Uphill climbs, whether literal or metaphorical, usually are unwelcome.
But for AB Carl Sands, an avid cyclist, the base of the mountain is where the fun starts.
“I really like the climbing,” says Sands, who joined the union 26 years ago in Houston. “A lot of it is mental. If you have it in your mind that it’s too tough to make it up that hill, you won’t make it.”
The Seafarer has no such uncertainty. He has pedaled uphill for “15 miles in one shot” and has climbed for long stretches without a break.
“You definitely get your exercise,” says Sands, 55, who lives in Guatemala. “It seems to be a very healthy sport for me—very relaxing.”
He stumbled onto the sport a few years ago, while working aboard Crowley’s Prudhoe Bay. “I took it up in my old age. They happened to have cycles on board, and anyone could use them. It was early fall, the weather was beautiful….”
Since then—schedule permitting— his trips ashore often have involved cycling to areas near the ports. On those journeys, Sands normally carries two spare tires, wrenches and water.
Ironically, Sands finds the rigors of uphill cycling preferable to the typically more congested trips through port towns. “The toughest trips are local,” he notes.
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