{"id":1377,"date":"2026-02-11T14:43:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T14:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bike76-va.vt.domains\/home\/?p=1377"},"modified":"2026-02-11T14:43:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T14:43:44","slug":"squish-westward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bike76-va.vt.domains\/home\/blog-posts\/squish-westward\/","title":{"rendered":"Squish Westward"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

February 5, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Tom Ewing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two days after the ceremonial departure from Jamestown, Virginia, on May 15, 1976, the Washington Post ran a feature story about the riders as they made their way through central Virginia. The article was written by Paul Hodge, with a location and date stamp of Mineral, VA., May 16 and was based on interviews with cyclists and Bikecentennial organizers. The first paragraph immerses readers in the experience of riders: \u201cThe first dozen cyclists on the nation\u2019s new \u2018bikecentennial trail\u2019 passed beyond Richmond today soaked and happy, as they pedaled toward Oregon, 4,150 miles away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The article focused on Clarence Pickard, \u201can 85-year old Iowa farmer who is biking across America on the new national bike route as an example to old and young alike of the need for self-reliance.\u201d A photograph of Pickard leaning against his handlebars included his distinctive pith helmet and a Bikecentennial T-shirt. The article mentioned that Pickard got lost soon after the group departed Jamestown, and briefly was riding in the wrong direction on Route 5. He asked for directions to Oregon, and got back on track (read more about Clarence Pickard in the Roanoke Times, linked here<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The real focus of the article was on the interactions between riders and local communities, thus fulfilling the vision of the Bikecentennial organizers: \u201cThe cyclists were waved and holloed at in every town they passed. They were followed by children on bikes and enthusiastically chased by hundreds of dogs, during the first three days they spent pedaling in the rain from Jamestown here, where they spent tonight at a camp ground.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The cyclists rode more slowly than planned, \u201cbecause of frequent stops to view Revolutionary and Civil War sites and to talk and take iced tea with friendly farm families along the way.\u201d In the words of reporter Hodge, bicycle riders are \u201cnot only get the taste, sounds and smells of rural America but are virtually transported back 50 years and more to a countryside few motorists look for or can find.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After describing how cyclists \u201cstopped close to 50 times between Jamestown and little Elko,\u201d (a distance of just under forty miles), journalist Hodge offered this this description of the cyclists at the end of the day: \u201cAs the pioneer group of Bikecentennialists sat around their camp fire or huddled against the rain, eating peanut butter sandwiches and recounting the first days\u2019 Revolutionary and Civil War sites and their passage through backroad Virginia, they were surprised at how much there was to see and how much they had learned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 1970s, the Washington Post had a reputation as a leading national newspaper, based on political reporting, international correspondents, sports journalism, and a commitment to covering news in the greater Washington DC metropolitan area. Paul Hodge, who spent decades at the Post in many roles, was an example of how newspaper journalism depended on the professionalism of reporters, editors, and managerial staff. Recent events at the Washington Post are a reminder of how much has been lost at this institution and in journalism more generally in the decades since the Bicentennial year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

February 5, 2026 by Tom Ewing Two days after the ceremonial departure from Jamestown, Virginia, on May 15, 1976, the Washington Post ran a feature story about the riders as they made their way through central Virginia. The article was written by Paul Hodge, with a location and date stamp of Mineral, VA., May 16 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bike76-va.vt.domains\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bike76-va.vt.domains\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bike76-va.vt.domains\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bike76-va.vt.domains\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bike76-va.vt.domains\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1377"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bike76-va.vt.domains\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1383,"href":"https:\/\/bike76-va.vt.domains\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1377\/revisions\/1383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bike76-va.vt.domains\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bike76-va.vt.domains\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bike76-va.vt.domains\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}