Gary Waples, one of world's first TransAm cyclists, joins NBG - Helps me save my bikes!
Gary Waples who I was on the wrestling team with at my all boys Catholic high school, just joined as an NBG Members!
He is pictured in the middle of the Golden Gate bridge picture here. and he, his brother and a friend rode across the USA in 1973. In so doing, it turns out they beat me by six years and were some of the first TransAm bike riders ever. They even beat the 1976 BikeCentennial by three years! And John Schubert the former Bicycling Magazine editor in chief. who did his solo TransAm in 1977. In fact, I am not aware of an earlier TransAm besides Charlie Klotz in 1935 or Thomas Stevens in 1884.
From chatting with Gary, I came to learn he grew up several miles from me. I wish I would have known. I wish I could have picked his brain before I did my ride.
They did they not have to suffer like I did because they were already experienced outdoorsmen -
"As to what to bring", he said "we were also avid backpackers, so we knew to bring minimal clothing, a rain jacket, tents, sleeping bags, extra shoes (kinda hard to walk in cleats) and money"
Just kids, they even knew where they were going and at a time when all that was available were gas station maps-
"As to the roads, we decided to use Highway 1 as far north as we wanted before heading east to Boise, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, south to North Platte, NE, east, then northeast to Niagara Falls, across New York, up through Vermont onto Bar Harbour"
On my first ride, I didn't figure out the importance of chamois in my shorts until I hit West Yellowstone and my butt was rubbed raw. If you can imagine, they even had this issue solved before they began. Avid cyclists they learned a lot from Clarence Witt, the old time bike racer who owned Witts Cyclery, in Hayward.
When I asked Gary if they rode in jeans like you see them pictured in here, he replied -
"No, we rode in wool shorts with chamois skin crotch lining"
WOW!! Just WOW!!!!
And thank you so much Gary for coming on as an NBG Member and helping me save my bikes..
Please join at https://www.gofundme.com/f/please-help-save-the-nbg-bikes...