Summer Vacation Dreamtime

Something I've always dreamed of ... crossing the United States under my own power! I first started dreaming about it when I was a kid, and the news was full of the story of a woman (Barbara Moore) who was walking coast to coast, trying to set a new record of something like 50 days. Someday, I'll do that, I promised myself. Eventually, walking became bicycling, and here it is the summer that I will turn 70. So I dusted off that old promise to myself, and started planning. And practicing. And researching.

Hint: if you were expecting to see me at some conference or another, or hoping for a visit on another continent this summer, you're out of luck. My plans have changed.

I discovered the perfect situation, if there is such a thing for a bike trip across America. A group of scouts from Astoria Oregon were planning a trip (https://www.biketripamerica.com or BTA for short) and they needed a couple of adult riders. Since they are doing a fund raiser for Operation Comfort Warrior, and since I'm a combat veteran (a medic in the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam) who also happens to want to ride coast to coast, it was a match made in heaven. A fully supported bike ride, a charity fundraiser, and one big item that will (fingers crossed) get ticked off my bucket list.

I've been getting into shape by riding with some wonderful folks from the Hawaii Bicycling League (http://www.hbl.org). The BTA sponsors insisted that everyone log at least 750 miles before the ride starts on June 18. Except for a handful of rest days, we'll be in the saddle for 59 days. I started logging my mileage the day that 750 mile requirement was announced about 6 weeks ago, and I have already easily surpassed the minimum mileage. One of the HBL riders, Devon, rode across the country a couple of years back, and he said they did 4000 miles training for the 3500 mile journey, and it was still a tough ride. I may get close to that mileage by the time I leave. He also said that the toughest part was the 600 miles of soybean fields across Montana, North Dakota and into Minnesota, where he found that contrary to "prevailing west to east winds," they rode into a headwind practically every day. Plenty of time to develop saddle sores, count sheep, get sunburned, and burn lots of calories.

If you live anywhere near our northern route across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York (including mileposts in Astoria, Clatskinie, St. Helens, Carson, Maryhill, Umatilla, Walla Walla (yes, where my son Tristan and daughter-in-law Olivia went to Whitman College), Lewiston ID, Orofino, Kamiah, Missoula MT, Lincoln, Great Falls, Stanford, Lewiston, Mosby, Jordon, Circle, Glendive, Dickinson, New Salem ND, Bismark, Napoleon, Enderlin, Moorhead MN, Pelican Rapids, Osakis, Milaca, St. Croix Falls WI, Bloomer, Merrill, Antigo, Shiocton, Manitowoc, Ludington MI, White Cloud, Belding, Galesburg, LaGrange IN, Defiance OH, Bowling Green, Vermilion, Ashtabula, Erie PA, Blasdell NY, Niagara Falls, Caledonia, Syracuse, Herkimer, Schenectady, Hudson, Fishkill, or NYC), then by all means stand beside the road and wave at us as we pass, or get on your bike and ride along for a few miles.

And even if you are not near our route, follow us on-line, and by all means give a donation, large or small, to Operation Comfort Warrior. Look for the donation link on the BTA website listed above. I will celebrate my 70th birthday on the road from Herkimer to Schenectady. If you are a trivia buff, that makes me two days too old to be a baby boomer, but it feels like a great way to celebrate what I'm looking at as the beginning of the third third of my life. Anything after 105 will be a bonus. Maybe I'll even plan another coast-to-coast that year --- from the west coast to the east coast of Oahu.

Keep following me here as I continue to train, head off to Astoria to get myself outfitted with a new bike, meet the rest of the crew, and begin the long journey into the rising sun.