Since I began writing this bicycling blog about eight months ago, I've written about some folks making some interesting cross-country rides, like the bicycling school teacher, Joe Bowen, at left.
Some of them are cycling for a cause — that's how they find their way into newspapers and how I learn about their trip and write about them. Others are just doing it for the adventure.
What's become of Don Boehley, the 9/11 cyclist? Or Byron Linthicum, the solo tandem bicycle rider? Or high school teacher Pat Clements, who was biking on the trails of westward expansion?
It's easy to keep track of those riders. They have online journals and blogs that I've saved online over at “On the Road Bicycle Blogs.” In case you haven't checked them out lately, here's an update.
Don Boehley, right, just celebrated the one-year anniversary of the beginning of his bicycle tour. The 49-year-old handyman from Grayson, Kentucky, wants to raise awareness for the families of the victims of 9/11. Since we picked him up in California, he's ridden through the Northern tier states and most recently ended up in Saginaw, Michigan.
Byron Linthicum Jr., left, just finished his cross-country trip from Oregon to Virginia on September 2. He rode solo on a tandem in memory of his friend who died of cystic fibrosis. His conclusion: “This trip was just one of many adventures; the journey continues.”
Pat Clements, right, the teacher from Hightstown, New Jersey, wrapped up his journey in June. He spent 72 days exploring the various trails of the nation's westward expansion — the Old York Road, Trail of Tears, Route 66, among others.
Finally, where's Joe? That's what Joe Bowen's website asks. Bowen is a school teacher from Kentucky who left Lompoc, California, this spring to recreate a 14,000-mile bicycle tour he took in 1967. Along the way, he keeps in touch with pupils back home who are learning more about geography, history, math, science and other subjects by following his journey.
So where's Joe? He's in the Grand Canyon, where he parked his bicycle for a few days for a trek down to the bottom and back.
A segment of Bowen's website is called “Stories from the Road” and is well worth a read. He compares the bicycle touring conditions today with those nearly 30 years ago; and he tells interesting stories about people he's met along the way. For instance, he runs into an old cowboy in Colorado who used to ride in the rodeo; turns out he knows a fella that Bowen had met earlier in Washington. Bowen calls the other cowboy up on the cell phone and let's them talk about the old days!
He also writes about returning to Moab, Utah, to ride the Schafer Trail again. He rode this popular mountain bike trail back in '67, some 20 years before mountain were even invented.
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