Jim Loyd (1937-1998)
I crossed the country with Cycle America in the summer of 1996. It was my reward for retirement from the military. I had wanted to ride across the country since I was a kid so I told everyone that it was the first thing I’d do when I retired. So I did! I have some great memories from that trip.
I signed on as a staff member to defray the cost of riding the ride. I was assigned to the transportation staff. Out of 12 staff members, 8 of us were transportation. I got to ride 4 days out of the week, in the van 2, and then on the day off on Saturday, I would drive to pick up new riders and drop off those who were leaving the ride.
During the ride
we saw some wonderful landscapes...in Glacier National Park,
late spring is
less than optimum, but it mattered not. It was still an adventure
I'll never forget. We had bears in our campsite in Canada! We
traveled through Glacier National Park (where we encountered a blizzard), and
through Yellowstone National Park and Old Faithful before crossing Montana.
You’ve
heard of the song, “You can’t roller-skate through a buffalo herd.”
Well, I’ve biked through one in Yellowstone!
In Montana I experienced the worst day I ever encountered on a bicycle. We
had a 72 mile day from Townsend MT to Ennis MT. That particular day we had
winds that were steady at 30 MPH and gusting to 40 MPH all day right off our
nose! We also had two major climbs of a couple thousand feet each.
The climbs were awesome with the winds beating down in our face. I got
blown to a complete stop twice during the first climb! And on the second
descent, I estimated I could have gotten over 50. But on
that day, I only could manage about 18 if I pedaled hard! It was the most
brutal day I’ve ever spent on a bike. It put my favorite saying, “Your
worst day on a bike is better than your best day at work” to the test!
This WAS work! On the flats I could manage about 8-11 MPH if I
really pressed and was wondering what the other
people were doing that day. Many didn’t finish. The Sag van was
busy that day! There was a hot springs that was conveniently positioned
about 20 miles from the finish. Many took pleasure over pain and got in
the hot springs then sagged in from there. I was not to be deterred from
my quest to finish the day...now it was personal. When I finally got in,
it took all the strength I had left just to carry my bag to the school hallway
and then collapse in a heap on the floor. I thought I'd take a nap before
dinner...but as it turned out, I didn't wake up till breakfast! I think I
slept well...don't remember anything after I laid down!
Next
we crossed North Dakota. I was dreading that state and for good reason.
We had headwinds everyday that I rode, but N.D. had a beauty all it’s own.
I remember seeing the road for 20 miles ahead of me that you could lay a string
on—straight as an arrow! The only reason you couldn’t see 40 miles of
road was because of a rise. When I finally got to that rise, I could see
another 20 miles straight ahead! It was awesome. We rode along the
Lewis and Clark expedition trail--Quite a lot of history there and beautiful
country. I spent my second worst day on a bike that week. We had 20+
MPH headwinds for a 102 mile day into Carrington N.D. And that night we
had a terrible thunderstorm. I remember getting dressed in my raingear in
my tent and curling up in my sleeping bag while the wind blew and lightening
flashed all around. The next morning I was pleased to see that, not only
was I and all the rest still alive, but that my tent was dry inside. I
felt silly sleeping in my raingear, but I didn’t want to streak across the
parking lot when lightening struck the dumpster I was camped beside!
Minnesota took
the prize for the worst Mosquitoes!!! I
thought that Washington, Montana, and North Dakota had some doozies, but
Minnesota took the cake. When the mosquitoes would catch a lonely rider
out on the road, they would just eat him by the road because if they took him
back to the forest the “BIG” mosquitoes would
take him away from them! Those buggers would sit on your tent and just
wait for you to come out in the morning then it was Swarm, swarm, swarm!
We lost two bikes one night at Brainard MN, but I think it was the mosquitoes
that took ‘em! I unrolled my tent a couple of days out of Minnesota and
saw 7 blood splotches about the size of a nickel on the inside. I’d
rolled up 7 mosquitoes and that was MY blood!!!
I really enjoyed riding across Wisconsin. Beautiful state! We stopped at the circus a Baraboo and took the ferry across Lake Michigan to Ludington MI. I didn’t realize that Lake Michigan was so big. We were out of sight of land for over 2 hours!
Then it was back to civilization—the shores of
Michigan, the farmland of Ohio (and CA riders don’t forget the Yellow Duck
Campsite and Bike Nashbar), the hills of Pennsylvania, the vineyards and corn of
New York. We camped under the flame at Lake Placid. The final week
we spent cruising through the mountains of Massachusetts, Vermont, New
Hampshire, and Maine. What a trip. We traveled over 5200 miles in 12
weeks while camping all across the country. We braved mammoth headwinds, a
blizzard in Glacier National Park, and the all the mosquitoes that every state
could throw at us!
I
met some great people from much different backgrounds than me. One doctor
retired from practice in Washington, bought a bike, and rode to his retirement
state of Maine! He was a Great guy who had a keen fashion sense when it
came to cycling. He’d stop by flea markets and buy shirts to ride in
then throw them away when he wore them for a couple days. I didn’t know
Arrow made bike clothing! We had a professional puppeteer from Rhode
Island. Never knew anyone from RI before, let alone a puppeteer. We
had students who were just trying to find themselves. We had a school
teacher who was trying to enjoy adult company for the summer. We had a
retired roller derby queen who rode a little bike with a wind sock. We had
a computer tech from the DC area. Looked like DR No, but he could ride all
day. We had a retired guy from Sheboygan who
rated
each days ride with beer. He rated a good ride with 3 beers and a greatride with 6 beers! He was in his late 60s and could ride the pants off
most of us. We had a nurse from Colorado who was a strong rider and was
always happy if she could find the ice cream shop. We had an iron lady who
just rode across the country to get away from running centuries. Her
husband kept us informed about the best espresso shops at each stop. We
had a retired Navy guy who would get on the road before light. We had a
contest everyday on who could finish first. If the rides were shorter than
75 miles, I couldn’t catch him. I met a little bombshell
from Chicago. She was a gym rat. After each day’s ride she’d go
to the local gym to workout. Don’t take her on for a push up contest!
One couple got married in Vermont. We all went to the wedding in our bike
clothes and they rode off on a tandem with cans in tow. And finally, I met
a guy from Pompano Beach who became my best friend and who this page is
dedicated. Sadly, he passed away in '98. I’ll miss him dearly. People from all over, from
all walks of life, and riding across the country for different reasons.
They were great people that I’ll never forget. I’ll cherish their
friendship always.