Eight things you might not know about the Bike Adventure – Kyle Halat

Hi, I am Kyle M. Halat AKA “the route guy.” I am from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA and I am cursed with bad luck on bike repairs. I have had four flats, one blowout, and have had to replace a tire in less than a week of pedaling. Today, my duty for the blog is to inform, so I have a few tips for anybody that is reading the blog and really thinking about doing the trip.

1.) Sunscreen – It is essential. We all have a game that we play throughout the trip to see who has the best tan line from riding their bikes. Blistering also is not much fun while on the saddle all day long, but if you use sunscreen and reapply regularly you will be sunburn-free with a nice golden tan.

2.) Stretching – VERY IMPORTANT! On day two with our first century ride, I did not stretch properly and had massive cramping. It hurt so bad that I cried, but since then I have remembered to also stretch properly and often.

3.) Water – ESSENTIAL! When I cramped up on day two, I became dehydrated. I was cramped up and the dehydration made it ten times worse. If you are worried about it, please do not be, because we have plenty in the van.

4.) Things don’t go as expected – Things will break and not go smoothly, but do not fret. One of your teammates is always willing to help you out or fix anything that is broken.

5.) Expect to get lost – it is just part of the bike adventure of all tours, just ask Nate and Abby. Today they rode through some of the “most beautiful country in all of Ohio,” but for four miles it was in the wrong direction. Be optimistic like Nate and Abby on their “detour” and just enjoy the hiccups and bumps in the road.

6.) Roadside kindness – Today we got to Babe’s Top of the Hill grocery store. The store owner allowed us to have free drinks and ice because he was impressed with our cause.

7.) Losing weight* – For the amount of pedaling that we accomplish on any given day, you would expect to lose a ton of weight. But the hosts take such good care of us. I think we are generally gaining weight because of how excellent all of the food is.

8.) Expect to be pushed – For me personally, whenever I begin to slack on pedaling all I hear is Tom scream: “C’mon Kyle! Move it!” Without the constant pushing, I would never be in as good of shape as I am currently in.

Finally I would like to thank my generous sponsors and Main Bike World in Kingston, Pa. for their generous support too. The host churches and Melissa’s family are owed a huge amount of thanks as well for their hospitality. Tonight’s host, Wycliffe Christian Church, gave us free reign of their church and all the leftovers from the pasta, meatball and chocolate cake dinner.

Tomorrow we head to Pittsburgh!

Find our Flickr gallery of fresh photos here.

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Visit the Bike Adventure page. Sign up for the Bike Adventure now! Or keep this site in mind for next year. But be sure to keep up-to-date with our travels this summer…

Let Kyle tell you a bit more about himself: