Introduction

May 23, 2024

Getting This Trip Down "On Paper" Before It's Too Late

1981. Everything I owned fit in my car.

For several reasons, the "intelligensia" at the time advised against taking off on a long bicycle trip but I went anyway. The memories from that long trip have sustained me through the years and the inevitable challenges life throws at you. When the going got tough, I could always think back and know that most anything I would have to do was no more difficult than getting over those mountains, across that barren stretch, through the rain and the headwinds, using my head, grinding it out, and enduring.

Now I am an old retired guy. I made it through the gauntlet of working life, which is a lot like a long bike tour. There's a goal, a starting point, a lot of stuff to go through in between, a few challenges and detours along the way, a lot of fun too, and one day, you're done. Then it's time to savor it and plan for the next adventure.

I can remember many parts of that bike tour like they happened yesterday. I'm also aware that many other things from that trip are either stored deeply in my subconscious mind and/or may be in danger of being forgotten entirely.

You turn around and it's 43 years later. In my mind, sometimes, I'm still that young guy who rode all that way. In the mirror, I'm a grandfather now who is still riding. Maybe someone else cares. Then again, maybe not. Regardless, it's time to get this adventure down "on paper" before the memories dissipate into oblivion.

The old logbooks laid out, as I recently began to document this old journey in a digital format.

Fortunately, I still have all of the photos that we took and some of the postcards that were sent back home during the trip. There are also a few cards and letters we got from folks met along the way. Some souvenirs were packed away and managed to remain in pretty good condition, despite the passage of time. The logbooks, with brief but often detailed daily summaries, are pure gold. Some discipline and perseverance toward finding the time (most every day during the trip) to record events has helped me to remember what transpired along the way.

Side Notes:

Some of the photos have really faded with the passage of time. Down the road, I may try to improve them with the modern technology that now exists. For now, I'll post what I have, even though some of these have deteriorated significantly.

Mileage statistics may not be completely accurate. Keep in mind that none of the technologically advanced tracking devices, currently available for routine use by bicyclists, existed in 1981. We kept track using maps, road signs, talking to people, and sometimes how it felt to us. There were no cell phones, smart phones, or computers (i.e., personal computers that people have in their homes or can carry with them on their bikes these days). A country mile, which is longer than a regular mile, really did exist. Maybe technology has eliminated such things in our modern world but I'm glad I got to experience it all back in the "dark ages" of bicycle touring.

Further, regarding the mileage on this tour, there were also side trips to look for food, services, bike shops, or an attraction that someone told us about. My brief notes do not always indicate such occurrences and/or I did not always record the mileage accrued by riding to those locations.

While not precise, the mileage totals are, for the most part, accurate. The mileages that you're going to see are what were recorded in the journal. Looking at some of them, as I am recounting this trip, brings about a few questions. Trying to reconstruct the route by using RWGPS in "modern times" is also not completely accurate. Road alignments have changed, new roads have been built, and the program does not always allow a bicycling route to be drawn on a road that was used back in 1981. in consideration of all of the above, I am not going to revise the distances that were recorded in the log.

With regard to some of the events that transpired, they will essentially be presented as they were recorded, with perhaps a few grammatical changes, some language changes for clarification, a few asides (in italics) to reflect on what happened, and/or to make comments on what happened within the lens of my current perspectives and life experiences. Most of the names of folks we met along the way will be not given in their entirety, in order to protect individual privacy. Exceptions are a very small number of public officials with whom there were interactions.

I find that the process of beginning to record these old trips tends to bring back memories. If and/or as that happens, I'll augment the event(s) and enhance the photos and the prose with updated accounts of what my memory, notes, and/or photos indicate. Additionally, as I am going through old storage boxes, I am still finding items from the trip. So, be prepared for some edits to this manuscript, from time to time.

Riding on the Southern California Coast in 1981. Those shorts and socks were "all the rage." I still have those Cannondale panniers. By the way, the zippers still work! Some high tech gear made these days cannot make the same claim. I really miss that long Zefal pump (photo by Mark-H).

The old grandfather, in the orange shirt and kneeling, with a couple of other volunteers from the Montour Trail Council. We assisted a group of recently retired military veterans who were riding across the country. They stopped for a couple of days in Pittsburgh (Mid-May 2024). We helped them with logistics, took them on a tour of local attractions, and became fast friends.

In March 1981 (3/29/81), I ran the Jordache-Los Angeles Marathon with another buddy from back home, Mark-H. It was during that time of training, running the marathon, and later hanging out with friends, post-race, that the idea for this trip was hatched. Mark got caught up in the excitement and decided to ride the first few days with us.

Yours truly, immediately after having finished the LA Marathon on March 29, 1981. I ran a good portion of the race with a 44-year old stockbroker from New York, named Saul. He was a good guy and we kept each other going at various times during the long run. I have another photo of Saul and I crossing the finish line. When it is located, I'll scan and post it here.

Later on in '81, I had a date with my destiny but first, the trip of a lifetime was going to happen. Another old friend, Paul-M, decided to accompany me. He was tired of the rat race he was caught up in and this crazy idea was his ticket out of that un-fulfilling hell. Paul was a great guy to travel with. Besides being very steady, he had a tremendous sense of humor. He would come up with these sleeper lines that would have me doubled over with laughter. We laughed a lot on this trip.

Jumping ahead of the story, after having spent all Summer riding across the country with me, he became a Catholic Priest. Personally, I don't think I was that bad of a guy to have been hanging out with.

Now that the entire journey has been catalogued on this website, I realize what a heavy influence the Catholic Church had in our lives. We were raised Catholic and spent significant periods of time having been educated in Catholic Schools. We went to church regularly and were friends with a Catholic priest in the San Fernando Valley. He actually prepared a letter of recommendation for us, on church letterhead, to use if we needed any form of assistance on our trip. We ended up using that letter on a number of occasions, as you will see if you read on. I still have the letter, dated May 6, 1981.

You'll find a number of references to and mentions of the Catholic Church in this journal. This is by no means an attempt to convert or to put religion in front of anyone. It is simply the documented account of what happened at various times. Considering what has happened with the church since that time, I don't want to offend anyone. However, the Catholic Church came through for us, in multiple positive ways during the course of this trip. For that we were and still are most grateful.

Once we decided to do this trip, we needed time to wrap up the loose ends of our lives. Mine was rather simple then, so wrapping it up was nothing to sweat over. Paul had a job and an apartment to divest. It took until May, but we got there. The plan was to leave out of the San Fernando Valley, head North and up the West Coast to where a friend of Paul's lived (near the Canadian Border), and then head across country to suburban Boston (Massachusetts) where both of us had family. We toyed with the idea of riding up into Canada but that ended up being scrapped along the way.

Since we had a lot of time and only a loose schedule, when we met someone who told us about something we should to check out, oftentimes we looked at a map and then went for it. The whole excursion covered more than 5000 miles. We left on May 7th and finished on August 19th. We saw a lot of cool things along the way but the people we met made the trip extra special. The essence of any trip is definitely the good people you meet along the way. Scenery only gets you so far. That's only my opinion... but I believe you can take it to the bank.

Historical Value:

There is a fellow who is adeptly cataloging, on another website, brief accounts of transcontinental cyclists up to 1976. He advised me that the numbers of such cyclists "increased exponentially" after that time. I can personally testify to a few things regarding people we met while on the road for 105 days, in 1981:

(1) Along the California Coast, we saw quite a few cyclists in May 1981. Most of them were headed South. There were a few other hardheaded Northbounders. One such cyclist was Dave-V, from Wisconsin, but living in Eugene. He ended up riding with us for about 12 days, from Point Reyes, California to Florence, Oregon.

(2) Once we got above the Point Reyes area, the numbers of long distance cyclists were significantly fewer in number. May 1981 was a tough time, weather wise, to be cycling the West Coast, as you will see (if you decide to continue reading and I hope you will).

(3) Once we got to Bellingham, Washington and started heading East, we only saw a few other long distance touring cyclists. Three of them were riding together in Eastern Nebraska. I'll mention any cyclists we saw that are in my notes. There may have been many others, doing the Bikecentennial (Adventure Cycling nowadays) Route. But since we were largely not on it, I cannot say for sure.

I knew about Bikecentennial back then. I was of age (20) in '76, was interested in cycle touring, and had heard about the organization. But I had to finish up a few things, including earning my college degree, before taking on such a long trip. An attempt was made in '78 but I fell short. In '80, I rode halfway across.

In May of '81, I got back on the road, this time to fully complete a ride across the USA. I like to follow my own paths, not those that are laid out for me by someone else. On this trip we had things we wanted to try and see that were not on the Bikecentennial route. As I said earlier, we also made adjustments to our route, on the fly, when people we met told us about something that was worthwhile to go and see. These factors all contributed to the path we took, up the West Coast and then across the country.

We were even in Iowa (on this trip in '81), crossing it during the week before RAGBRAI. Some locals asked us if we were going to stick around for the ride. We weren't and did not. We thought about hanging around for it but we were really rolling along and wanted to continue our quest. Additionally (as you will see if you continue reading) Iowa was probably our least favorite state... consisting of repeating hilly cornfields with the least friendly people we encountered on the trip. Some of that was a byproduct of the route we took through the state, mostly on US-34. I'm sure it is wonderful place that I should return to in order to have a better experience but at that time, Iowa was rather underwhelming to us. No matter. We had a blast with the way we handled this long tour. I wouldn't trade what we did for anything.

Recently, I came across some old letters from Paul, written in 1982. He had a great time on the trip, as well. Apparently, in '82, we had to write actual letters, on paper and then mail them across the country, to each other, in order to communicate. Long distance telephone calls were expensive and rarely done. Seems almost comical but there is something special about getting a hand written letter. It is even more special to find that letter and re-read it after so many years have passed. A text message or email would likely have been lost or deleted a long time ago.

I hope you will enjoy reading this journal as much as we enjoyed our ride and as much as I have enjoyed recording it, finally. Riding across the USA is truly an epic adventure that everyone should do. It enhanced the lives of both Paul and I. Your turn!

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