Somewhere near the end of high school, or shortly thereafter, I read a book entitled, “Wandering Wheels.” The book, published by Baker Book House in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is the product of Jack Houston who was, at that time, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
The subject of “Wandering Wheels” is Bob Davenport, a coach at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana and his desire to take young men across the United States . . . on bicycles! And that’s what he did starting in 1963 when Wandering Wheels came into existence.
I’m not sure why but I picked that book up one day and couldn’t put it down. Maybe it was because I had been pedaling bikes of one kind or another since five or six years old. My bike was my key to freedom in my small hometown of Shrewsbury, Pennsylvania. “Wandering Wheels” put a dream and a challenge in my heart: One day I’m gonna do that!
And I did! Of course I didn’t know I’d be sixty-seven years old when I did the ride but I did it. And, I will do it again soon!
My first day of retirement was Monday, 20 April 2009. On Thursday of that week, 23 April 2009, Margaret (my much better half) and I loaded our Explorer with bikes, clothes, cameras, cell-phones, and lots of stuff we did and did not need, and headed to Anacortes, Washington, where I dipped my rear tire in the Pacific Ocean, hopped on my bike, and started Pedaling America.
This book is a record of that ride. “4295 Miles” began as a blog simply to keep family and friends up-to-date on where on the map we were, what state we were in, how we were doing, what we were eating, what the weather was like, how the bikes were holding up, how we were holding up, what the hills were like, who we were meeting, and how many dogs chased us.
Well, you know how some people are. Back home, friends were saying, “You need to put that in a book.” (If each friend who said that buys a book, I can retire again!)
So, after five years . . . here’s the book.
The subject of “Wandering Wheels” is Bob Davenport, a coach at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana and his desire to take young men across the United States . . . on bicycles! And that’s what he did starting in 1963 when Wandering Wheels came into existence.
I’m not sure why but I picked that book up one day and couldn’t put it down. Maybe it was because I had been pedaling bikes of one kind or another since five or six years old. My bike was my key to freedom in my small hometown of Shrewsbury, Pennsylvania. “Wandering Wheels” put a dream and a challenge in my heart: One day I’m gonna do that!
And I did! Of course I didn’t know I’d be sixty-seven years old when I did the ride but I did it. And, I will do it again soon!
My first day of retirement was Monday, 20 April 2009. On Thursday of that week, 23 April 2009, Margaret (my much better half) and I loaded our Explorer with bikes, clothes, cameras, cell-phones, and lots of stuff we did and did not need, and headed to Anacortes, Washington, where I dipped my rear tire in the Pacific Ocean, hopped on my bike, and started Pedaling America.
This book is a record of that ride. “4295 Miles” began as a blog simply to keep family and friends up-to-date on where on the map we were, what state we were in, how we were doing, what we were eating, what the weather was like, how the bikes were holding up, how we were holding up, what the hills were like, who we were meeting, and how many dogs chased us.
Well, you know how some people are. Back home, friends were saying, “You need to put that in a book.” (If each friend who said that buys a book, I can retire again!)
So, after five years . . . here’s the book.
