Poland man biking his way across the U.S.

By charles grove

cgrove@vindy.com

Graduates of Poland’s 1976 class will be hard pressed to make a more impressive entrance to their 40-year reunion than their former classmate Billy Gogesch.

The 58-year-old software engineer is currently on his way to Poland from his home in Reno, Nev. Gogesch plans to end his 2,600-mile trip and show up for his reunion right on time on June 25.

“I thought this would be a pretty spectacular entry,” Gogesch said. “I’d show up my bicycle and I think it would be a whole heck of a lot of fun.”

An avid bicycle enthusiast who impulsively did an 800-mile journey last year, Gogesch discovered the Great Cycle Challenge, a charity that donates to childhood cancer research during the month of June and felt the timing was perfect.

“I can make these people some money with this ride so it’s dual purpose,” Gogesch said. “People set goals for themselves [in June]. They seek sponsors and the proceeds go directly towards the research fund.”

Gogesch is taking a little bit more than a helmet with him on his five-week saga. Supplies, spare parts, food, water and other necessities all have to be contained on the bicycle. Four panniers, totaling about 75 pounds are strapped to the bike in case something happens miles away from civilization.

“I’ll have one spare tire and the ability to patch tubes so I can recover from most of the stuff,” Gogesch said. “But you could hit something hard and fold a wheel and if I can’t straighten it out then you’re kind of S.O.L. I’d have to put a thumb out to get a ride to a bike shop and there are places where that’s not exactly convenient.”

Another inconvenience that will likely rear its head at some point is the weather. Whether it’s hard rains or scorching heat, Gogesch said he’ll be able to handle everything with one exception, tornadoes.

“I’m terrified of tornadoes,” Gogesch said. “I don’t want to have to run from one in a wide open space. I can hunker down and by miserable in my raincoat and if it’s blazing hot I’ll ride at night. Tornadoes are the only thing I feel like I can’t deal with.”

Gogesch has a trail mapped out and knows generally about where he needs to be each night to keep his pace up, but planning only does so much when you’re out in the middle on nowhere and any little unplanned event could derail progress made.

“It’s like boxing. Every boxer has a plan when they get into the ring until they get hit,” Gogesch said. “It’s just like that. You can put pins on a map and you can have it all planned out and then you run over a piece of glass and your tire is cut. Now you’re stranded and you’ve got to deal with that.”

Mentally, the goal is to break the trip up into daily challenges. Gogesch described it as an eight-hour day at work, but with a different seat.

“It’s definitely going to be a challenge,” Gogesch said. “It’s not easy but some of it is going to be through gorgeous country so that will be a nice distraction and much more exciting than other parts of the country.”

After the reunion, the plan is not to just start biking west until he’s beyond the Rocky Mountains again. Gogesch said he’ll take Amtrak instead.

While Gogesch said the main goal is to raise money for charity, a secondary goal is showing off the bicycle as an underestimated vehicle in today’s United States.

“This is me trying to show how tough and practical a bicycle really is. It runs on carbohydrates and not hydrocarbons. This bike in and of itself is sufficient,” Gogesch said. “If I can get across the country on the bicycle you can certainly get across town on a bike. Anyone can — I’m no professional athlete.”

To donate or keep up with Gogesch’s journey you can visit his website at www.greatcyclechallenge.com/riders/BillyGogesch.