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Show I ' ' '.J ' ' 1 :- ' ' ' ' " V V - f ...... . , ' ; Taking a few minutes out to rest up before tackling the challenging climb at The Blues on Hwy 12 between be-tween Henrieville and Escalante are bicyclists By Nancy Twitchell CANNONVILLE They were stopped just past Cannonville on Scenic Hwy 12, three obviously fit bicyclists from the Netherlands and Germany. Friends and co-workers before they planned this event, Ariella Byl, 30 and Bart Sikkens, 40 of the Netherlands and Gerd Fugmann, 42 of Germany now share sunburn, cramps, exhaustion, blisters and lots of scenery, excitement and experience. ex-perience. They say that in Holland, where they were raised, there are more bikes than people. So they have all grown up riding bikes and loving the sport. The three have taken lots Ariella Byl, 30 and Bart Sikkens, 40, cf the Netherlands, Neth-erlands, and Gerd Fugmann, 42, of Germany. The three are making a 10-week peddJe-trip of the U.S. Bikers Say: Local Folk Are The Best Part Of Our Trip' of shorter trips to prepare for this lengthy one, but nothing could prepare them properly to travel such an expanse of land with such beauty and diversity. Only Gerd has been training for the rigors of this trip. He rides a standard mountain bike and Ariella and Bart each ride Flevobikes, an ever popular design which allows the rider to lay back and peddle. Gerd and Bart both boast careers as electronic engineers and Bart is a freelance computer programmer. Ariella is a design engineer as well, a goldsmith and she publishes a magazine. She has designed and produced a prototype portable camping unit called a Flevobike Camper, a shell which can be used for storage for shoes, clothes, first aid supplies, water and food. In bad weather or extreme heat, she can pull out and set up the tent in just five minutes and have herself and all her gear completely protected from the elements. ele-ments. She is working out the kinks on this trip and will report back to Flevobike. This camper shell is tentatively priced at about $2,500. The three started April 1 in Los Angeles, then peddled through the Mohave Dessert stopping in Death Valley, Las Vegas, Zion and Bryce. (See BICYCLISTS on Page 5A) BICYCLISTS From Front Page They were set to go on to Escalante, Esca-lante, Capitol Reef and then Grand Junction. Their final destination will be New York City where they hope to end up in 10 weeks, heading head-ing home from that city. They are hoping, on many days of the trip, to make as much as 50 -65 miles a day by bike but that doesn't hold true on days when they encounter challenges like the Blues in Escalante and Boulder mountain. The best part of the whole trip they claim is the memories and the special spe-cial encounters they have experienced experi-enced with the local people. They try to take motel rooms once in the bigger city, mostly to avoid staying in city parks and exposing themselves them-selves to muggings. But in these small, rural communities they have discovered a real common thread of decency and good will. While traveling through Death Valley they happened on a huge recreational vehicle, pulling alongside along-side to take advantage of the shade. Knocking on the vehicle door, they roused the folks inside, asking to spend some time and rest in the shade of their vehicle. Within minutes the couple came out bearing bear-ing cold water, yogurt, fruit, etc. Then along their trip at another point, a car passed them and came back with cold drinks. At times folks take their trash and haul it off from their long days, so they don't have to carry one more ounce of weight as they bike up hill, and that, they say, can be a real blessing. bless-ing. They hope to successfully complete com-plete this jouney without incident and will plan many, many more. I |
