82-Year-Old completes Bike Ride Across Country

crazyguyonabike.com ^ | 6-15-09 | Ken Payton

[WackySam]

Starke to St. Augustine, Fl.: The end of the tour, a lift across a bridge, a TV interview

Monday June 15, 2009, 60 miles (97 km) - Total so far: 3,301 miles (5,313 km)

I did it, folks. Citrus Heights, Ca., to St. Augustine, Fl., clear across the cotton-picking United States of America by bicycle at age 82, more than 3,000 miles in less than three months.

I was on the road at 7:15am., wanting to beat the heat and get this job done. The ride itself was routine, considering the miles I've ridden. But at mid-morning things changed. A plumber named Sonny Firth had seen me riding on Fl.16 east and knew I was headed for the bridge over the St. John's River that had two traffic lanes and dirty shoulders barely two feet wide. He had cleared out space in his plumber's truck for the bike and offered me a 3-mile lift over the bridge. When I saw the situation, I accepted, and Sonny did all the lifting to get 70-pound Dolores into the back of the truck. I'm telling you, friends, people are great everywhere.

Then at noon, five miles from St. Augustine, I stopped for a foot-long Subway, and as I was eating, Josh of NBC Channel 12 in Jacksonville said he wanted to do a story on me, an 82-year-old guy with a bike named Dolores riding a bicycle across the country. He'd been alerted about my arrival and made a good guess when he saw my bike leaning outside the Subway shop. After lunch, it took about half an hour for Josh to get his interview and pictures of me riding the bike. I appreciate the attention.

I got to St. Augustine about 1:30pm and wet my front tire in the Atlantic Ocean about an hour later after I called a bike shop about helping to pack and ship the bike and panniers back home. I'm going there tomorrow at 10am.

Happy trails. Here are some pictures.

[WackySam]

Here's a link to the story on Firstcoast News (can't be posted- Gannett- link only)

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=139899&catid=3

[WackySam]

[manc]

I live in st Augustine and this is the first I had heard of this

[WackySam]

A close friend of mine who I ride with contacted every possible media outlet he could, and in the end just one local channel covered Ken upon his arrival.

I guess there’s just not much interest in stories like this these days.

[fullchroma]

Wow! He looks 30 years younger than his 82! I like that the American flag is attached to his bike and waving proudly.

[WackySam]

Wow! He looks 30 years younger than his 82! I like that the American flag is attached to his bike and waving proudly.

And he still "smokes cigars, drinks beer, and eats meat".

[j0hng4lt69]

hope obama dont find out about this...he wnat to save socialist health care blood money by killing old people.....its 1984 all over again

[WackySam]

And a link to the video-

[fullchroma]

Love him! Do you know him? Please send him my admiration and respect. (I haven’t stopped pedaling since I learned to ride without training wheels almost 50 years ago.)

[WackySam]

Love him! Do you know him? Please send him my admiration and respect. (I haven’t stopped pedaling since I learned to ride without training wheels almost 50 years ago.)

No, I haven't had the pleasure- I've just been following him through his blog at crazyguyonabike.com

If you'd like, you can leave him a message here-

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/guestbook/?o=3Tzut&doc_id=4767&v=Ek

And you can check out his daily journals from the beginning of his journey here-

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=3Tzut&doc_id=4767&v=Eo

[Republic]

Don’t know why, but I followed the link to the story and then the link to the diary this touring biker made of his travels...going to go back and read a bit now and then, it just feels so good to read his words, simple and well written about his journey and the nice, good WONDERFUL Americans he met along the way.

[manc]

sad that our local media never really covered this in great detail as he is an inspiration.
Still there are far more pressing issues in this town like , er, let me think now, er,

[Diverdogz]

Fantastic. That guy is an inspiration. 82 Years young, he is.

[WackySam]

going to go back and read a bit now and then, it just feels so good to read his words, simple and well written about his journey and the nice, good WONDERFUL Americans he met along the way.

You're so right. This man crossed the country by bicycle, without a single problem alone the way, found people willing to help him, made friends, and was treated with respect from beginning to end.

[WackySam]

sad that our local media never really covered this in great detail as he is an inspiration.

Like I said- I have a riding buddy that spent many hours making phone calls and sending emails to every media outlet he could. In the end only the one local TV station showed up. He's the oldest person to ever complete this journey and most of the media could care less.

[manc]

well thank you for at least trying to get the media involved

[WackySam]

Ping to those who replied to previous threads on this subject-

[TChad]

What a great blog. I should read the whole thing. Looks like he found America.

I really have to get out of my eight-miles-per-day rut.

[WackySam]

I really have to get out of my eight-miles-per-day rut.

At 8 miles a day you're riding more than 99% of the population.

[aquila48]

Congratulations to Ken!! He’s an inspiration!