I like the challenge

February 12, 2026

by Tom Ewing

In late winter 1976, California cyclist Karla Jones was training for her planned ride across the country as part of the Bikecentennial. An article published first in the Napa Valley Register, on February 12, 1976. and then republished in other regional newspapers, including the Fresno Bee, March 15, 1976, began with Jones’ statement that cycling is the best way to travel across the country during the Bikecentennial year: “I like the challenge, we’ll see a lot of scenery and it’s the best way to see the country. You can hear things, see things, and smell things you don’t notice in a car.”

Karla Jones has been riding for about seven years, and has already completed a 200 mile ride. Her plans for the Bikecentennial ride covered about 50 days, with an estimated journey of 60-80 miles each day.  While working at the Napa City-County Library, her training rides include daily rides of 25 miles and weekend rides of 100 miles or more. She began riding in Los Angeles, with a local cycling organization, and will be joined by a dozen members of this club on her ride. Jones planned to begin her ride on May 16 in Astoria, Oregon, and ride east, eventually reaching Virginia more than 4,000 miles later. A map showing the Trans-America trail includes two Virginia locations, Yorktown, where Jones planned to end her ride, and Wytheville, approximately four hundred miles to the east across the state. 

Asked what she expected to see, hear, and feel along the ride, Jones responded: “Rivers, brooks, birds, nature. And it give you a feeling of satisfaction when you climb a hill.” Asked why she was doing the ride, Jones answered in a self-deprecating manner: “Well, it’s sort of a challenge.” Photographs show her riding her Italian ten speed, with water bottle and toe clips, and, unlike most long distance cyclings in this era, a helmet. 

A diligent search of newspapers from summer and fall 1976 has not located confirmation that she completed her ride on the anticipated date, in late June or early July 1976..