When Nick Hall set out to make a bicycle trek across the country, he focused on a single goal: To inspire others to join him in the quest to conquer polio.
It was a 3,000-mile ride that would take Hall up steep mountain passes, through stretches of desert, and along interstate highways and down narrow roads.
He’d sleep in a tent on the side of the road, or in abandoned buildings, or behind truck stops.
(Courtesy of Nick Hall)
He’d wash his change of clothes in sinks at truck stops or convenience stores.
Hall began his cross-country trek on July 14 by placing the rear wheel of his bicycle tire in the Pacific Ocean.
He finished his journey — surrounded by family, friends and supporters — on Aug. 15 in St. Augustine.
Along the way, he shared the Rotary Club International’s quest to eradicate polio from the face of the planet.
While he was out on the road, Hall said, his grandson asked how one man riding a bicycle could help put an end to polio.
Hall’s wife told the boy that as the cyclist met people along the way, they’d want to know his story, and after they heard it, they’d share it.
Ironically, Hall said, this is much the same way an infectious disease — such as polio —is spread. One person has contact with another person, who in turn has contact with others.
As Hall made his way across the country, Facebook posts chronicled his journey, and donations came in to battle polio from people in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and, as far away as South Dakota.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
The ride is over, but Hall is still sharing his story. He recently talked about his adventures at a noon luncheon meeting of the Wesley Chapel Rotary Club.
“I never had a goal of covering a certain number of miles, nor getting to a certain destination by a certain time,” Hall said. There were too many variables beyond his control, he explained.
He had no power over the direction of the winds, he said, and didn’t know if he’d encounter a hurricane, or when his bicycle would need a repair.
“And so, my goal was only ever to keep the bike moving 10 hours a day,” Hall said.
Hall figured he had an average of 15 hours of sunlight a day, leaving plenty of time for breaks, which he took during the hottest parts of the day.
And, it was hot.
“The bank sign in Blythe, California, on the edge of Death Valley, registered 115 degrees. And, for 10 consecutive days, the high never got below 100.”
His longest ride on a single day was 150 miles; his shortest, was under 70.
“My day would begin at usually a half-hour before sunrise. I would set my alarm to go off, because I didn’t want to miss a minute of the cooler temperatures before the sun really got blisteringly hot,” he said.
“I’d have a Fig Newton. I’d stop at a grocery store — buy a box, just to take the edge off my appetite. I didn’t want to waste time eating a full breakfast, not when it was the coolest part of the day.
“I’d wait three or four hours before stopping, and then would eat a couple of fried eggs, fried ham, hash browns, toast. Sometimes extra servings of the hash browns,” he said.
(Courtesy of Nick Hall)
Around mid-morning, he’d stop for one of his favorite snacks: A paper-wrapped Hostess Apple Pie.
It was 780 calories, and it was awesome, he said.
“I was losing a lot of electrolytes. Why take salt pills when you can eat potato chips? Or, salted peanuts?
“And then, I would have a couple of ice cream bars in the late afternoon.
“You know there’s not much pleasure cycling across West Texas — a barren landscape, resembling the landscape of the moon.
“And, there’s a need. We all need pleasure,” he said.
So, he indulged in foods that gave him pleasure and also helped him maintain his weight, as he was burning around 4,000 calories a day.
Hall rode through all kinds of conditions.
He traveled on Interstate 10 through parts of Arizona and Texas.
Riding on an interstate sounds hazardous, he said, but it was actually safer than some of the other roads he took.
“Compare I-10, with a speed limit of 70 miles per hour, with a road I was on in Louisiana — two-lane road, speed limit 70 miles an hour. No shoulder.
“There were multiple times when big logging trucks would whiz by. They couldn’t pull over very far, because there was oncoming traffic.
“I had multiple, ‘Oh, fecal matter’ moments,” he said.
His worst mishap occurred on the morning of July 26, as he cycling on I-10 in West Texas.
He was coming down a mountain pass at a decent clip.
“All of a sudden, I heard this horrible, metallic, crunching sound,” he said. “The bike came to a shuddering stop. I did not. I kept going.
“I’d run over a 6-inch bolt,” said Hall, who scraped his face and knee but didn’t break any bones.
The bolt hit the front tire, and the bike was missing spokes, had broken spokes and had a bent fork.
A truck driver gave Hall a lift to San Antonio, Texas, for bike repairs, and Hall was back on the road two days later.
Hall said the best moment on his trip came when he arrived in Palatka.
At that point, he knew he was ahead of schedule. He knew he wouldn’t need to wash his clothes in a convenience store sink, or need to scout out a safe place to sleep.
He said he had the satisfaction, too, of knowing people he’d met along his journey had contributed donations to help eradicate polio from the planet.
Published November 18, 2015
