More than a bike ride - TransAM 2021
Hope is light that calls us forward and holds our focus when all that surrounds is dark, that really is when hope stands out and shines the brightest. In the middle of 2020 and the COVID pandemic, John Krasinski jumped onto YouTube with a concept to spread “Some Good News.” From the confines of his home, he told stories of hope and good deeds happening in the world, and like wildfire it spread to screens around the globe and garnered millions of views. After several YouTube episodes, the concept was purchased by a network and faded into the background of the daily trumpet sounds of the regular news cycle.
What dictates the content for the airways? Surely the millions that tuned in for “Some Good News” should be an indication of what a large contingency of people are looking for from the daily broadcasts. However, I’m left perplexed when news of hope and good deed are shelved, or given very little airtime. While I know that I’m partial and completely entwined in the story of eight young men from LIFECYCLES biking across the continental United States, I believe this is an amazing story of hope and goodness!
Originally scheduled for 2020, this transcontinental bike trip was in the planning stages since 2018. In April of 2020 as much of the world was in lockdown, it was decided that the trip could not continue as scheduled, and all of the reservations were canceled or rescheduled until 2021 (with no guarantee that it would actually be able to happen). Each of the boys would be a year older, and with that came changes in their circumstances, like college and working schedules for some. Their winter training was now taking them into uncertainty and pushing off plans of an epic summer. They endured the news with unrelenting hope that this trip would still happen, just a year later.
The team continued to train and had some conciliation rides during the summer of 2020 to keep everyone preparing for longer rides and multiple days of riding. We entered the winter of 20/21 without a clear sense of how or if it was possible to bike across the US in the summer of 2021. Hotels were arranged for 80% of the route, except for the part where the path took us into Canada. It was decided at the end of April 2021, that we would indeed proceed with plans, however we would reroute the entire last 1/3 of the trip to avoid Canada and end by coming through our hometown of Lancaster, PA and through to the Atlantic Ocean at Cape Henlopen, Delaware.
From April 2021 until our launch date of June 10th, the team was gathering supplies, checking bikes, and training for what now looked like a realistic possibility. In an age where youth are oftentimes dismissed for being noncommittal or work-averse, these young men held firm to their resolve and knew that what they were signing up for would not be easy.
On June 8th they boarded a plane, many for the first time, and flew from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Portland, Oregon. They had a day to acclimate to the new time zone and get on their bikes, after being parted from them for a week while the bikes were driven to the west coast. Then on the morning of June 10, 2021, the team of eight young men from the ages of 16 – 21 years old, along with 3 adult leaders, dipped their bike tires in the Pacific Ocean at Sunset Beach, Oregon.
What transpired over the next 60 days was amazing, both in terms of the physical feat on display, but also the mental toughness that was developing in these young men. With 5 of the first 7 days having precipitation for various lengths of the ride, hills that loomed out in front of us and demanded to be conquered, sleep that seemed illusive as we switched accommodations every night, the team continued on. When the elevation topped out at nearly 11,000 feet, when temperatures rose to 105 degrees through the deserts of eastern Montana, or when the winds in North Dakota tried to push us west, the team kept pedaling east to the next destination. The rewards for hard fought uphill climbs were often amazing descents where the wind wafted through the holes in the helmet and the thrill of speeding down the other side brought smiles plastered with tiny bugs stuck to our faces. It’s the days of torrential downpours, and bluebird skies, and cooling cloud cover, and drivers that fail to give 4 feet of separation while passing, and the cheers of strangers as we enter their town, and the feeling you get after a long day on the bike, these moments made this an adventure.
This is an amazing country! The diversity of landscape brought us something new to view each day. Snowcapped mountains in all of their glory made my heart happy, the plains with miles of viewing made me appreciate variety, the trees and greenery of Pennsylvania made me thankful for home, and the flat bike lanes of Delaware propelled us to the finish. For all of the ills in the world, we have a country that allows its citizens the freedom to explore, to bike from shore to shore, to be a woman and wear bike shorts, to be from different backgrounds and races and enjoy each other’s company for an entire summer. This is to be celebrated and shared and appreciated!
I listened to a podcast the other day of someone that got on his soapbox about the arrogance of road cyclists and his single quest to ban them from public roads and relegate bikes to paths and sidewalks. While I understand that cyclist need to move over and not be 3-4 wide on busy roads, I disagree with the sentiment of depriving people of exploring this great country via the roads of America on a bicycle. In a car you are cut off from the elements, sheltered from experiencing and interacting with nature, and devoid of the effort it takes to pedal your way from point A to point B. Let’s not rob people of the joys gained from physical exertion and the grit that is developed from coming to the end of what you think is possible, only to find a reserve tank that takes you further than you thought possible.
Eight young men for 6 – 10 hours each day for 52 cycling days on a 60-day trip, pedaled their way through obstacles, passed feelings of defeat and self-doubt, and found at the end they developed a resolve that can take them through the challenges of life and the benefits of physical exercise in clearing the mind. They also know that the God of heaven and earth created them with a unique purpose in this world, and part of that is being a beacon of hope in a world that says their generation is lost to video games and their parent’s basements.
There were thousands following along on our daily posts about these young men cycling their way across the country. This trip provided more than an experience, it provided hope to all of the people loaded up in the virtual bus that were cheering us on. And to all of these people we say “thank you!” for coming along! If you see us around, be sure to ask us about our favorite memories from the trip, we love talking about all that we saw and experienced, because we never want to forget a single detail!
A few details for the statistically minded:
3,700 miles
60 days (52 cycling, 8 rest days)
14 States
106,000 feet of elevation gain
247.4 hours of pedaling
15mph average (for me anyway)
42 flat tires
7 new tires
3 new chains
2 bike falls at speed, 9 while not moving
$1250 in food costs per person
55mph top recorded speed for a downhill by someone on the team
8 road construction projects passed or shuttled through
7 rain days
2 bison passed within 20 feet
900 miles of rumble strips in the shoulders (guess-timate)
0 days spent thinking about work
