Bicycling Across America’S Great Northwest: When Fear and Faith Collide: The Final 31 Days of My Trip Across the North American Continent

By Joe Tarantino

Joe Tarantino describes the fifth and final leg of his 3,600-mile bicycle ride across the North American continent started thirty-one years earlier. Previous trips had left him with nearly 1,700 miles remainingfrom the Pacific coast to his prior stopping point in Winner, South Dakota, just east of the Badlands. After what began as a to-do on his bucket list, Joe eventually realized the final segment of his trip had become something God now wanted him to do.
Riding by himself, Joe began his trip in Seaside, Oregon. He crossed the Columbia River over the Astoria-Megler Bridge into the state of Washington and was promptly greeted with record-high temperatures while crossing the Cascade Mountain range and eastern Washington deserts. Along the way, Joe encountered folks from all walks of life and demographics who provided support and encouragement at the times he needed it most.
His wife, Barbara, eventually met him in Harrison, Idaho, driving a rented SUV, providing additional support and sharing in his daily adventures. In addition to the record heat, mountain ranges, and deserts, they also endured a 5.8-magnitude earthquake while staying in a one-hundred-year-old log cabin hotel in a remote area of Montana, the epicenter occurring only a few miles from where they had spent the night.
Joe describes how God answered daily prayers for protection and provided new insights into Psalm 23 through the people and circumstances he encountered each day. Joes description of his trip will help you understand not only the physical challenges of such a journey but deep insight into his mind during the daily rides.
In addition to entertaining you, this book will challenge, motivate, and inspire you to maybe accomplish something you thought impossible while encouraging you to reevaluate your own relationship with the Creator.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 26, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973614722

Joe Tarantino

Joe Tarantino retired from the work-a-day world in 2014 in response to Gods call to a different direction in an otherwise, comfortable life. After a 35 year career working as a chemist, engineer, and in various management roles, he spent time assisting in caring for his father, prior to his fathers passing in 2015. Joe has continued to hone his skills in the art of making the perfect cup of coffee and refurbishing vintage bicycles. Always an avid bicyclist, Joe started a dream to bicycle across the North American continent in 1986 with a trip from Canton, Ohio, to Niagara Falls, New York. After becoming sidetracked playing softball, basketball, and running marathons, he finally finished the 3,600 mile journey 31 years later, with a trip from Seaside, Oregon to Winner, South Dakota. Joes wife, Barbara, is a former high school Spanish teacher and retired Director of High School Guidance Counseling. They married in 1979 after meeting while attending Greenville College, Illinois. They have two sons, Giancarlo and Gianmarco, who also share their parents sense of adventure and travel.

Book preview

BICYCLING ACROSS AMERICA’S GREAT NORTHWEST: WHEN FEAR AND FAITH COLLIDE

THE FINAL 31 DAYS OF MY TRIP

ACROSS THE NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT

JOE TARANTINO

Copyright © 2018 Joe Tarantino.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible

WestBow Press

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-1471-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-1472-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017919113

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/25/2018

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CONTENTS

Foreword

Psalm 23

Pedaling Preliminaries

Days 1-8: Washington

Days 9-10: Idaho

Days 11-23: Montana

Days 24-31: Wyoming-South Dakota

Day 32 and beyond

Ride Across North America Summary

Appendix

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It is impossible to find enough words to express an appropriate thank you’ to my wife for all her sacrifices, support and understanding during my training, running, and riding - enabling me to pursue my cycling dreams. Whether I could have completed this journey without you is irrelevant. I would not have wanted it any other way. Thank you.

To my younger son, Marco, thanks for taking a week of vacation to accompany and support Mom and me during the trip’s final week, often tolerating uncertain hotel Wi-Fi connections for your online classes. To my older son, Carlo, thanks for allowing me place the two-year-old version of you in the rear child carrier of my Peugeot, while I trained to simulate the load I would need to carry during the trip to Niagara Falls. And to the older Carlo, thanks for the use of your Chicago apartments as stopping and starting points for other legs of my journey.

FOREWORD

Always the journey, never the destination – Simon Rattle

In my mind, endurance athletes fall into three categories: those who want to be alone while training and competing, those who require constant companionship, and everyone else. On the alone-to-companionship continuum, with alone being one and complete companionship a ten, I probably fall in the one-to-two range. For those who can relate to me, the time apart from responsibilities, obligations, and general noise of the world, provides us with a chance to unwind, enjoy the outdoors, and let our minds wander in almost any direction we choose; allowing us to forget about how far we’ve have gone, or how far we still have to go. Or at least that’s what I thought. I gradually realized bicycling did not always require the mental focus that running long distances did, and I felt challenged to control my bicycling, random thought patterns toward something more constructive. But similar to physical training, it took time to develop the ability to stay focused on a topic while cycling.

During the 1970’s, I began to dream about riding my bicycle across the North American continent. Unable to find time to complete the entire trip during one period of time, I eventually broke the trip into five separate segments that took over 31 years to finish. Somewhere after finishing the fourth-segment from Chicago to Winner, South Dakota, but before starting the Seaside, Oregon, return ride to Winner for completion of the journey, I realized this trip was not something I merely wanted to do, but rather something I needed to do. It was with no shortage of apprehension that I considered all the potential pitfalls; riding over long, tall bridges, climbing and descending mountain passes, crossing desert terrain, dodging cars, motor homes, and 18-wheelers, all while avoiding wildlife who had been assigned to rip the flesh from my bones at predetermined times. Of course, my body would also need to hold up in the blazing western sun and unpredictable winds for more than twice the distance I had ever previously ridden during a trip.

With that backdrop, as I prepared to leave the relative safety of my Seaside hotel room, I prayed to God for protection, and also that He would open my mind to anything He would speak to me during each day’s ride. Almost immediately, I felt God’s presence and assurance that He would provide the strength and protection I would need to complete this trip. And best of all, I believed God wanted me to relax and ENJOY the experience – that this was a trip God wanted me to finish – safely! I felt like a large load had been lifted.

As I began cycling north on the Oregon Coast Highway, I took in a beautiful sunrise during a mostly traffic-free ride, sensing protection and confidence I did not think would have been possible. I would repeat the same prayer each day, and God would be faithful to provide the protection I needed. In return, I was obligated to rein in my thoughts, and be open to whatever He wanted me to hear during each day’s ride. This book documents my daily riding experiences, how God provided the daily protection I prayed for, and how He spoke to me during this trip.

Before each chapter, I’ve included key details of each day’s ride to enhance the reader’s understanding of my experiences. In addition, I’ve listed the total miles I rode each day, including the starting and finishing temperatures of the ride. There’s also an Appendix with a very detailed spreadsheet containing exact daily starting and stopping times, hotel information, daily net elevation, total daily climb, break times, average mph, maximum speed each day, etc…I could only suppress my inner-geek so much!

Although each chapter covers key activities and interactions along my daily route, it’s important to note that most of my daily rides were spent on remote roads and trails. I would sometimes ride for an hour without passing a car or seeing anything other than forests or open fields. Some of the chapters will briefly discuss the isolation I felt, but I am very much a numbers guy, and found it hard to quantify an isolation-index for each day. Additionally, I’m not sure most readers would have cared how I ranked each day, and I’m fairly certain most wouldn’t understand the formulas I would develop to rank them. Still, some of the strongest collective memories from this trip occurred whenever I would stop on the side of the road for a quick break. When riding, there’s always a background noise, primarily comprised of the passing wind, my tires rolling over the various road surfaces, and the quiet, soothing interaction of my chain with the front chainrings and rear sprockets. However, as soon as I would stop riding, the background noise would be eliminated, and it would become eerily quiet. It was during those times that I felt most isolated. When riding, I felt somewhat in control, but standing under the vast Montana Big Sky or in the tall Washington forests, I felt very vulnerable, but yet in awe of the beauty that surrounded me. Although not explicitly documented for each day of my trip, this blanket-of-isolation was the background covering each day’s ride.

This book is not exclusively for long-distance cyclists. Almost anyone who has ever ridden a bike can relate to the struggles of conquering a steep hill, the subsequent joy of then coasting downhill, or the feeling of accomplishment no matter how far you had ridden. You may find yourself reading this book solely to enjoy my bicycling adventures. But hopefully, the simple analogies that accompany my stories will allow you to be receptive to experiencing God from either a new perspective, or as a reminder of a past relationship with Him, and help you rediscover a truth you may had been taking for granted.

God bless you and safe cycling!

PSALM 23 (KJV)

1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Pedaling Preliminaries: Learning to Ride and the First 28 Days of a Trip Across North America

I’m so glad my Dad decided to give me a second push on that old, used bicycle. His first push was not entirely successful, and resulted in me crashing into our bike-eating backyard swing-set. I distinctly remember protesting against push number two, while sobbing from the bodily damages incurred during push number one. I hurt my private parts! or something equally ineffective to discourage another push from this beast; my attempt to prevent permanent damage to that six year old’s ability to later provide the beast with future grandchildren. The second push lasted a bit longer, and incredibly, I soon realized he was no longer pushing. I had mastered the art of bicycling at an early age - with the added benefit of key reproductive organs apparently still intact.

After working out some of the more subtle nuances of bicycle riding during the next few days in our backyard and driveway, I eventually found more freedom riding on the road in front of our house. From riding on the road in front of our house, to cycling to friends’ homes in the neighborhood, the trips became longer and longer in the cycling-unfriendly city of Youngstown, Ohio, during the late 1960’s and early