thanks carley sue for the video!
A short video of some clips at the finish line of our cross country bicycle ride.
Archive for the ‘Vegas to Huntington’ Category
3700 Mile Finish
Thursday, January 21st, 2010In The End
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
This is a blog I wrote when I rode a bicycle across the country… I am moving it here from cycling4acause.org to preserve it in a single location! Enjoy! xxop
the finish pose
final odometer reading: 3703.1 miles
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.
The Finish Line
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
This is a blog I wrote when I rode a bicycle across the country… I am moving it here from cycling4acause.org to preserve it in a single location! Enjoy! xxop
eric and scott… our finish line party awaits us (background)
the great pacific!
courtesy of oc register
the official finish
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 earth is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first,
Nature is rude and incomprehensible at first,
Be not discouraged, keep on,
there are divine things well envelop’d,
I swear to you there are divine things-
more beautiful than words can tell.’ -ww
Worthy of the West
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
This is a blog I wrote when I rode a bicycle across the country… I am moving it here from cycling4acause.org to preserve it in a single location! Enjoy! xxop
we hope the west finds us worthy
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.
The Final Marathon
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
This is a blog I wrote when I rode a bicycle across the country… I am moving it here from cycling4acause.org to preserve it in a single location! Enjoy! xxop
a broken chain almost delays the finish
jane rides over the santa ana river
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 Last Pass
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
This is a blog I wrote when I rode a bicycle across the country… I am moving it here from cycling4acause.org to preserve it in a single location! Enjoy! xxop
pete eich alone and bitterly cold on another 9600 foot summit
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.
