Brothers retrace 22 state bike trip

About this Blog Of all the lessons we learn in a lifetime, perhaps none are as impacting as those in the teenage years. Such experiences largely shape who we become and how we handle the challenges in life.

The summer of 1976 was a rite of passage for my brother and me. Then ages 17 and 15

respectively, we took the extraordinary initiative to bicycle across America.

Now, with boys the same age and a yearning to share that experience with them and others, Carl and I are retracing the route with our families (in RVs, but biking segments that were meaningful in some way). The trip is part vacation/ part retrospect for a book I am writing tentatively titled “A Ride of Passage.” This blog will feature posts along the way.

The book will draw from meticulous bike trip journals to recount some of the most memorable takeaways from our cycling journey: stunning landscapes, unexpected hospitality, fascinating people, bike breakdowns, punishing weather, wild animals, sickness, separation followed by a reunion - even our brotherly fistfight outside a Kansas City mall.

The bike tour, which covered 22 states and over 5,000 miles in 76 days, was more than an adventure. It was a journey along the bumpy roads toward adulthood that instilled life lessons in self-confidence, perseverance, resourcefulness, grit, being frugal, and more importantly, a profound love of country and its people.

Readers will feel the bitter cold on snowy mountain passes, stifling heat across the Deep South, and headwinds so strong we had to pedal downhill. They’ll also sense our isolation when a dam break in Idaho detoured us miles on ruddy, uncharted back roads. And they’ll marvel over some of the odd places we bedded down for the night like fire towers, baseball dugouts and once in an empty jail cell.

Our parents showed remarkable faith turning us loose to discover America and ourselves. It is my desire that our story will inspire young people to explore this magnificent country, discover the goodness in people, and for parents to give them the freedoms to do so. There will be humor, too, like showering in self service car washes, oddball meals of canned asparagus with gooey pancakes syruped in Tang, and spooking cows to ease the boredom of pedaling across the Plains.