Redwood Coast 2020 — Ian's Ride

It’s been just over two years since my last big ride across Washington State. We intended to cross another state this year, Oregon, but 2020 had other plans for us. After lots of scrambling, discussion, and forced pivoting we settled on doing a one-week, 272-mile ride down the Redwood Coast. Let me tell you a little about what we have planned.

Before I get into the logistics, let’s talk about why I do these harebrained rides. There’re three reasons. First, this is what I do. I love long rides in my wheelchair. Today I completed my 1,362nd consecutive day out riding on trails or roads. I’ve ridden nearly 11,000 miles in my chair over that time. That’s over 8 miles a day. I also loved bike touring before I became paralyzed, and this is a way I can reconnect with that passion. The second reason why I do this is to advocate for more safe, accessible, connected pathways for people with all abilities. Bicyclists, runners, moms with strollers, dog walkers, and so many others benefit from these connections. My brothers and sisters in wheelchairs can also benefit. Which brings me to my third reason, I want to encourage all people to GET OUTSIDE! We live in a world with so much natural beauty, way too often it's underappreciated and underrepresented. See what wildflowers are blooming, what migrating birds happen to be flying by, or just take a peek at your backyard garden. Find a way to connect with the natural world. It's what helped me find my solace after my injury and in general puts a smile on my face. I encourage others to try it for themselves. More than ever, with this year of lockdowns, there really is healing in the outdoors.

Younger, un-paralyzed me road crewing my first bike tour

With that, let’s talk about this year’s ride. In the summer of 2006, before my injury, I took part in my first ever bike tour with my good friend Josh Blaustein through, where else, the Redwood Coast. I was the road crew, and although I’d been through the area before, was overwhelmed by the beauty that I saw while traveling at a slower pace. This year, while trying to wrap my head around what to do for my annual ride, I decided why not revisit where it all started.

Here’s the plan. We will start the ride on Sunday, October 4th, 7 miles north of the California/Oregon border in Brookings, Oregon. We will travel ~40 miles per day and will hit the finish line in Fort Bragg seven days later on Saturday, October 10th. We have reached out to media outlets along the route to help share our story, will be blogging nightly, and also be in regular contact with our local radio station, KSQM, to let everyone know how it's going. We are also looking into a beacon so you can track our progress on a map.

I will have three or four cyclists riding along with me at all times. We will be following the Pacific Coast Bike Route and much of the ride will be along the shoulder of the highway. In a perfect world, I would do this on a long, separated, smooth surfaced bike path but that’s not the reality in our nation. I think it’s important for me to be seen riding my chair along this route. My chair is no wider than most recumbent bicycles and we need to have infrastructure that supports travelers using modes other than just motor vehicles. It’s important to me to demonstrate that folks with disabilities can pursue their passions just like anyone else and creating well-connected infrastructure for cyclists can also benefit the wheelchair community. Stepping down off my soapbox.

Dr. B, Maureen, and Celina. 3/4 of my crew

The cyclists riding along with me will be Jimmy Quenelle, Josh Blaustein, Maureen Foley, and Celina Smith. My mom will be road support and help with the caregiving overnight and we will also bring one extra caregiver, Edwin, to help out with care and driving an extra vehicle. The seven of us will be staying in Air B&Bs wherever possible to minimize COVID risks. Unfortunately, we will not be able to finish each day off at a brewery to celebrate our achievement. But don’t you fear! We will certainly find beer to enjoy at our lodging each night.

It’s tricky planning how many people you will need for support in an event like this. My safety on the road depends on me being visible. I’ll have my sweet Diestco canopy and flags to try and stand out but it’s essential to always have a couple bikes behind me and in front to alert motorists in places with a narrow shoulder. My crew also helps manage my care throughout the day; be it respiratory challenges, seating issues, keeping me hydrated, or just helping me pee. I’m a high-level quadriplegic and do need assistance. On top of this, they MUST keep my chair road ready. Things happen out on the open road. Caster bearings fail, nuts and bolts rattle loose, batteries need to be charged and changed, and we’ll have to do any repairs right on the side of the road.

Wheelchair upkeep is only one of our challenges, but a big one. My chair is five years old. I’ve put thousands of miles on it and this will be the third cross state wheelchair tour it has endured. I have complete confidence in the manufacturer of my wheelchair, Invacare. They make a very durable chair that can put up with my constant and vigorous abuse. However, there are replacement parts that go bad and need to be looked after. We will have to be vigilant out there. Especially because this year we are not bringing an extra wheelchair. Instead, we are bringing lots of extra parts and an additional lithium battery which I got from GREEN LiFE, a battery company based in Tampa Florida.

We also recognize that smoke can be a challenge. Fortunately, we’ve dealt with this on previous rides and it seems that summertime fires on the West Coast are just a part of life these days. COVID is another issue that concerns us. Luckily, it’s an isolated area and we are just going to be riding along on trails or the road for most every day and will be in an air B&B most every night. We will be cooking much of our food and avoiding the public whenever possible. One of our final concerns is the minivan. We have to drive further than usual to get to the starting point and will be driving more each morning and evening to reduce the number of locations we have to stay. This does add to our fuel cost but is essential due to the pandemic. The van, affectionately known as the Quadyssey, has been recently serviced and we’re hopeful it will endure the trip.

It isn’t cheap to do these adventurous rides and we rely on our sponsors and individual donors to fund our expenses. We have awesome sponsors who have supported us on all three of our big rides. Nelson Boyd and Invacare, we could not do this without your support! This year we have other sponsors such as ASL, Diestco, Bodypoint, and Green Life. Other partnerships are in the works. Sponsor funding covers a big chunk of the expenses, but not all. Individual donors have been absolutely vital in making my endeavors a reality. It’s been hard for me over the years to learn to ask for help, but I’ve found that people love seeing goals completed and passions pursued. With that, I ask of you once again, consider supporting our nonprofit and our mission to create a more accessible outdoors. You can donate here.

Stay tuned for more updates and mark October 4th on your calendar to follow us on our journey. It should be a great time and I look forward to sharing it with you all.