Growing up in small South Dakota farming towns in the late 70's and early 80's, both Stacey and I would see touring cyclists come through our little towns every summer. Working at my Dad's small-town gas station, I would meet most of these riders and have a chance to interact with them. Invariably they were tanned, long haired, and fit - beaten down, weathered and exhausted on the one hand, yet incredibly happy, free and physically fit on the other.
I can remember the guys who were riding solo the most. Almost like a scene from Forest Gump, they were unshaven and deeply tanned. The dudes would usually ride without a shirt across the hot South Dakota Plains. Their back looked like an old saddle, and they were just looking for some water and a moment or two of shade at our gas station.
"Where are you headed?" we would almost always ask.
"Seattle" would come the reply.
Most folks in our small towns saw them as crazy. Others, like Stacey and I, saw them as explorers on a grand adventure. As small town farm kids there was an instant attraction to them and their mission. I remember deciding then, wearing my proud Phillips 66 khakis, that I wanted to bike tour across the USA someday.
Stacey and I grew up in different small towns in South Dakota. We didn't meet until high school, and it was later in college that we found out we shared an interest in bike touring some day. I remember vividly when the conversation first came up: we were driving back to South Dakota from our colleges in Fargo-Moorhead in our old blue Chevy pickup, when I made the comment that I would like to cross-country bike tour someday. Stacey right away exclaimed "me too!" If the dream was born as kids in our small towns, then the dream began to grow and take shape after that Chevy pickup conversation on I-29 south of Fargo.
We both wanted to bike tour, but there was one problem: we were not even cyclists at the time. Oh we could ride bikes of course, but we were definitely not "cyclists".
We also didn't have road bikes. Not really anyway. There were a few "vintage" road bikes at my parent's home. And I had a rigid frame Diamond Back Apex mountain bike that I bought for $600 with my high school graduation gift money, but it would mostly get used for rides to and from my college classes.
Did I mention we were also broke college kids?
It's hard to bike tour with no road riding experience, no money, and no bikes. What we did have was a commitment to the goal and youthful energy.
So, during the summer of 1995 - after getting married in '93, plus two years of extra jobs, gear purchases, and local road rides in Fargo and Minnesota - we set out on our way to California via Amtrak. Our tandem bicycle (the same one that is going on this tour), our tent, panniers, and cycle-camping gear rode with us as cargo on the train. Stacey's Aunt Judy and Uncle Paul picked us up from the train station in San Jose and helped us get started on our journey. And then just like that, we were bike tourists: up California Highway 1 to Oregon, along the Oregon Coast to Eugene, and then east across Oregon, Idaho, southwest Montana, Wyoming, and the western half of South Dakota.
Yes, we were sore and tired for the first week. Yes, we made some mistakes and bad choices along the way (ask Stacey about the ride we hitched with the old man with a hyper, vomiting lap dog, and an eye patch). But we had the time of our lives. The adventure, the cycling, and being together all summer were simply fantastic. And we fell in love with The West: the ocean, the Oregon desert, the mountains & rivers of Idaho, Montana & Wyoming were just magnificent. We quickly became "cyclists" and (surprisingly) found that we really enjoyed camping under the stars each night as well.
It was the time of our lives. Nearly twenty years later, we still talk about that trip and cherish it. Just today Stacey commented that she doesn't remember many things vividly, but she can recall many things quite well from our 1995 summer tour.
We finished in mid-August in our little home towns in central South Dakota, 7 weeks and ~2800 miles from San Jose. We were back just in time for the wedding of Stacey's sister Jackie and future brother-in-law Ted.
Our "95 Tour" (as we call it) made us fans of both cycling and cycle touring. It also instilled in us a desire to bike tour again someday. In 1995 I had one semester of my engineering degree left to complete, and we spent many days on our bike talking about what our future may look like. While riding through Oregon, I can remember us agreeing that going on a family bike tour (with our planned two children) in the year 2013 would be a good life-goal for our new family. We expected our kids to be teenagers by then and capable of a big bike tour. The girls were not even conceived at this point and we were already planning their adventures with us.
As it turned out, we were not able to make 2013 happen. But 2014 is here and this is the year to fulfill the dream of going "all the way across". And our girls are somewhat to blame for this being a full-summer, full-continent journey. In early 2013, I suggested that we do a watered-down version of the Big Family Bike Tour. I suggested that we ride a huge loop around the Pacific Northwest, starting and ending at our home in Boise, seeing some of the best places in Idaho, Washington and Oregon along the way.
I won't name names here, but one of our girls said "That's lame, Dad."
"Well, Megan, what I really want to do is bike tour across the USA, ocean to ocean. Maybe we should do that instead?"
"Now that's cool! Let's do that!" was her reply.
And the wheels were set in motion.
So that's the story of "why" we are going on this great adventure, and "how" we got to The Galinat Family Tours the USA, 2014. Keep an eye on those 20-year family plans & dreams of yours. They just might come true.
Classic Megan!
ReplyDelete