A short video of some clips at the finish line of our 3700 mile cross country bicycle ride.

3700 Mile Finish is a post from: Olin A. Patterson

November 06, 2008

In the end it wasn’t about four riders independently setting out to cross the continent. One of the initial goals for each of the guys was to cross the country self-contained, meaning having everything one needs to survive on their person or on their bike. The journey would make one thing become vibrantly clear; there is nothing independent about a cycle across one-sixth of the earth’s circumference. Rather, it is a community effort on such a grand scale that it came to embody the entire continental ride. We found that the spirit of American hospitality is alive and thriving.

We threw ourselves out into a world we were initially unaware of and were received in ways we couldn’t imagine. From the hospitality, friends and places we fell in love with, to those that cheered us up, helped us find our ways, or put complete trust in four total strangers with a silly dream of crossing America by bicycle.

As for the finish, we all came away changed. It is truly a surreal experience to dismount the bicycles that we have lived on, pondered on, grown on, and spent an average of 8 hours a day on for the last two months, to step back into the beautiful reality of human existence. For the future, we will be going down to Nicaragua with volunteers and equipment for two weeks following up to Easter. It is our passion to make a difference by saving lives. Specifically, it will be a hectic two weeks for us. Our itinerary consists of teaching volunteer lifeguards in accordance to universal life guarding policies and international red cross standards in Spanish and English. We have been in constant communication with the Nicaraguan Red Cross and anticipate an incredible and unique experience for everyone involved. We ask that you check back to this site often for the news on how we are doing.

It is a great honor to feel so much support from such an incredible community of people- from the microcosm to the macro… the local community we live in- to the amazing country we’re apart of, we have all been deeply affected. Thank you to the friends and families that followed us online and made us feel loved, to the donors that see potential in us and agree with our cause.

In The End is a post from: Olin A. Patterson

November 05, 2008

At 4:12 pm, November 06, 2008… the transcontinental team consisting of Eric Broberg, Scott Hunthausen, Olin Patterson, ad Peter Eich officially dipped their tires into the Pacific Ocean. They peddled from ocean to ocean in 61 days, 4 hours, 57 minutes and 3 seconds. In an emotional finish ceremony with over 80 people present they were again reunited with their wonderful friends and families.

The Finish Line is a post from: Olin A. Patterson

November 05, 2008

What is it that drew so many out west? Was it a promise of a better life? Promise of freedom or hope? Whatever it was that brought our descendants to the final frontier, we have to stop and think what a powerful force it was. The initial settlers that came west faced startling statistics for survival. During the prime years of the Oregon Trail, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Pony Express, survival rates for travelers was at best 50%. It was estimated that half of your family will die if you made that trip. That is a powerful choice to ponder- what would drive us to make a decision that will probably wipe out half of those we love? Whatever persecutions people were facing was enough apparently, for people came in the millions. It is no wonder California would grow to become such a dynamic place; it descends from the strongest will of mankind. The will to face the risk of death in hopes of living free.

Retracing the steps from the first place British colonists landed in Virginia Beach to found Jamestown in 1607, all the way across an incredible continent to the final frontier 61 days later was a journey that none of us will ever forget. And though we are nothing compared to the incredible story of those that embarked before us, we only hope that the golden land of opportunity that lays before us, finds us worthy.

Worthy of the West is a post from: Olin A. Patterson

November 06, 2008

The border of Orange County is exactly 28 miles from the coastline… Just over a mile longer than a marathon, the final stretch is being hailed as the finest marathon in the entire country. The bike path wound along fine parks and the Santa Ana River as the team slowly began the recognize all the land marks that make sunny southern California so great. And though the North American continent is filled with beauty, there is not any place in the world as great as home.

The Final Marathon is a post from: Olin A. Patterson

November 05, 2008

During the entire transcontinental journey, everybody wanted to warn the team of the terrible mountain passes that were necessary for crossing the Rockies, Appalachians, and Ozarks. It was always these three mountains that people seemed to adamantly warn them of…. And not to disrespect any of the extremely exhausting passes that the team spent an accumulation of weeks trying to pass, but they were wildly dumbfounded and shocked when they came to the state of Utah… a land that nobody seemed to have warned them about. For one, the lowest point of Southern Utah is at least a thousand feet higher than the highest roads of Appalachia. And yes, the two passes over the Rockies were brutal, but what about the three passes of Boulder, Utah which just missed the same altitude of the Rockies by a mere 400 feet? Trust the team on this one: if you just climbed 5000 vertical feet in an afternoon, climbing an extra 400 is just another song on the ipod. The west just seems to get so much bigger the further one goes. In a way, these unknown passes would haunt the group all the way to Victorville, California. But on the evening of November 5, 2008 while families sat down for supper, prime time television followed closely the historic election progress, and the world seemed nestled in warm homes in anticipation of the coming winter, four young men and two guest riders in the cold dark evening had just reached the summit of the infamous Cajon pass at 4300 feet, the final pass which would guarantee that the final 86 miles of the voyage would be downhill. No more unknown mountains, no more sheer cold, no more shock, no more feeling so alone and so lost in a land so desolate and diverse. The work had been done, and what remained would be the recognized streets that lead to the finish line.

The Last Mountain Pass is a post from: Olin A. Patterson

that dog followed us for 34 miles in the desert heat

barstow the dog!

November 05, 2008

Emerging from the desert, a very special team rider (runner) came along for the day.The California stray (which was much nicer than Kentucky strays) ran along side the group for 34 miles. After his baptism, they appropriately gave the dog the Christian name Barstow, to renounce his once pagan and nomadic roots. Barstow grew weary of the western caravan and by the afternoon had abandoned his occidental vowels and returned back to the barbaric life of a desert vagrant. Oh that tramp.

A Special Guest Rider (Runner) is a post from: Olin A. Patterson

November 04, 2008

To accompany such worldly novelties of this trip, like the world’s largest ball of sesal twine, the team payed homage to the world’s largest thermometer which sits on the site of the hottest place on Earth, Baker California. Good Fortune kept the heat to a more temperate degree, but with it came the terrible head winds which would accompany the team throughout the entire last desert passage.

The World’s Largest Thermometer is a post from: Olin A. Patterson

November 03, 2008

In the footsteps of so many that came west in hopes of bettering the human condition, the team traced history on the old highway responsible for how the west was won. Though the windy and dilapidated road seemed endless, the guys enjoyed the thoroughfare nonetheless.

Retracing Footsteps on Route 66 is a post from: Olin A. Patterson

November 01, 2008

After spending late October in the harsh desert lands of southern Utah and the high backbone of the continental divide, the team was ecstatic to have reached the great border of the 48th state of the Union -Sweet California! To have finally made it after 14 states, 5 rain storms, a week of thirst and 2 major snow storms the team could officially say they rode their bikes from Virginia to California. However exciting the border seemed, the road ahead was going to be some of the most remote and hostile climates of the entire trip: the Mojave desert. John Steinbeck said it best of that broad spanning waste land that separates the rest of the continent from the fertile and Mediterranean utopia of the West Coast, “The Mojave is a big desert and a frightening one. It’s as though nature tested a man for endurance and constancy to prove whether he was good enough to get to California.” It was this last leg of such a great adventure that would test the group one final time before they descended that high desert into the coastal plains.

California, Here We Come! is a post from: Olin A. Patterson