Perhaps members of the Bicycle Touring Group of North Jersey will find the following of interest: When Don Petterson, a former American ambassador, told family and friends he intended to ride a bicycle from New Hampshire to San Francisco, most of them questioned his judgment, if not his sanity. He was in his seventies, hadn’t been on a bike for years, and had never ridden more than a few miles at a time. But, in May 2002, putting doubters behind him, he headed west. Ahead of him lay many challenges—among them, riding his loaded bike over the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada, crossing the Great Plains in brutal summer heat, dealing with the aftermath of a collision with a car, and traversing Nevada’s basin and range country and the Great Salt Lake’s desert. His rewards included passing through spectacular mountain forests, experiencing the aching beauty of the lonely plains, and viewing the grandeur of Western scenery. In Old Man on a Bicycle: A Ride Across America, Petterson relates how he prepared for the 3,600-mile journey and what he saw and did during the two months he was on the road. In addition he rebuts the misconception that aging invariably means debilitating decline. Drawing on certain events of the ride, he offers research-based advice on how to ease physical and mental aspects of aging, emphasizing the importance of exercise. About Don Petterson A retired Foreign Service officer whose ten overseas assignments included ambassadorships to Somalia, Tanzania and Sudan, Don Petterson is the author of Inside Sudan and Revolution in Zanzibar. After his solo bicycle ride across the country he rode from Miami to Brentwood, New Hampshire, where he lives with his wife. Old Man on a Bicycle is available on amazon and barnesandnoble, other online booksellers and can be ordered at local book stores.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 17:09:13 +0000
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