Part of the thrill of the Greenway Sojourn is being together with all these folks who love trails and cycling. Almost as exciting is seeing all their mounts together in one place, and especially the various sorts of bikes.
Among the 500 bicycles on this year's mostly off-road tour were the expected hybrids, mountain bikes and a few road machines beefed up with wider than normal tires. But, more exotic, there were also folders and tandems and recumbents—with and without fairings for streamlining. The head-turner among all of these was one couple's semi-recumbent tandem, customized to be hand-powered on the front. And then there was the equipment for cycling with kids. With children as young as five participating daily, we had mountain bikes of all sizes, as well as trailers, tag-alongs and kid-back tandems—a rolling demonstration of how to cycle as a family.
Among the 500 bicycles on this year's mostly off-road tour were the expected hybrids, mountain bikes and a few road machines beefed up with wider than normal tires. But, more exotic, there were also folders and tandems and recumbents—with and without fairings for streamlining. The head-turner among all of these was one couple's semi-recumbent tandem, customized to be hand-powered on the front. And then there was the equipment for cycling with kids. With children as young as five participating daily, we had mountain bikes of all sizes, as well as trailers, tag-alongs and kid-back tandems—a rolling demonstration of how to cycle as a family.
Every rider's bike suggests a story. Here are a few I want to share.
I must say, I was impressed by the kids—all the kids. I didn't hear any whining from the youngest in their trailers. And among those old enough to pedal there must have been a lot of personal bests on this eight-day tour. Whenever I saw them, they were churning along cheerfully or, at least, stoically. I met Carter, who was turning ten the next day, riding his mountain bike with his granddad (shown above). On tag-along or tandem I met stokers Tatyana (with the long blond braids) and Sarah (with the bird on her helmet) and others—all learning something about themselves and accomplishment and observing nature from the seat of a bicycle.
In celebration of all the youngsters, here's the story of the Lubas and Schellings, who keep returning to the Greenway Sojourn because they like the traffic-free cycling and near level grades—and maybe the fun most years of having the tours' youngest participants.
This year on day two Doug Luba and Costin Schelling just about doubled their previous longest rides and were still going strong. Both boys are seven and ride REI K-2 seven-speed mountain bikes. That day between Riley's Lock and Harpers Ferry Doug did 31 miles on his K-2 and Costin, 29. In between stints on their own single bikes, they were turning the cranks on tag-alongs.
As we stood in line for breakfast pancakes Monday at the KOA in Harpers Ferry, Doug's dad Mark seemed slightly surprised. "I was going to pull him up the hill to the campground, but he wanted to pedal up himself," Mark said, smiling. "And he had plenty of energy afterwards to play in the pool and on the playground." Here's Doug on the tag-along.
Kate Hughes, Costin's mom, sounded equally proud of his achievement. "The other half of that," she said, "was that he had a good attitude all the way."
The attitude must have carried over. "I had a good day yesterday," Costin summed up his Sunday on the C&O. "I saw trees, trees and more trees. I liked seeing all those bikes, and I saw ten turtles and a heron."
For all or most of the tour, the boys' younger siblings, Josie Schelling and Eric Luba, both five years old, rode in trailers pulled by their moms. Eric cradled a stuffed bear that, by the looks of it, has already had many adventures. When Josie wasn't napping, I heard her singing and talking with her mom. She was still smiling in the rain. It was great to see the pleasure of cycling being nurtured with these kids.
As for the semi-custom tandem with the recumbent, hand-crank front, it belongs to Mike and Anne Kruimer. The $8,000 bicycle was the Edison, New Jersey couple's courageous response to an accident in 1992, which paralyzed Anne from the waist down. While cycling, she was struck by a car, went into the windshield and broke her back.
During what must have been a difficult time of recovery and adjustment, they ordered this tandem that seats Anne comfortably in front where she can see. A year after the accident they received the bicycle, and they ride it. In 2004 they took the bike from Maine to Florida on a tour promoting the East Coast Greenway.
Advocates for the Middlesex Greenway rail-trail, the Kruimers said they heard about Greenway Sojourn 2007 and were eager to travel the D.C. to Pittsburgh trail. "It's a very important link," Mike said. Besides that, he added, "The Sojourn is about the people."
During what must have been a difficult time of recovery and adjustment, they ordered this tandem that seats Anne comfortably in front where she can see. A year after the accident they received the bicycle, and they ride it. In 2004 they took the bike from Maine to Florida on a tour promoting the East Coast Greenway.
Advocates for the Middlesex Greenway rail-trail, the Kruimers said they heard about Greenway Sojourn 2007 and were eager to travel the D.C. to Pittsburgh trail. "It's a very important link," Mike said. Besides that, he added, "The Sojourn is about the people."
Anne agreed that she found Sojourners interesting and sociable, and she enjoyed wildlife along the trails. The highlight for her, though, was the Paw Paw Tunnel on the C&O and the Big Savage Tunnel on the Great Allegheny Passage. "I like going through tunnels."
"Once she heard about the tunnels, we had to come," said Mike, admitting that he is claustrophobic and tunnels are not his thing. In fact, he wouldn't have made it through pitch-black, 3,118-foot Paw Paw Tunnel, he said, without the encouragement of Sojourn staffer Paul Simpson, who followed them on the narrow walkway. The two men bantered back and forth: "Hey, Mike, don't fall in the canal! There's a lot of hard rocks down there..." "Yeah, Paul, I don't think there are any soft ones!..."
Off the bike, Anne and Mike had to be creative since the Sojourn is not (and doesn't claim to be) fully wheelchair accessible. By using the shower truck during dinner, for example, Mike found privacy to help Anne bathe. "The most difficult thing for me," Anne said, "was going over the pedestrian bridge at Harpers Ferry," which requires ascending a spiral stairway. "A couple of guys carried me up the stairs. One of them, a very nice guy, wasn't even a Sojourner."
As we said goodbye in Pittsburgh, both were pleased to have gone the distance and to have enjoyed it. "For medical reasons, she couldn't train for the last seven weeks," admitted Mike. "I wasn't sure she could make it. But," he grinned, "we did."
Yeah, Mike, it’s the people.
Susan Weaver
Photo of Josie Schelling and Mom Kate Hughes by Sally Gerdes
Photo of Brief Rest on the Bench by Linda Young
Photo of Sojourners on the Low Bridge at Ohiopyle by Carl Knoch
