Mayors' Ride Bios - Fred Kirchner
1. Which Relay link do you want to ride?
Columbus to Cincinnati (at the very least), then on to Indianapolis and beyond
- depending on how long the vacation money holds out.
2. How you found us
In 2003 I rode the leg from Columbus to Indianapolis. Had a great time. Stayed in touch..
3. Why you want to do this ride
Great cause, fun people, country lanes, and the strange magic of life on the road.
4. Your touring experience
NBG 2003 and 2004 - Columbus to Indy and Cincy. I've ridden TOSRV (Tour of the Scioto River Valley) a few times as well as CFC (Columbus Fall Challenge) twice - both really long rides. Small weekend camping tours on the bike. Long escapes on early mornings with a journal, a Clif Bar, and several county maps. Trekking off into Indiana where no one knows your name.
5. Tell us about your bike
The stable as it stands today:
- Klein Q Carbon. Shimano 105 group. Black, purple, green. Shimmers in morning sun. Doesn‚t understand slow even when my lungs and quads do.
- Bianchi Lynx (mtn bike). Presently chainless chain fell off on Xmas Eve 2004 returning from the mall in single digit Ohio winter. Needs work. Gonna get to it. I promise.
- A used tandem for rides with nephews and nieces. Decently equipped with Deore mountain bike shifters, a triple chain ring, and straight bars.
- 1997 Cannondale hybrid. A CAAD1 frame. Last I heard, C-dale had gotten to CAAD7 and then changed how they label their frames. Pretty much a relic, but still my favorite bike for exploring new roads. Affectionately known as Der Blau Reiter (The Blue Rider) after the journal that Kandinsky and others of the Bauhaus began in Europe. Over 10,000 miles on this one.
6. Describe your training regimen
I ride a lot. In all kinds of weather. Sometimes with groups; mainly alone or with friends. Know a place in Preble County, Ohio down the road from a covered bridge dating to 1887 where someone spraypainted on the road:
All bike rides must pa! ss this spot.
Once ate deviled eggs with my girlfriend when we rode upon a pile of them that had just slid off a picnic-bound pickup truck. They were honestly laying on the blacktop. We left alone the ones garnished with embedded gravel. So, yes, there are some things a hungry cyclist will not eat.
7. How many miles do your ride a year
Between 2500 and 3000.
8. Are you car free or Interested
Interested.
9. How are you making time for this
Vacation from work
10. How many miles do you plan to ride in 2002
About the same. Maybe more.
11. What are your fears about doing this ride
Catching a strong tailwind somewhere near the Mississippi and never returning.
12. Do you have any special skills
I can yo-yo (while riding) and fold origami (when stopped). Once saved the princess in Super Mario Brothers the 8-bit Nintendo game. Able to successfully drive a 34 foot bookmobile all over Montgomery County. Can recite some Wordsworth and Yeats from memory
13. Do you have any helpful friends for us
Yes. I'll be dragging them along with me hopefully.
14. Affiliated bike club eMails
I'm a member of Columbus Outdoor Pursuits. Their URL is www.outdoor-pursuits.org . There are email links to the group on their website.
15. What other activities do you do
Play basketball whenever I can. Wing Frisbees at friends, hoping they'll catch 'em and throw 'em back. Hike. Write poems. Read books. (I have to I'm a librarian.) Eat pizza.
16. Your age
43
17. Your occupation
I work for the Dayton Metro Library as Children's Librarian, Outreach Services, driving a 34-foot, state-of-the-art bookmobile to schools and daycare centers, reading books, telling stories, and performing yo-yo tricks for kids of all ages. Since we burn a ton of diesel a 100 gallon tank fuels the drive motor and the generator - I figure the NBG ride is almost like penance.
I'd design a bookmo-cycle, but I don't think I'm strong enough to pull 1,000 books across town to help impact the school readiness of preschoolers.
18. Anything else you want to tell us:
My first book of poetry was recently released. I won the 2005 Main Street Rag Chapbook Contest. The book is titled Platform of an Unacknowledged World Legislator. It's available from me - use my email link below to request purchase information - or go to the website of Main Street Rag (one of the best small literary presses in the country). My favorite poem in the book is titled: How to Rent a Bicycle in Jerusalem. If you're considering journeying to Israel anytime soon, and might ride there, you need this book!
My chapbook makes a nice companion to the Breakaway Books anthology, The Art of Bicycling: A Treasury of Verse, in which I have two poems. I'll be bringing both on the road with me.
pedalin_poet@yahoo.com