Inside an old church in Montana a cyclist can make a different sort of spiritual pilgrimage. It is at 150 East Pine Street, Missoula, Montana, that a touring cyclist can get a sugar hit and words of encouragement, without spending a penny.
It is at this address, one will find the Adventure Cycling Assocation national headquarters. the ACA is an organisation who’s mission is to “inspire people of all ages to travel by bicycle.” Seeing they were the folks behind the original Bikecentennnial cycled by Keith, Marie and Jeff Hook, we thought it only just to take a detour to visit their fine offices.
In the ACA offices they curate, compile, and update cycle touring maps (over 40, 000 miles are covered), sell cycle touring gear, offer free internet and ice-cream to tourists and have a heaving repository of fine cycle touring memorabilia. I was quietly chuffed to see their library contained Keith’s book on his 1976 TransAm adventure.
On entry, you’re welcomed, and your photo is taken, where your polaroid is placed up on a wall with all the other cyclists that have passed through the offices that summer. We saw a few familiar faces we’d met on the road, and were encouraged to see so many worn and sunburnt TransAm cyclists still managing to crack a smile for the camera.
Earlier in our trip we had been told about the ’1976 Collection’ of photos for the original ‘Bikecentennial’ where over 4000 people cycled across the US to commemorate 200 years of American Independence. Greg Siple, one of ACA’s founders kindly took us through to one of the back rooms where the finest of the 1976 black and white photos are framed on display.
Also in the offices, hanging from the walls, are the retired bicycles of cycle tourists. Notably is Dan and Lys Burden’s touring tandem – the bike they used to plot the TransAm trail. Also is Robert Hammersmith’s tourer. He rode the TransAm trail in 76 days, at the ripe age of 79, alone. Respect. We’ve met a lot of folks in their 60′s on the road, but thinking about this bloke puts perspective to our complaints on how sore we are at the end of a day’s ride.
This Chap rode the TransAm at 79 Years, in 76 days, and this is his bicycle.
Mr Siple was also kind enough to take our photo for the ACA’s Archive – with a black and white Nikon film camera -he’s been doing this since 1982. As this tour is somewhat part of a Legacy to Keith And Marie’s trip we proudly held up our spurtle, handmade by Keith and presented to us before our departure. The Spurtle has been an essential tool for stirring countless pots of beans, rice and chickpeas – which have fueled us across the country.
And so with our photo taken and a crew of English lycra clad tourists entering the building for their turn, it was time to leave. We reluctantly left Missoula in the direction of more hills, the Rockies and Yellowstone National Park.
Lovely story, maybe the next gen will discover your photos there when their time comes.
It is September first, and the stream of visitors to our Adventure Cycling office is diminishing. It’s been a record year with more than 600 cyclists dropping by. Soon we will see our last rider of the season (probably in early October) and we will begin the long lonely wait for the first rider of 2011.
Note that the touring tandem you mentioned was not ridden by Dan and Lys Burden. It belonged to Jim and Linda Richardson who rode it on the Transam Trail in the summer of 1974. Lys was the chief architect of the Trail and she had already done her research and made basic route choices from a VW microbus. Jim and Linda then were chosen to ‘field test’ the route from the seat of a bicycle. Their bike was the first to be donated to us for display.
Ironically, none of us four founders, Greg & June Siple and Dan & Lys Burden, have ridden the Transam Trail, except for the portion between Missoula, Montana, and the Oregon coast. That was in 1972, before it was the Transam Trail, as we were riding from Alaska to Argentina on our Hemistour expedition. It was later as we traveled south that we conceived the idea of what was to become Bikecentennial and the Transamerica Trail.
Thanks for the great write up of your visit. Glad you enjoyed yourselves.
another great story on you storied ride. thanks for sharing.
dang, i misspelled “your” again. rats. i do that all the time.
Lovely post J&L. So proud of you guys! We miss you. xx
Send some sunshine over here Jack and Lauren – I have being getting very wet on Wednesdays (in particular) in the cold Melbourne weather. Spring has begun here – Large parts of VIC under water.
Yeah for the spurtle triumph!! Jack and Lauren you are both amazing, keep turning those pedals onward. We all think you are doing a marvellous ride and we are planning the welcome home picnic, we may have a new government by then
love to you both Jane