Category: Uncategorized
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Watch for Dogs
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…
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Bikecentennial Stories
June 24, 2026 by Tom Ewing Fifty years ago, Chip Haynes and Lloyd Sumner each rode across the United States as part of the Bikecentennial. For each rider, the cross country trip was part of a larger lifetime involvement with bicycling. Their experiences–before, during, and after 1976–offer connections to this project which provide an effective…
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Bicycle Safety Month
April 30, 2026 by Tom Ewing The designation of May 1976 as National Bicycle Safety Month led communities to organize rides, traffic engineers to issue guidance, and bicycle stores to offer sales. In Indianapolis, the mayor rode a bike as part of the celebration, which also included adult cyclists following guided tours around historic landmarks.…
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Kevin Hume 1976
April 9, 2026 by Tom Ewing Kevin Hume of Columbia, Missouri was just 21 when he rode across the United States as part of the Bikecentennial. He began in Oregon, and spent 82 days riding to Yorktown, Virginia. Echoing the vision of Bikecentennial organizers, the trip gave him a view of America “as it really…
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Beth Heiden
February 26, 2026 By Tom Ewing Fifty years ago, Wisconsin speed skater Beth Heiden finished eleventh in the 3000 meter race at the 1976 Olympics. Heiden’s time was faster than the Olympic record set four years earlier, but not in the top ten for the 1976 competition. Press coverage of the sixteen year old Heiden…
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1925 Ride across America
February 19, 2026 by Tom Ewing The Bikecentennial ride in the summer of 1976 followed a long history of cyclists who rode across the American continent. One hundred years ago, in 1925, Dr. M. Plummer rode his bicycle from his home in Maine to San Francisco, where he visited a brother he reportedly had not…
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Dunmore Proclamation 1775
by Tom Ewing November 13, 2025 In November 1775, Lord Dunmore, royal governor of the Virginia colony, issued a proclamation that enraged America’s elite and contributed to an open break with the English king. Issued on November 7, while Dunmore was taking sanctuary on a royal ship on the York River, the proclamation announced that…
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Girl Cashier Seeks Bicycle Fame
by Tom Ewing July 31, 2025 An article in the Evening Star (Washington DC) on July 31, 1935 described the “ambition” of Iona J. Allen to compete in cycling at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Miss Allen, described as a “girl cashier,” has “made a name for herself in sectional bicycle races,” and regularly trains around…
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Dr Pepper, Rural Retreat, and Route 76
by Grace Kostrzebski July 24, 2025 Wade Morrison needed a job. And, no one would hire him. He was desperate – feeling rejected and frustrated. Living in a small, southwestern community in Virginia, it felt like everybody else had found their niche except him. Then one day, Dr. Charles T. Pepper decided to give him…
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Juneteenth ca 1975
by Grace Kostrzebski and Tom Ewing June 19, 2025 Illustration, Austin-American Statesman, April 19, 1975 The adoption of Juneteenth as a federal holiday in 2021 built upon more than a century of celebrations by Black communities of the emancipation of slaves. by the time of the Bikecentennial, fifty years ago, Juneteenth was an important history…
