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Richard A. Suleski Jr.




Wisconsin ) is an author, traveler, adventurer, photographer, licensed
boat captain, and lecturer. He is most famous for riding his bicycle
(an old Schwinn ) 10,982 miles through all 48 contiguous United States
during 1996 to 1997. He wrote a book about this adventure
titled “Ten Thousand Miles of America” Ten Thousand Miles of America by Bicycle . Rich appeared in the beginning
of “The Main Stream” a two hour television documentary about life on
the Mississippi River by Roy Blount Jr. which premiered nationally
December 17, 2002 on PBS .

Rich dropped out of South High School in Waukesha at the age of 17 and
joined the Merchant Marines. He worked on the ship USNS Regulus after
graduating from the Merchant Marine school in Piney Point, Maryland.
During his time with the Merchant Marines Rich toured the Persian Gulf
during the Iraq Gulf War conflict of the early 1990’s.

Rich has worked many jobs. He was a licensed Real Estate broker in
Milwaukee in the mid-1990’s. He worked briefly as a janitor for W. L.
Gore & Associates makers of GORE-TEX® while wintering over in
Flagstaff, AZ during his 10,000 mile bike adventure. He also worked as
a Telemarketer making cold calls during his wintering over period on
the bike trip. He worked as a deckhand on the Mississippi River steamer
Julia Belle Swain . He later became a U.S. Coast Guard licensed boat
captain and lived in Charleston, WV and worked on the sternwheeler boat
P. A. Denny. While living in Charleston, WV Rich also worked as a
planned giving director for the Salvation Army .

In his writings and lectures, Rich attributes his varied jobs and
adventures to a tongue-in-cheek affliction called White Line Fever.
(The need to go on an adventure following the white line down the side
of the highway.)