As an avid cyclist who made an unusual journey by bicycle, The Lutrinae interviewed Gabe Chavez, a second-year Mathematics major to ask about his journey from California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) to his hometown, Fresno. This trip usually takes two and a half hours by car; by bicycle, the trip can be upwards 14 hours.
Q. You rode from CSUMB all the way back to your hometown of Fresno. Why did you do such a long ride, and how did you accomplish getting to Fresno?
A. In October 2017, I needed to get home and since I have no car, there was no fast way to get back to Fresno. So I thought “I need to get home, so why not just ride my bike there?”I left CSUMB early in the morning, and after 14 hours, 19 minutes and 4 minutes—and 210 miles later—at an average speed of 14.7 miles an hour, I made it back home to Fresno. It would have been around 10 to 11 hours to get from CSUMB to Fresno by bike, but since I took a lot of breaks to eat the snacks I did pack, it was longer. Even though I packed minimal for such a long bike ride, I was thankful I made it back to Fresno safely, even though I was starving by the time I got to the Fresno county line.
Q. How many years of cycling have you done, and what types of cycling do you do?
A. I have done competitive cycling for a team in Fresno under the team Hump Day Cycling for two years, and have done cycling since middle school. Some of the types of cycling that I do are mountain biking and road racing, but being at CSUMB I have tended to do more road racing over mountain biking.
Q. What are your favorite things about cycling?
A. Cycling keeps me in shape, and it is something that I can do with my friends and compete even at the competitive level.
Q. Do you participate in the rides offered by Outdoor Recreation and the Otter Cycle Center, and if so what has been your favorite ride since being at CSUMB?
A. I do ride on almost all of the rides offered by Outdoor Recreation and the Otter Cycle Center. Since being here, one of my most favorite rides was Laguna Seca. I plan to do that ride again for the Sea Otter Classic at Laguna Seca racetrack from April 19th-April 22nd.
Q. What are some fun facts about you?
A. I like to suffer while on the bike, and I would love to see Central Coast Road Series, or CCCX, along with road racing come back as a team for CSUMB. I feel it would be really awesome if CSUMB would be able to compete at the competitive level through the school, and most can be done through the competitive road racing season; which usually runs from early January through the end of September. I may compete competitively, but I fall off my bike sometimes, and falling off once in a while is totally normal.
Q. Would you do this long of a ride again?
A. I would consider it for now, but for the time being, I would pass on doing that long of a ride.