[IP] Rolling Over the 100,000 Odometer Reading
Here's a link to an article about me that appeared in the August 2008
issue of the newsletter of the Arizona Bicycle Club. You have to
scroll down to page 12. If you follow the link instead of reading the
transcription, below, you get to see a good color photo of me.
http://azbikeclub.com/NLAug08.pdf
Rolling Over the 100,000 Odometer Reading.
<snip>
Its a fact that very few bicyclists have kept track of their mileage
over multiple years, so I believe that the most significant part of my
reaching the accumulation of 100,000 miles is that I did keep track of
it. I suspect that others have accumulated as much, but they didnt
keep track of it.
The first ride I recorded was on Saturday, April 15, 1978 I did 20
miles that day. My first ride with ABC was on Sunday, June 11, 1978
for a distance of 22 miles. Who was there? Of course I remember Gene
and Sylvia, but also Ed and Sandy McGee, Richard Fisher, Deb and John
Whitford, and Russell Yost. We rode to a restaurant on the east side
of 32nd Street, near Thunderbird Road.
I bought my first bike about 10 months before I started to keep track
of my mileage. On June 11, 1977, I purchased a Nishiki Olympic for
$164. Big bucks then! On December 29, 1984, I moved up to a Trek 620
that I paid $500 for and still have. Six years later, on June 23,
1990, I bought a Bianchi Giro for $1,028. 42/53, 13/23. I replaced the
rear cluster 10 years later, June 20, 2000 with a 14/28.
My first century was on Saturday, October 24, 1981. Cody Hutson ran
this event for ABC, somewhere in North Scottsdale. I still have the
25, 50, 75, and 100-mile patches. My first El Tour de Tucson, which
happened to be only their second annual event, was on Saturday,
November 17, 1984.
For documentation, I have kept, and continue to keep, one sheet
listing miles for each year from 1978 to 2008 and a spreadsheet for
each year from 1978 to 2008 showing 7 days per week and 52 weeks per
year with weekly and annual totals.
During those earlier years, I calculated mileage via maps. Starting
April 15, 1978, I recorded trip mileages to the nearest mile based on
examination of a map at the end of each ride. In 1987, I started using
a Cateye Solar but continued to record trip miles to the nearest mile.
In 1990, I started using a Cateye Vectra but continued to record trip
miles to the nearest mile. On January 5th, 1997, I began recording
trip mileages to the nearest tenth of a mile and on July 4, 1997, I
started using a Cateye Cordless 2 and began recording trip mileages to
the nearest hundredth of a mile.
Cycling is something that has been integral to my life for a long
time. In 1942 at age 10, I was diagnosed with Type 1 (juvenile onset)
Diabetes. For the first 52.5 years there were 1-3 insulin injections
per day. For the most recent 13 years, insulin has been administered
using a continuously connected insulin infusion pump, resulting in
significantly better control of the glucose level. Type 1 diabetes
requires careful ongoing balancing of insulin, carbohydrate
consumption, and exercise (including bicycling). I have received the
Joslin 50-Year Medal, awarded by the Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston,
MA to those who have survived Type 1 diabetes for more than fifty
years. So you can see that exercise is a really good thing!
With all of this said, I expect to reach the 100,000 mile marker on
Sunday, August 31, 2008, riding with the Pacers 4 from Granada Park.
This will truly be a great day for me and God willing and the Monsoon
floods dont rise, the weather will be great and I will roll over that
momentous odometer reading!
A few facts along the way----
7 Fracture of right hip, touched wheels with another bike, Sunday
April 13, 1986. I was out of action for 20 weeks.
7 Most miles in one calendar year: 10,006 miles in 1991.
7 Fracture of left hip when I was hit by a van, Wednesday, June 1,
2005. I was out of action for 18 weeks.
7 Participated in seven El Tours de Tucson, 1984-1991, except for 1986.
7 College: 1950-1954 Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA. BS in
Electrical Engineering.
7 Employment History
o 1953-1957 General Electric Co., training program, various locations.
o 1957-1960 General Electric Co., Palo Alto, CA.
o 1960-1970 General Electric Co., Computer Systems Engineer, Phoenix.
In 1970, GE sold its computer business to Honeywell.
o 1970-1986 Honeywell Information Systems, Computer Systems Engineer,
Phoenix.
o Since 1986, retired from work but not from riding!
Tom Beatson
dx 12/1942, 506 1995, 508 2000, Cozmo 2005, plus Navigator 2008
.
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