KINGSBURY READY TO RIDE
Thursday, July 30th, 2009 -- 2:52 PM
You have to do a lot of planning to embark on a 1,500-mile road trip; now imagine doing it on a bicycle? in 10 days.56-year-old Tom Kingsbury of Loyal is pedaling around the state of Wisconsin to commemorate The Highground Veterans Memorial Park?s 25th anniversary.
"Off we go, counter-clockwise around the state," Kingsbury says of his route, "we'll be going through 42 counties."
Kingsbury's been working the phones, double-checking the route for possible road construction that might slow him down.
Day 8, next Friday, will be the longest leg of the journey. 194 miles from Rhinelander to Marinette to Antigo.
Tom will be on the bike for 8 to 9 hours at a time, so nutrition will be key.
"I need to stay on top of that. If you fall behind on (nutrition), there's no catching up," he says, "I happen to use Ensure as one of my main sources of food, as well as taking some electrolytes and some end of day substitutes to get the body replenishing and ready for the next day."
"One of the main things about this event is recovery; you have to get up the next day and do it all over again, so if your body is sour, it's going to tell you about it," he says.
Kingsbury is raising money for a proposed Persian Gulf War veterans? tribute and awareness for the state's largest veteran?s memorial park. You can log-on to [url=http://thehighground.org/bicycle-tour/25thAnniversaryBikeRide.html]www.thehighground.org[/url] to learn more and see the route. You can even track Tom?s progress on the site.
If you?d like to help, you can contact The Highground at 715-743-4224.
News Director Paul Knoff will be on the road with Tom the first two days of the trip, and will bring you updates on his progress.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.