| Was born in Hollywood Hospital on March 4, 1937. Moved to San Diego when I was one. Moved back to N. Hollywood when I was three and never left the Valley again. Went to Lankershim St. and Roscoe elementary schools then attended Sun Valley Jr. High. Attended Van Nuys High for the B-10, then transferred to Burroughs for the last two and a half years. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do after high school, so I went to work for Bendix Aviation Corp. in North Hollywood. Became an experimental machinist after 3 years, but wanted something different. Went to work as manager of the # 1 Schwinn bicycle dealer in the U.S. and eventually went into the bike business. I had been very involved in the sport of bike racing since 1952, which I got into by accident, and my racing career lasted up until 1969 when I moved south of the border. During these years I competed on several International cycling teams, Pan American Games, (missed the 64 Olympics by 1 place) and the British Empire Games. Rode the last sanctioned 6 day bike ride race held in the U.S. in 1954. I was a member of the Irish Canandian team and we finished 2nd in this event. I don't know if any of you remember the old portable wooden bike velodrome that was on Buena Vista between Victory and the airport or not, but we raced on it for a season in 1954 and the races were broadcast on old channel 5 KTLA with "old leather britches" Dick Lane announcing, you have to remember him, he did all the roller derby stuff too. This was the same velodrome that we did the 6 day on, they set it up indoors in an auditorium in El Paso, Tx. I was at Burroughs when this event came up and had to get special permission from the school to take a week off to attend the race. I won the Ca. State sprint championships, Rose Bowl, Pasadena, while in my senior year, went to St. Louis, Mo. for the Nats and squeaked out another 2nd. there. I have been riding all my life, own several state and national titles and find it's a good way to stay trim and fit and it seems to help you keep sharp of mind. (I could argue the memory part though). I took up sailing in the mid 60's and in 66, bought a 44' ketch and took some time off from the shop and went cruising. I sailed down to Costa Rica and back, doing the Sea of Cortez along the way. Met my first wife in Mazatlan, Mex., while waiting out a couple of hurricanes, we were married in 68 and then in Nov. of 69 we bought a home in Mazatlan and moved there. Now I know why I should have taken Spanish in school. Although fairly fluent now, I had quite a struggle for the first year, but it was fun learning a new language. I knew I needed some kind of business to go into, before moving, so I went back to school and got my A/S in dental technology and opened my own lab. In the meantime I sold my boat and had bought a 36' sloop and rigged it up with a compressor to blow diving tanks and through a couple of dive shops in So. Ca. was booking charters for the coast of Mexico, Baja, and the Sea of Cortez. I did a lot of cruising on my own, with family and friends, sometimes we would sail to the Hawaiian chain for the summer so as to miss the hurricane season on the Mexican coast. We did, over the years, a couple of trips that were the real high light of my life, we spent three and a half years cruising the So. Pacific Islands and 15 months doing the Caribbean and Bahama Islands chains. The really great part of this cruise was traveling both ways through the Panama Canal, what an experience it is, going through those big locks alongside some big freighter. After 11 years in Mazatlan, my marriage , like so many others, fell apart, and in 1980, I moved back to the Valley, couldn't stand the smog and the hordes of humans, so I bought some acreage in the Redwoods near Eureka, Ca. and built a home there. I put in a 45 tree fruit orchard and started plowing the ground, all this to produce my own food. I had such a surplus of everything, that friends all told me to get into the Farmers Market and sell the stuff. So it was kind of by fate that I became a farmer and started selling organic grown fruits and veggies. I eventually expanded into 3 different Farmers Markets and started selling to the area chain of co-op markets and to some of the local restaurants. A lucrative business it was and I had so much fun doing it, I kept it going for 10 years. In 1989, while on a trip to the Valley for Thanksgiving with my family, I was looking through the phone book trying to find old friends, when I stumbled upon the name of the mother of an old flame of mine when I was 25. I was curious as to what happened to her, we were together for a couple of years and split up as she was into marriage and having kids. I was still into doing adventurous stuff and just getting into sailing. I kind of knew where I might want to go with this thrill and a wife and kids just didn't fit into the picture. We went our seperate ways, I kept in touch and even went to her wedding about a year later. Anyway, her mother told me she lived in Morro Bay, was divorced, and her 3 kids had all moved on and that I should stop and see her on the way home. Well to make a long story short, she sold her home within the year and moved up to my place and we were married a year later. Her name is Trina and we are very happily married indeed. A couple years after her retirement we decided to move to a warmer climate as the cold and wet didn't agreee with her too much. After vacationing in Florida, several times, we thought that we might give it a try for retirement life, we live near the town of Leesburg which is 45 miles N/W of Orlando. We are now starting to explore the eastern part of U.S. and so far have been on several cruises to different Islands in the Bahamas. My only other madman habit is I took up hang gliding a few years back and what a great sport this is. Since there are no mountains in Florida to launch off, the flight parks here use small tug aircraft to tow us up to 2000', we cut loose and go fly all day. I really like to do cross country flying where you try to see how far you can get. So far we have flights of around 135 miles going all the way to Valdosta, Ga. The longest flight I have ever done originated from a launch from Horseshoe Meadows, on Mt. Whitney in the Owens Valley. I climbed in a thermal to just over 18000' and headed north for 85 miles up the Sierras where I picked up a westerly tail wind and jumped the valley near Bishop crossing over the White Mts. From here I continued north up the Whites for a few miles and after getting high again, headed over the back side flat tracking it across the Nevada desert. After almost 10 hours in the air, I landed near a small old mining town of Mina, NV. After we got home we calculated the straight line distance of 198 miles. This was my most thrilling flight of all time. Hang gliding is really a fairly safe sport and doesn't deserve the crash and burn image it carries. We all carry a parachute, just in case something goes wrong, and it is hooked to the glider so it lets you and the wing down in one package. You may wonder about the extreme altitudes we get to, we do carry 02 systems, designed for hang glider use, a full instrument package, FM radio, and a GPS so we don't get lost on these long flights. The sport has become so hi tech and these wings are so performing that the FAA has limited us to 18000' ASL. We go higher sometimes when we can get the FAA to open the window for altitude gain records. So far pilots have reported gains of 24000' during meets in the San Juan Mts. at Telluride, Co. That's it folks, I think I have just about filled you in on my life up to now, and I'm still enjoying every minute of it. I'm often asked about my children, all I can is "never had any". Sometimes I wonder if that was a mistake or not, but then I think about exchanging my past life and adventures for one slaving away at a job just to raise kids and I can't imagine myself doing that. But I do have my wife's kids and they are a great bunch and all college grads to boot. Thanks all, for your interest in my bike ride this year, if you enjoy following along my progression along the route, maybe we can do it again for my next years run. Your winter 55 classmate..... Jerry Carson |
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