Can a summer bike trip become a powerful experience that still impacts you decades later?
During the summer of 1976, two friends and I planned to celebrate the 200th birthday of The United States Of America with an empowering adventure. The three of us grew up in the same hometown in the state of New Jersey, just minutes across the river from the city of Philadelphia. We were young, and our life experiences were limited mainly to the area where we grew up.
Philadelphia, also known as the City of Brotherly Love, played a pivotal role in the country's independence, and they hosted many of the celebrations for the United State's bicentennial birthday. We wanted to do something different.
We researched various options and decided to take a different approach to celebrate our conceptions of independence, something that would allow us to truly learn, engage, and empower ourselves with something unique and challenging.
We decided on a long-distance bicycle trip for the summer of 1976. We planned our bike trip starting in Portland, Oregon, traveling westward to the Pacific Coast Highway, then down to San Diego, California, looping eastward to Phoenix, Arizona, and circling back north to Portland, a journey of almost 3,000 miles (4800 kilometers). We planned six weeks for the adventure.
Collectively, we had personal objectives for the trip. The three of us looked for an experience that would grow us from the people we met and the places we visited. We knew the adventure would be physically taxing, which we knew would also be a personal challenge. We wanted the trip to be fun, spend time together as friends, grow closer with our bond, and impact who we were as young people and for years to come. There were indeed a lot of expectations from this trip! We were young adults on our mission.
One friend was attending a university in the Minneapolis (Minnesota) area for architecture. Two years before, the other had a family tragedy. To help move on and heal from it, she moved to Portland, Oregon, and worked for a mission. I wanted a life-changing experience before I started college in the fall. We were three young adults from different walks of life, trying to find ourselves through a shared adventure.
I worked at a private school for disabled students at the time. I also volunteered in the classroom and with families in their private homes with their disabled children helping with pattering therapy. I found my passion in helping people and giving those less fortunate the support they needed. My experience during the two years of working and volunteering gave me greater exposure to the world. It also gave me humility; I saw the struggles humans face and adversities, and it allowed me to put reality in a proper perspective and to be very grateful for my place in life.
The world and life were changing rapidly. What was a confusing time for me suddenly started becoming more apparent. I was a late bloomer. I felt, at times, I needed to jump-start my life and look ahead without trepidation. Working with the folks at the private school, having staff members mentor me, and guiding me into the next phase of my life along with this bike trip was the best gift I could receive and experience. With life having so many twists, turns, and setbacks, I was at a point where I was ready for this next chapter.
Our planning phase was an integral part of this next journey and adventure. There was much to learn in the research and planning. We lived when biking helmets for safety were not around or used. Cell phones didn't exist, and the roads ahead contained many unknowns. We were young but full of adventure and slightly naive, yet we all grew up with common sense from our upbringing. We wanted the entire summer of 1976 to be an experience of a lifetime. Would it live up to the expectations?
Tom is a retired nurse, volunteer, and lifelong learner living his best life in Montana (USA).
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Next week. A new chapter in this month's series, My Summer Bike Trip.
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