Frank's Coast to Coast Ride for Justin

 

It would be impossible to come up with two days of riding so polar opposite in so many different ways. I got up this morning still hungover from the challenges that yesterday brought. Being so whipped last night I deferred the needed bike maintenance until today. I readjusted the temperamental front brake & then discovered 2 missing attachment bolts from the rear pack rack. This allowed the rear fender which the fender was attached to fall on & rub the rear tire. Not good. With no spare bolts onboard I resorted to robbing the bolts from one of my bottle cages to teace them. While performing these repairs a woman approached and introduced herself as a biker from LA area who was with a group doing a regional ride. The one rider had suffered a broken shifter cable & they were in dire need of a pair of wire cutters. Of course I did. I have everything, including a whole bunch of stuff a “real biker” would laugh at. I ended up going over to there room & helped with their repair and exchanged stories of the day before. I suspected that my encounter with the decent of the “glass elevator ” the night before was a result of my poor planning & novice biking skills. Turns out not. Their decent came about 1/2 hour after mine. The one ended up with the shivers just like me & found bike control almost impossible. The other walked her bike down the final segment! Yeah it was bad. We finished the repairs & said our goodbyes & I launched @ 9:30am 

 

There are some days when you ride that you work real hard to find something of interest to write about. Today wouldn’t be one of those days. The oppposite was true today. As a matter of fact it would be impossible to cover all of today’s events in this blog. You will have to wait & buy the book when it comes out.

I did not sleep well last night, probably in anticipation of the start of today’s ride. I was to meet the NBC TV station to do a piece on the ride @ the Oceanside Pier @ 5:45am. I arrived at the pier @ 5:30 when I got a call from the producer saying they had to turn the crew around & send them back to San Diego for a “breaking story”. (Probably a Donald Trump sighting, or J. Lo announcing her new boyfriend!) So I proceded to the end of the Pier in the dark & prepared to get some photos to document the moment.

I launched @ 6:00 sharp into a driving rain fall. Of all the preparations that I had made, I didn’t put a lot of emphasis on rain gear. After all it had not rained in So Cal in months. With a long sleeve shirt & the best REI rain jacket I pressed on. The route out of Oceanside is very technical with plenty of turns. I had most of these turns memorized from Garths Run in 2014. Or so I thought. About 15 miles into the ride the route takes you up & over the many hills surrounding the basin to the east. About 25 miles into the hills I realized I had missed an important turn & found myself now riding up some amazingly steep grades. I found a route to rejoin the scheduled route & was soon back on course, with some wasted energy spent on those hills. Even while back on the course I guess my selective memory had blocked out the grade & length of the first days climbs. I am no stranger to hills but these were relentless ! Think wheelerville Mt on steroids. 8% grades for 6 miles. I look back @ Garths Run & can not figure out how he did it?

By mile 50 I had blown through my entire wardrobe of shirts & jackets. 48 degree temp & driving wind. This was no fun. At 65 miles I made it to Lake Henshaw & stopped to eat with plans of calling that good enough for the first day as my legs were pretty well spent. But after an hour rest I made the decision to press on to Borrego Springs that lays in the desert valley 32 miles away. The temp @ LakeHenshaw was to drop into the high 30s tonite & the desert valley is a whole other world with temps to be in the mid 50s. The only problem is the route has a grade for 20 miles before you desend 14 miles winding your way into the desert on one of the most amazing views anywhere. I paced my way toward the valley but about 4 miles before reaching the summit my legs had enough. It was in the mid 40s at the summit. The problem is it’s cold enough that you have to wear a jacket but with the hard climbing you sweat so bad your soaked ( the rain didn’t help with the being soaked issue) Now at the summit I pulled off the road to change into something warmer as now I am shivering . I also had to disable the front brake miles earlier & decided I would hook it back up before the long steep decent. The problem is I am shivering so badly that I could not. The wind was blowing so hard it was difficult to even stand up at this point. A little panic set in along with the approaching sunset. I gave up on the repairs & headed for the valley below. I spent a good part of my life as a professional motorcycle racer so there isn’t a lot that worried me on 2 wheels. This did!  This road twist its way down the mountain changing direction up to 200 degrees. The wind is so violent & always changing as it blows through the passes. The first problem was I was so cold that I was shivering now so bad it was hard to hold the handlebars. The second problem was that you were pushed by the tailwind component that even while braking speeds exceeded 50 Mph! And then the rear brake overheated. This was going bad fast. As I rounded a bend in the road the bike suddenly came to a stop. I was so confused I thought the rear whel had somehow locked up. But it didn’t . The wind had switched from a tailwind to a head wind, so strong it stopped the bike in its tracks! I actually had to petal the bike now down the 6% grade into town. With no possibility of putting a tent up & still shivering un controllably I went to the only hotel in town. I stood at the desk shaking so bad I couldn’t fill out the paper work or sign it. This was bad. I got to my room &stood in the steaming hot shower for an hour . So I will wait & see what the weather does & hope the wind abates overnite & do some bike brake work.

On the flip side no flat tires 95 miles in the books and the So Cal mountains behind it was a “good day”all in all.

 

Cloths drying @ Lake Henshaw during a break in the rain

 

Day 2 of the trip started by taking a walk to the UPS store in Oceanside, about 1/2 mile from my hotel. The girls @ the store were a big help & very anxious to see what was in the unusual shaped box they had been storing for the past week. They got me setup behind the store where I unpacked my bike & assembled it. Then I left for a 15 mile shakedown ride to ck out the equipment. I spent some time along the beach trail, got some lunch & spent the rest of the day un packing & re packing my equipment trying to remember where I put everything. Then off to the grocerie store for last minute food stuff. I am leaving @ 6:30 am tomo after an interview with the San Diego TV station. Tomo the weather is calling for rain & winds up to 55 mph 😁 I hope it’s a tail wind! Thanks for all the messages & support from home, it really helps. 

I found this pretty interesting. Tuesday nite I was contacted through a bicycle site I subscribe to that provides lodging for bike travelers. Three riders from France riding from New York to California were looking to stay @ my house tonite. So as I am leaving Calif tomo these 3 are spending the nite @ my house. I hope this is karma & an omen of some sort? Thanks to my great wife Glenda for doing the hosting while I am gone …….or should my wife be thanking me for being gone so she could have 3 French guys stay with her tonite 😳? Anyway will report in tomo. Will be good to get started. Remember to say a prayer to Justin, & please take time to go to the bone marrow registry site & sign up! Deletebloodcancer.org 

   

Today was travel day to get to California. It got off to a bad start as American Airlines decided to cancel my commuter flight out of Williamsport to Philly! So instead of a 45 minute flight I got a 4 hour drive with my go to guy Tom Fitzpatrick. Tom drove me in his Mini Cooper to Philly Int. In record time so I could make my 5 1/2 hour flight to San Diego. Then a 1 hour Uber ride with a great driver (thanks Antonio) & I am in my hotel room in Oceanside @ 9:30! Time for bed & off to the UPS store tomo morning to retrieve my bicycle, assemble it & prepare for an early start on Thursday morn @ sunrise. Tired / anxious / hungry!! Goodnight 

On Sunday, June 28, 2015, Justin Kline was flown by Life Flight to Geisinger Medical Center after progressively feeling worse over a few week period, trying different antibiotics and medications with no results. The following morning, the Geisinger medical staff informed Justin and his parents, Rod and Sally, that Justin’s spleen had ruptured due to an extremely high level of leukocytes most likely caused by Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL). An immediate procedure was done to repair Justin’s spleen and efforts began to regain stability. The procedure went well and Justin was stabilized within a day. That following Tuesday, doctors confirmed that Justin is suffering from ALL. His first chemotherapy treatment was administered that same night.

Since June 28, 2015, Justin has undergone endless chemotherapy and radiation treatments. He spent several months in the care of Geisinger Medical Center Danville, before transferring to Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia.
As anticipated, Justin has had some setbacks, but they have certainly not outweighed his tremendous progress!
On Thursday, April 14, 2016, Justin received his bone marrow transplant from his mother, Sally. His progress has been amazing! As expected, Justin has suffered immense physical strain, including but not limited to extreme weight loss, temporary paralysis of his face and extremities, and debilitating fatigue. He has had the opportunity to come home at random times, and in the natural character of Justin, has insisted on being in the dugout of the Central Mountain Junior Varsity Baseball Team where he still serves as an active assistant coach!
Through hope and prayer, the bone marrow transplant should be the “final chapter” of Justin’s recovery. That being said, this is a procedure that opens the door for many additional complications and certainly demands constant medical attention as Justin’s body receives the new bone marrow. At best, Justin will be hospitalized for at least another 6 weeks at Thomas Jefferson Hosptial.
Justin’s devoted parents, Rod and Sally, have committed to being with Justin throughout. This has and will continue to require an amazing amount of financial obligation in many regards. Justin’s mother, Sally, has made the sacrifice of giving up her job to be by Justin’s side. Justin’s father is retired and has also fully committed to being in this battle until “victory” has been achieved! They have spent more nights out of their home in Beech Creek than in it over the past several months. They have been forced to rent an apartment in Philadelphia while Justin remains at Thomas Jefferson Hospital. They still drive home frequently to take care of the necessary tasks at home before returning to Justin’s side.
As we all must expect, this has put Justin and his family under incredible financial and emotional strain. And this doesn’t even include the medical expenses that compound daily.
Justin has spent the last decade of his life dedicated to volunteer work. He has played an integral role in the recent success of Keystone Little League as well as served as a volunteer coach for the Central Mountain High School Baseball Team and Legion Baseball Team. Many of you also know Justin as “Mayor” as he has served in that capacity for the borough of Beech Creek for the last few years. Justin also recently joined the Grange Fair Board; again in a volunteer role.
There has been amazing support to date from our local community and the gratitude that Justin, Rod and Sally have for this is unimaginable. That being said, our help is needed today as much as it has ever been!

On April, 27th, a gentleman by the name of Frank Watson of Canton, Pa will be beginning a journey on his bicycle from the coast of California to Central Park, New York. When Frank heard the story of Justin through local native, Bill Holland, III, he immediately decided to dedicate his journey to Justin’s recovery. As Frank rides across America, he will be campaigning for Justin. Frank will be posting a daily journal as he rides at http://www.frankscoasttocoastrideforjustin.com. If a man who has never met Justin can dedicate riding his bicycle over 3000 miles in 5 weeks, I hope we can all find it in us to contribute a little as well.

It is now OUR time to give back to Justin and his family! Justin’s success in this battle is in the hands of the medical staff he has been assigned. It’s important that he feels the support of the community he has so humbly served for several years. Please find it in you to donate whatever you possibly can to assist in this battle. More so, please keep Justin and his family in your thoughts and prayers…it’s certainly necessary!

Thank you in advance for your generosity and support! I will continue to keep everyone posted as Justin continues down his road to recovery.
Thank you,

Justin’s Friend, Zach

Follow this journey on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/frankscoast2coast4justin
And on Instagram at:

coast2coast4mayorkline

Donations may be made by visiting:

https://www.gofundme.com/rideforjustin

I write this as I set in my motorcycle shop looking over my cycling gear that I have spread out on a folding table. I am thinking of how this gear represents my whole world for the next month. It will be everything I will exist with. It will be my house, office and car! A little daunting to say the least. I am now one week away from departing for Southern California to start on my solo unsupported bicycle ride across America.