Le Tour de Demetri
Monday, 14. July 2008, 22:50:17
Demetri Kolokotronis rolled into our driveway last Thursday & stayed for the night. Jeff prepared him a good cyclist dinner (spaghetti, of course) & Demetri regaled us with stories until about 11 pm (until we told him we had to go to bed-lol), & we got a few more stories out of him the next morning before Jeff accompanied him out of St. Louis towards his next destination in Illinois. I've never met anyone like him & doubt I ever will again. They broke the mold when they made Demetri, that's for sure.
Some Demetri FAQ's
The man, himself:
Demetri is 76 years old.
He lives with his cat in a house in the woods near Woodstock, New York.
He heats his house with wood that he chops in the woods & brings back in a trailer on his bike.
He has a car but hasn't driven it in 15 years (that means trips to the grocery store via bike with a trailer in the dead of winter, on ice-covered roads).
He taught skiing until 10 years ago.
He was a mountain climber & did 1,000 ascents.
He used to be in marketing/pr.
His dad was Greek (and he told us his Greek ancestors were athletes as well)
He grew up in St. Louis.
He loves talking about history, particularly aviation.
The bike trip:
Demetri is biking from Oklahoma City back to his home in New York. (1338 miles or 2153 kilometers)
He chose Oklahoma city because he stayed there with a friend he hadn't seen since high school.
He bikes about 50 or so miles per day.
His bike weighs 90 pounds with the saddle bags.
He cooks most of his own food (carries a camping stove).
His bike is 35 years old!
This is Demetri's third major cycling trip in the U.S.
Just so we know whose bike it is.
Directions in a Ziploc bag attached to the handle bars.
Loading the bike up.
All of the camping gear on the bike.Now for the saddle bags full of food, etc.
Demetri (76 years old) and his bike (35 years old).The bike weighs 90 pounds with all of this gear on it.
A steroid-free cyclist!
Some Demetri FAQ's
The man, himself:
Demetri is 76 years old.
He lives with his cat in a house in the woods near Woodstock, New York.
He heats his house with wood that he chops in the woods & brings back in a trailer on his bike.
He has a car but hasn't driven it in 15 years (that means trips to the grocery store via bike with a trailer in the dead of winter, on ice-covered roads).
He taught skiing until 10 years ago.
He was a mountain climber & did 1,000 ascents.
He used to be in marketing/pr.
His dad was Greek (and he told us his Greek ancestors were athletes as well)
He grew up in St. Louis.
He loves talking about history, particularly aviation.
The bike trip:
Demetri is biking from Oklahoma City back to his home in New York. (1338 miles or 2153 kilometers)
He chose Oklahoma city because he stayed there with a friend he hadn't seen since high school.
He bikes about 50 or so miles per day.
His bike weighs 90 pounds with the saddle bags.
He cooks most of his own food (carries a camping stove).
His bike is 35 years old!
This is Demetri's third major cycling trip in the U.S.
Just so we know whose bike it is.
Directions in a Ziploc bag attached to the handle bars.
Loading the bike up.
All of the camping gear on the bike.Now for the saddle bags full of food, etc.
Demetri (76 years old) and his bike (35 years old).The bike weighs 90 pounds with all of this gear on it.
A steroid-free cyclist!
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U made my day!
By slackwrdave, # 15. July 2008, 00:11:30
By CultureSurfer, # 15. July 2008, 01:58:09
By afroza, # 15. July 2008, 03:12:09
By CultureSurfer, # 15. July 2008, 03:46:13
By slackwrdave, # 15. July 2008, 03:49:15
By afroza, # 15. July 2008, 03:53:55
By CultureSurfer, # 15. July 2008, 04:32:17
By LorenzoCelsi, # 15. July 2008, 06:29:20
By Captivevet, # 15. July 2008, 12:01:42
By CultureSurfer, # 15. July 2008, 13:17:59
By CultureSurfer, # 15. July 2008, 13:18:10
By Captivevet, # 15. July 2008, 13:20:29
By slackwrdave, # 15. July 2008, 13:22:27
off-topic;: your status made me laugh
By daxonmacs, # 15. July 2008, 16:12:47
I just hope In-Bev surprises us in a good way.
By CultureSurfer, # 15. July 2008, 17:28:59
It's Belgian-Brazillian, and started out of Stella Artois, to Interbrew, next merge with the brazilian company, I believe, it became In-Bev.
If they hold an opening ceremony go ask them about the support for cultural events.
I don't expect many, if any at all, jobs will get lost. But yes I would be worried too.
In-bev runs things in a hard and harsh way.
By daxonmacs, # 15. July 2008, 18:02:36
By Captivevet, # 15. July 2008, 20:44:26
By daxonmacs, # 15. July 2008, 20:47:33
By Captivevet, # 15. July 2008, 20:53:12
Maybe this is our payback for spreading McDonald's and Starbucks around the world?
By CultureSurfer, # 15. July 2008, 20:55:55
And the local food shops are closing because of big chains of supermarkets that sell industrial food (that can be also globalized) at lower prices.
By LorenzoCelsi, # 15. July 2008, 20:59:51
You left out coca-cola
By daxonmacs, # 15. July 2008, 21:00:46
By Captivevet, # 15. July 2008, 21:07:52
Not capitalizing the word "coke" above really changes the meaning, doesn't it?
I don't do no powders.
By slackwrdave, # 15. July 2008, 21:31:51
By Captivevet, # 15. July 2008, 21:38:10
7-up recently changed their advertising from "All Natural" to "100% Natural Flavors" because of it containing high-fructose corn syrup. A moment's thought reveals how "100% Natural Flavors" would still allow a lot of other artificial ingredients in the product. It's kind of like a passive lie.
By slackwrdave, # 15. July 2008, 21:53:19
An old trick by now.
By daxonmacs, # 15. July 2008, 21:56:51
By Captivevet, # 15. July 2008, 22:01:02
By nopanic, # 16. July 2008, 11:59:28
By Captivevet, # 16. July 2008, 12:43:36
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it. He is definitely inspiring.
By CultureSurfer, # 16. July 2008, 17:33:06
By nopanic, # 16. July 2008, 17:36:45
By slaayes, # 16. July 2008, 18:50:06
By CultureSurfer, # 16. July 2008, 23:23:05
By edwardpiercy, # 17. July 2008, 01:28:39
By afroza, # 17. July 2008, 03:50:21
By afroza, # 17. July 2008, 03:57:44
It's bad time for my business so i spent my time in opera.
U r mistaken the "spell",
bad luck for 65.
By slaayes, # 17. July 2008, 07:30:23
The time is yours
The age is yours
And "the world" is yours.
"Save the Children" a prominent NGO in the world, who works for the third world's childrens.
Do you know about the "third world" ?
Here is 80% peoples are hunger.
Here is 60% peoples are uneducated.
They are crying......
By slaayes, # 17. July 2008, 07:57:13
By afroza, # 17. July 2008, 08:09:24
By afroza, # 17. July 2008, 08:21:12
By Captivevet, # 17. July 2008, 11:52:01
By afroza, # 17. July 2008, 13:57:50
By night wolf, # 17. July 2008, 18:36:43
By Captivevet, # 17. July 2008, 22:02:23
By afroza, # 18. July 2008, 03:24:09
By Captivevet, # 18. July 2008, 13:18:39
By CultureSurfer, # 18. July 2008, 16:33:44
BTW This is my bicycle app. a year ago. I get around a lot on it
By nopanic, # 18. July 2008, 19:41:07
By CultureSurfer, # 18. July 2008, 21:56:34