 handlebar bag Pen water filter. 20 stuff sack Spare glasses in soft case. 40 stuff sack Medical kit & sewing kit. 26 stuff sack Mosqito net. 14 stuff sack "Monocular" for watching birds. 80 bike Cell phone. 70 stuff sack Reflective vecro straps. 8 cyclist 298 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL 16770 g (36.97 lb) TOTAL without bicycle, water and food 5616 g (12.38 lb) BASE WEIGHT 5000 g (11.02 lb)
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