{"id":34398,"date":"2017-08-10T10:12:16","date_gmt":"2017-08-10T14:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=34398"},"modified":"2017-08-14T09:18:50","modified_gmt":"2017-08-14T13:18:50","slug":"atlantic-pacific-summer-bike-ride-grueling-exhilarating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/atlantic-pacific-summer-bike-ride-grueling-exhilarating\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Atlantic to the Pacific: Summer bike ride both &#8216;grueling&#8217; and &#8216;exhilarating&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_34385\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-34385\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-34385 size-medium\" src=\"\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/08\/bike-across-america_1823-atlantic-ocean-1000px-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/08\/bike-across-america_1823-atlantic-ocean-1000px-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/08\/bike-across-america_1823-atlantic-ocean-1000px-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/08\/bike-across-america_1823-atlantic-ocean-1000px.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-34385\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ryan Swartzentruber, Jordan Leaman, Grantley Showalter and Isaac Schertz make their inaugural tire dipping in the Atlantic.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The trip began with the traditional dipping of back tires in the Atlantic Ocean at Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. It ended 59 days later in the Pacific at Lincoln City, Oregon, after 3,492 miles across 14 states and through Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Goshen, Indiana; Yellowstone National Park, and Portland, Oregon.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The summer of 2017 was a good time to travel for senior-year housemates Grantley Showalter, Jordan Leaman and Isaac Schertz and their friend Ryan Swartzentruber \u201816. The housemates graduated from Eastern Mennonite University just days before starting the trek, and Swartzentruber had quit his job in anticipation of attending grad school this fall. They didn\u2019t have many responsibilities or time constraints, although Schertz did take a couple weeks off mid-ride to attend his sister\u2019s wedding, and Showalter had to fly immediately home after the trip for\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">his\u00a0<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sister\u2019s wedding.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Showalter, who majored in peacebuilding and development and is from Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, said he thought the ride would be \u201ca sweet thing to do.\u201d Leaman, who is from Harrisonburg and studied computer science, math, physics, economics, and environmental sustainability, had planned such a ride a couple years ago but had never gotten to take it. When he brought up the possibility of riding this summer, Showalter, who has always loved cycling, remembers thinking, \u201cAlright! This is my chance!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They knew it would be grueling at times, but they\u2019d get to see the country in a new way.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Headwinds and summer snow<\/b><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_34387\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-34387\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-34387 size-medium\" src=\"\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/08\/bike-across-america_1852-Ohio-1000px-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/08\/bike-across-america_1852-Ohio-1000px-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/08\/bike-across-america_1852-Ohio-1000px-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/08\/bike-across-america_1852-Ohio-1000px.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-34387\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ryan Swartzentruber, Jordan Leaman and Isaac Schertz cruise across flat Ohio toward Bluffton.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Showalter said that most cross-country riders make the trip from west to east, to benefit from the stiff headwinds Showalter and his friends faced, but they decided they wanted to end with the exciting views, the beautiful West Coast scenery rather than familiar eastern landscapes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Those headwinds, though, were a demoralizing force.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe had plenty of time,\u201d Showalter said, \u201cso it wasn\u2019t like we weren\u2019t going to make it. But there were a couple times I was like, \u2018Why did we decide to do it this way? This is just agony. Will it be worth it all in the end?\u2019 especially in the midwest, where there wasn\u2019t too much to see and it was pretty hot.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When the occasional tailwind appeared, they\u2019d marvel: \u201cWow \u2014 this is so easy. Imagine if this was every day!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One discouraging day, they set out later in the morning than they\u2019d hoped. They were just trying to get in the miles, which seemed to be passing more and more slowly as the day wore on. And the headwind seemed to be picking up \u2014 they calculated it at 25 miles per hour. They took turns drafting off each other, like geese in a flying V.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another day, in Yellowstone National Park, was their coldest. Leaman remembers it as \u201cmiserable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe were all looking forward to taking our time through the park and enjoying the scenery, but the weather turned sour and we were forced to rush it,\u201d he said. At one point they found themselves on a road above a canyon, at 8500 feet elevation, in 35 degrees and with heavy snow falling all around them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAbout 4-6 inches had already accumulated on the forest floor and the road was slushy,\u201d Leaman said. \u201cThere was a steep drop-off on the right side of the road and no shoulder to safely bike on, so we were on edge the whole time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Longest day<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On their longest riding day \u2014 160 miles \u2014 the quartet left before 7 a.m. from just inside the Idaho border. Inspired by an earlier encounter with oncoming racers on the\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.adventurecycling.org\/routes-and-maps\/adventure-cycling-route-network\/transamerica-trail\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TransAmerican Trail<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0who told them about 250-mile days, they thought a long day was something they \u201cshould try.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Their goal was to reach Clarkston, Washington, but by nightfall they had made only ample progress. They kept riding, though, eventually getting close enough to decide, \u201cWe aren\u2019t going to give up now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They arrived at 1 a.m. after 18 hours of riding. The next day they slept in and covered a more modest 30-40 miles.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>People<\/b><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_34386\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-34386\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-34386 size-medium\" src=\"\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/08\/bike-across-america_1849-Indiana-state-line-1000px-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/08\/bike-across-america_1849-Indiana-state-line-1000px-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/08\/bike-across-america_1849-Indiana-state-line-1000px-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/08\/bike-across-america_1849-Indiana-state-line-1000px.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-34386\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ryan Swartzentruber, Isaac Schertz, Grantley Showalter and Jordan Leaman crossing into Indiana and looking forward to Goshen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The riders mostly camped along the way, but also stayed with friends or hosts lined up through\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.warmshowers.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Warm Showers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a worldwide service that connects touring cyclists with free places to put up for the night.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leaman had brought along a coffee grinder and drip cones and occasionally served coffee to their campsite visitors. In a campground near Harpers Ferry, \u00a0they met a man in his upper 40s who had decided he was done with his job and would do something he\u2019d never done before: hike.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By the time the riders\u00a0met him, he\u2019d gotten better equipment and was heading south on the Appalachian Trail. In the beginning, though, Showalter said, he had \u201cjust started walking with an old backpack and a couple things. He said he did four miles his first day, which isn\u2019t that much. We were impressed by his willingness to try something new.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For breakfast each morning, they poured boiling water over Quaker Oats, sometimes with raisins or something sweet, or had instant grits. Eggs, Showalter said, took too much time, and required too much cleanup. He was usually eager to hit the road, to save relaxation for later in the day.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Gas station cross-culturals<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The cyclists frequented gas stations for restroom and water breaks \u2014 but not food, when they could restrain themselves. While full-time pedaling meant they always felt like eating, they often found convenience store options pricey and unhealthy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Those stops were also where Showalter often found himself \u201cout of my bubble of people thinking the way I do.\u201d Even without a language barrier, it sometimes felt as though the people he met lived in a country unlike the one he knows.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_34384\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-34384\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-34384 size-medium\" src=\"\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/08\/bike-across-america_1820-first-flat-1000px-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/08\/bike-across-america_1820-first-flat-1000px-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/08\/bike-across-america_1820-first-flat-1000px-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/08\/bike-across-america_1820-first-flat-1000px.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-34384\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jordan Leaman, Grantley Showalter, Ryan Swartzentruber and the first of over 20 flats.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s expected when you go to a different country to have people see the world differently,\u201d Showalter said, but he was surprised when conversations along their route revealed stark contrasts in perspectives. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One Nebraska man they met talked about the alcoholism on a local reservation in racist terms. \u201cSome of the things he was saying were pretty offensive to me,\u201d Showalter said, \u201cbut in the moment I couldn\u2019t think of a good way of addressing it without making him defensive. I was this Eastern boy coming into this place where he probably has lived his whole life, and maybe hasn&#8217;t ever left. That was kind of a weird situation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Along the way Showalter noticed that other cyclists seemed to have plenty of money for good equipment. \u201cI\u2019m really glad that I had a chance to make the trip, but keeping in mind how many people\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">can\u2019t<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0kind of makes me see it differently,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s one way I\u2019ve changed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He also noticed that the bicycling community was \u201cpredominantly white people,\u201d and he wonders how the trip would have gone differently if he and his companions would have been of different race. \u201cWould people have been less willing to help us? Would it have been more challenging to find the things we were looking for?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leaman was struck by people\u2019s generosity \u2014 and the possibility that sometimes it may have had some basis in his group\u2019s privileged status.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe encountered a number of people on our trip who placed near-immediate trust in us when offering up their homes, food, et cetera under the basis of \u2018You look like good people,\u2019 or \u2018You look like you won\u2019t murder me,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cWhile these comments were probably made under good intentions, it was easy to see how our status as young, white, college-educated males gave us undue privilege in so many parts of this country. It was difficult accepting hospitality from these people knowing that they might not have extended it to us had we looked different from them. It was disheartening to see that many parts of this country are still very far away from recognizing and confronting some very deep prejudices.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Worth it?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both Showalter and Leaman say the trip was worth it (\u201cOf course!\u201d said Leaman): They met people from all over and were welcomed by friends and strangers, worked hard, and saw parts of the country none of them had ever seen before.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Showalter is now readying himself for a year of voluntary service through\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mennonitemission.net\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mennonite Mission Network<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0at the\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/restorativeprograms.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Center for Restorative Programs<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0in Alamosa, Colorado. He said that having mastered the mental and physical challenge of the trip only makes it more likely that he will tour more, or at least regularly commute by bicycle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leaman, who has begun working as a hardware support analyst at EMU, said it was \u201csatisfying to work hard all day and then pull up the map on my phone during dinner to see how far the little blue GPS dot moved, no matter how small an amount.\u201d He, too, hopes to tour by bicycle more, although he says next time he might instead traverse Europe, where bicycling is more accepted \u2014 he could do without the profanity-screaming hecklers and motorists who seemingly don\u2019t understand how to navigate in the company of bicycles.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That Midwest slog? They conquered it, and in the West had moments of exhilaration. Leaman describes one downhill stretch:<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_34388\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-34388\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-34388 size-medium\" src=\"\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/08\/bike-across-america_1905-Togwotee-Pass-Group-photo-1000px-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/08\/bike-across-america_1905-Togwotee-Pass-Group-photo-1000px-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/08\/bike-across-america_1905-Togwotee-Pass-Group-photo-1000px-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/08\/bike-across-america_1905-Togwotee-Pass-Group-photo-1000px.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-34388\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ryan Swartzentruber, Isaac Schertz, Jordan Leaman and Grantley Showalter at the top of Togwotee Pass and ready for a 15-mile descent and \u201csome screaming speeds!\u201d<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe had a 15-mile stretch descending from the top of Togwotee Pass (9700 feet) down into Grand Teton National Park (6700 feet). We averaged 30 miles per hour for this stretch, but about 5-6 of these miles were above 40 miles per hour, with our top speed reaching just shy of 50. We had been biking through cold fog, but as soon as we started descending, the mountains of the Teton Range appeared before us. It\u2019s scary hitting 50 miles per hour on a bike and holding it for miles and miles, but we felt accomplished for clearing our first mountain pass and were eager to accept the earned reward of a long coast downhill.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The trip began with the traditional dipping of back tires in the Atlantic Ocean at Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. It ended 59 days later in the Pacific at Lincoln City, <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/atlantic-pacific-summer-bike-ride-grueling-exhilarating\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about From the Atlantic to the Pacific: Summer bike ride both &#8216;grueling&#8217; and &#8216;exhilarating&#8217;<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":34383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5591,14715,13808,17562,5643,5598,14145],"tags":[],"feature":[17426,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-34398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-and-leadership","category-campus-life","category-computer-science","category-digest","category-environmental-sustainability","category-mathematical-sciences","category-peacebuilding-and-development","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>From the Atlantic to the Pacific: Summer bike ride both &#039;grueling&#039; and &#039;exhilarating&#039; - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/atlantic-pacific-summer-bike-ride-grueling-exhilarating\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From the Atlantic to the Pacific: Summer bike ride both &#039;grueling&#039; and &#039;exhilarating&#039; - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The trip began with the traditional dipping of back tires in the Atlantic Ocean at Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. 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