Category: Blog posts

June 17, 2026 by Tom Ewing Charles Love finished the spring semester as Dean of Hobart Colege in upstate New York shortly before leaving to begin the 450 mile ride on the Virginia section of the Bikecentennial ride from Radford to  Williamsburg. Love predicted that the ride would take him through “an area that is…

June 11, 2026 by Tom Ewing Lea Brooks was a senior at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo when she rode across the country as part of a Bikecentennial group. She documented her trip in a series of articles published by the Telegram-Tribune, from her departure in July to her arrival in Williamsburg in August.…

May 28, 2026 by Tom Ewing In late July 1976, four cyclists from the Netherlands took a detour from their bicycle trip across the United States to work on a tobacco farm in the small Virginia town of Rice. The four cyclists left Oregon on May 20 as part of the Bikecentennial, in a group…

June 4, 2026 by Tom Ewing A sign posted along Route 76 north of Blacksburg, the home of Virginia Tech, reads: “Slow. Watch for Dogs.” This sign may prompt a series of questions and responses from a cyclist, including what kind of dogs (friendly, hostile, big, small, fast) and where (behind a fence, on the…

May 21, 2026 by Tom Ewing In June 1928, Clara McGrew Lindgren rode her bicycle for 750 miles from her home in Nebraska to her parent’s home in Wisconsin. This ride was covered by the Omaha World Herald on July 29 and in a longer article in the Lincoln Journal Star on October 28.   She…

May 14, 2026 by Tom Ewing Steve Loitz finished his bicycle ride across the United States in a hospital bed, but he still thought the experience was worth the time and effort: “Oh, boy, am I glad I took the trip.” Loitz and two friends, Jeff Lydenburg and Mike Yates, all students at Kent State…

May 7, 2026 by Tom Ewing Paul Carnahan was a senior at Brattleboro High School in Vermont when he completed a 4,200 mile ride across the United States as part of the Bikecentennial. Carnahan’s journey was recounted in the Brattleboro Refrormer, November 18-19, 1976, which included a detailed account of the final days in Virginia…

April 23, 2026 by Tom Ewing The recent spike in gasoline prices beginning the national average to $4 a gallon evokes memories of the energy shocks of the 1970s. Of course, prices were lower fifty years ago. In 1976, the average price for a gallon of gas in the United States was $0.56. Considering that…

April 16, 2026 by Tom Ewing In spring 1976, several cyclists from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, began the Bikecentennial ride from Yorktown to Astoria. Lynn Sitte, a senior at University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, began riding with a group of seven cyclists in May and completed the journey on July 11, according to an article in the Oshkosh Northwestern,…

April 1, 2026 by Tom Ewing On April 30, 1926, one hundred years ago, the city of Portsmouth, Virginia, organized a Bicycle Parade. As indicated in the full page advertisement and articles in the Portsmouth Star, the event included a “safety first” demonstration, numerous contests, and demonstrations from the renowned cyclist, Mr. Fred St. Onge.…