Walk Across America Map

After 500 Miles, Hitting a Wall

The ride to Pomeroy, Wash., from Walla Walla was about 65 miles, and there was a companionable tail wind most of the way. But just at noon, not quite 40 miles in, we stopped for lunch at a spot on the map, Starbuck, and when we emerged from the air-conditioned cafe refueled about 45 minutes later, the temperature had leapfrogged at least 10 degrees.

My companion, Tom Scribner, a lawyer in Walla Walla who had designed our mostly back-road route through the rolling wheat fields of southeast Washington , rode blithely ahead as we found the intersection to U.S. 12 and began the 20-mile final stretch to Pomeroy, where we had a motel reservation.

Before long I crossed an invisible threshold, 500 miles since I left Astoria , Ore., bound for my apartment in Manhattan. But it was a short-lived exhilaration. With the temperature north of 90, I began to fade. Big time.

In bicycling, the term of art is “bonking.” To bonk is to hit the wall, to feel the strength drain out of you, to suddenly lose the wherewithal to proceed. Tom, a stronger cyclist (and thankfully a patient one) was fine, but I needed three or four rest stops, soaking my head from my water bottles on the mostly shadeless roadside the last 13 miles to Pomeroy; I took an awkward fall starting up after one of them.

When we finally arrived at the motel, I napped briefly and, evidently dehydrated, was awakened by cramping in my hands and feet. Simply put, the day was too much for me.

Before I began this ride, a cross-country reprise of a bicycle journey I made in 1993, people were always asking me if I was in training. How would I handle the physical demands of such a trip, ahem, at my age? (I’m 57.)

Now just about everyone I meet wants to know what I did to prepare for the rigors of riding six, seven or eight hours a day. It’s a reasonable question, I guess, but how do you train for daylong strenuous exercise without spending days strenuously exercising?

In the weeks before I left, I spent an hour or so at the gym most days, stationary bicycling, stretching, doing some modest weight lifting and core strengthening, trying to stay in the kind of shape that would make this trip at least feasible.

Weekends, I took rides of 20, 30 or 40 miles, mostly on the flat roads of Long Island . But I knew that on the trip I’d be biking myself into shape as I went along, that the first weeks would be especially grueling and that (if all went well) I’d be sufficiently trained by the time I hit the Mississippi River.

SiloSmashers Launches Exciting New Employee Wellness Program ...

The program includes a variety of planned physical activities such as, organized walks, bike rides, and volleyball games. There is also a library of available reading materials, both printed and electronic, that includes monthly newsletters, an interactive recipe database, articles, and local area trail guides. The company has partnered with local health clubs and weight loss firms who have offered discounted memberships to the staff as part of the program. SiloSmashers will hold monthly ”brown bag” lunch meetings for employees that feature special guests speaking on a variety of topics including; exercise, nutrition, first aid/CPR, and sleep and breathing issues, to keep participants motivated to succeed.

“This initiative is part of a larger commitment we have supported since the company’s beginnings in 1992,” commented CEO Angela Drummond-Rodgers. “We recognize that our employees are the company’s greatest asset and we hope that through this Program, we will help them to enjoy better health and well-being while at work.”

Destination: Fitness is a next generation of SiloSmashers’  Wellness programs . In the previous initiative, “Walk Across America,” employees were encouraged to step away from their desks and take 15-20 minute walks daily, measuring their distance and tracking their steps as if to walk across the country. The new Destination: Fitness program operates on many of the same guiding principles with a dynamic new twist – employees are encouraged to choose their own destinations and log their own steps, using their branded pedometers, to contribute toward the group’s overall goal. These individual contributions will be tracked on a large map displayed both in the office and on the company’s Intranet. Incentive awards will be given out, at SiloSmashers’ quarterly meetings, to employees and groups who meet their goals.

Additionally, the company has taken the Wellness prerogative to heart by replacing chips and heavy desserts at lunch meetings with fruit and vegetable platters, and by making modifications to vending machine options throughout the office to include 25% healthier alternatives. SiloSmashers also provides employees with flexible schedules and tele-work options to assist with lowering overall stress levels.

“We are thrilled at the positive response from SiloSmashers’ employees for the latest Wellness initiative,” said Yvonne Mattocks, Wellness program coordinator. “We look forward to leveraging the new program to promote healthier lifestyle choices, increased overall health and wellness, and a larger sense of community among all of our employees, both on site and in the field.

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