A visit with MFJ in Starkville, Mississippi to pick up a couple of antenna-system accessories for the upcoming BEHEMOTH led to this story in the local paper… by Elise Crow Starkville Daily News July 8, 1988 When Steven K. Roberts got fed up with his $2,500-a-month lifestyle as a consultant in Columbus, Ohio, he decided to…

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From a visit with MFJ in Starkville, Mississippi… with more details available in the Daily News.  photos by Russ Houston Starkville Commercial Dispatch July 8, 1988 STARKVILLE — It’s been a long haul for Ohio resident Steven Roberts — some 16,000 miles, in fact — but he doesn’t mind as he continues his odyssey across America…

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This coincided with a major event… stopping by Atlanta to visit Oki, which donated a 491 cellular phone. This was very new technology, and for a while it was mounted just below the console of the bike. But as BEHEMOTH developed, it was completely integrated and computer-controlled. Much more about this is in my Cellular…

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This CNN piece is from a time when I had wrapped up the Winnebiko II adventure, and was embarking on a random speaking tour via a converted school bus. The Computing Across America book was finally published, and I was starting to think about the third bike version (the one that would come to be…

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This is one of a flurry of cellular industry trade journal articles that popped out in 1988, covering the somewhat audacious and absurd addition of a 3-watt bag phone to the bike (at the cusp between the Winnebiko II and BEHEMOTH versions). If you’d like video from exactly this time, there is a piece on…

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During the school-bus jaunt around the US after completing the East Coast aboard the Winnebiko II, I was on a quest for technological tools to begin what would become BEHEMOTH… and a major component was the Oki 491 cellular phone. This visit to Norcross accomplished that, as well as connections with a few other local…

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During our travels around the US in 1988, we passed through Charlotte… where we not only did a bit of media but also launched a consulting relationship with Hand Held Products. This is the newsletter of the local bicycle club… Tarheel Cyclists Crank Mail Charlotte, North Carolina May, 1988 “High Tech Nomad,” Steven Roberts, pedaled into…

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It was fun to see how the “mainstream” cycling community reacted to my machines… for folks cognizant of every ounce, the gizmological excesses of Winnebiko II and BEHEMOTH (which Bicycling covered in more detail 3 years later) must have seemed absurd. The press was generally kind, though; it was good PR for bicycle touring, and…

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This was a fun article, though I have to wince a little at the tale on the first page in which I recounted the Great Tollbridge Caper. I actually thought this was pretty funny, but the Bicycle Advocate of the NJ Dept of Transportation wrote to the magazine to denounce my temerity in boasting about…

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This article had an unexpected side effect – I got along so well with the author that he became my base-office manager. His extensive writings on the computer scene were always good, and having someone on staff who could “speak the language” was most helpful when dealing with publishers and sponsors. This is one of…

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