Week 0 - Introduction to my Trip

Reflections from Jim’s Yellow Jersey

This is the first email of my bicycle trip across the USA. I will be sending them approximately once every week of my trip. To Subscribe and receive automatically submit your email below (No Spam):

Hello friends and family, as some of you are aware, starting on March 2nd I am embarking on a bike journey across the USA from San Diego, California, to St. Augustine, Florida. The trip is 2938 miles and will last 44 days. I’m excited for this journey and hope that you will follow along via this newsletter and social media.

 On most days, you will see me in a fluorescent yellow jersey paired with bright yellow socks. Yellow has been my favorite color to wear while biking, and over the years, my jerseys have become the subject of many family jokes. (For those who might not be aware, I have a son named Eli who is a stand-up comedian). He likes to point out that my actually favorite color is chartreuse, but that doesn’t sound as cool as yellow.

 The reason for choosing a yellow jersey is not because I am leading in the Tour de France, but because according to national standards, it is one of only three colors that meet the criteria for bicycle safety.

“Why are you biking across the USA?”

As I get closer and closer to this trip, that's the question that gets asked the most. And while many of you know that bicycling is one of my favorite hobbies, the answer for this specific journey comes from another one of my favorite hobbies: reading. 

 In 1979, my mother, Peggy, gifted me a book titled Pedaling the Ends of the Earth: subtitled, Four Young Men Come of Age in a Great Bicycling Adventure.
The story in this book never left my thoughts even though most of their problems would be solved today with a cellphone and a GPS, the themes of growth and adventure held true. Later in Life when I began compiling a Life’s Adventure List, a cross-continent bicycle trip climbed to the top of my list.

Around the middle of 2019, as professional transitions in my life finally allowed time for the bicycle training necessary for a trip of this magnitude, the years 2020 and 2021 soon arrived and like it did for many of us, put bumps in the road that derailed this Life Adventure of mine. Beyond Covid, which we all had to deal with in some way, my father, Ed, became ill and after six months of being back home in Cincinnati, succumbed to his illness at the age 93. (He is a real inspiration for this trip and proof that you’re never too old to live life to the fullest, as he still rode his bicycle 20 miles a week at age 92!)

 In 2021, my wife, Melissa, was diagnosed with breast cancer. After nearly two years and through the power of faith, prayers, family, and friend support, as well as a wonderful medical team, she is now cancer free. 

 And now in 2024, the bicycle trip is back on track, and with a renewed sense of purpose. Through Melissa’s trials and tribulations with cancer, one thing that was consistent in keeping a positive spirit was getting outdoors. Because of that, I will be riding for a local group entitled Move Beyond Surviving. Their story and mission of empowering breast cancer survivors to move beyond surviving to live a life in which they thrive, and doing so through organized outdoor adventure is closely aligned to Melissa and I. Read more about Melissa’s journey and Move Beyond Surviving in the link below, and I hope you will consider supporting their cause.

 https://givebutter.com/PEDALFORWARDLIFESARIDE

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My Artwork and Motivation Music

Along the way, I will share some artwork and music with you..

Here’s a link to a short video of my theme song for the trip

 Thank you for reading this first edition of Reflections from Jim’s Yellow Jersey.

 With Peace and Blessings, Jim

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