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Keep in touch with fellow classmates with California Monthly's Class Notes. Become a member of the California Alumni Association now to receive your own copy of the magazine. We'd love to hear from you. Why not submit your own Class Notes now? Roll on you Bears It was the best of times but the worst of tires. That sums up the cross-country cycling trip that John Ringer ’60, MBA ’61, took last summer, covering over 3,000 miles from the Pacific to the Atlantic. The idea came to him a year earlier while on a day ride with friends through the vineyards of Santa Rosa. It was the best of times to take the trip—the friends were all retired, so they could spare the time; and they were still fit enough to manage what would undoubtedly be a grueling trip at any age. Last August the nine riders—including three Cal grads: John himself, Keith Jacobsen ’66, MBA ’67, and Ted Krumland ’66, JD ’69 (Hastings)—set off from Astoria, Oregon, on a 39-day journey to Boston, Massachusetts. Their route took them across the northern states, through parts of Canada, around the Great Lakes and past Niagara Falls. The trip was both wonderful at times and terrible at others (on one day Ringer suffered no less than five flat tires). The three are pictured here at the high point of their journey—literally. At 9,658 feet, they had reached the Continental Divide. With the Grand Tetons behind them, they had just completed the most difficult climb of their entire journey. What was the real high point of the journey? Not the glorious scenery, apparently, even though it included the Columbia River, the Black Mountains, and even a quick detour to Mount Rushmore. Not the stunning bird-watching, despite sightings of a bald eagle, a peregrine falcon, green and blue herons, cranes, and lots of wild turkeys. It wasn’t even the trains, although they delighted train-enthusiast Keith Jacobsen. “Ah, the dinners!” says Ringer. “They provided a highlight to a bad day and a complement to a delightful day.” The Web site they maintained during the trip (www.emilyandriley.org/BlazingSaddles) seems to have more about what these guys had for breakfast, lunch—and especially dinner—than anything else on the entire trip. But you have to forgive them. These rugged retirees regularly cycled over 80 miles a day. Their longest ride was 121 miles, from Riverton to Casper in Wyoming. They did have a van in case of flats (which occurred often) and to get them to their motels at night or when the weather was bad (also often). The three Cal grads were among the final six who made it all the way to dip their wheels in the Atlantic Ocean at Plum Beach, Massachusetts. “We were as filled with satisfaction at that moment as we had been filled with excitement and anticipation 39 days earlier in Astoria,” recalls Ringer. “We might even do it again.” |
 Three wheelers: John E. Ringer, Ted Krumland, and Keith Jacobsen
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