Sights and Sounds
Willie Weir
Friday, March 12, 2010
As much as I love bicycles and cycling, it is the connections with people on my travels that I treasure most.
In 2001 Kat and I cycled through the Deep South. Our 2,000 mile journey aired as commentaries on public radio station KUOW in Seattle. The commentaries were written in the form of letters to my friend Bob Nadir.
I'd known Bob for many years. We shared a love for theater, running, and really, really hot Thai soup. In 1998 Bob contracted ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). When Bob's condition reached the point that he could no longer turn the pages in the books he was reading, I offered to come by his house and read for him.
I have often kept my travel journals in the form of letters written to my brother. For this journey, I asked Bob if I could write to him. Days before we left I asked Bob if he would mind if I shared those letters with the listeners of KUOW.
Bob and I read thirteen books together before ALS ended his life. I have traveled all over the world, but I have never come close to exhibiting the courage and compassion of Bob Nadir. Robert Jamieson of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote three columns about Bob. They are a touching tribute to an amazing man.
ALS Can't Break Friends Unspoken Bond
Win Puts M's Closer to Wish of a Special Fan
A Passion For Life is Celebrated in Death
In the coming weeks I'll post those on air letters and the journey they follow.
Next week:
Who's Vera: What does the Southeastern United States have in common with a Ford Taurus?
photo (Bob and Willie, Seattle, 2001) by Willie Weir
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SIGHTS AND SOUNDS appears on Friday afternoons. Willie Weir is a columnist for Adventure Cyclist magazine. His latest book Travels with Willie: Adventure Cyclist compiles his favorite writings over the last twelve years. He lives in Seattle with his wife Kat. You can read about their local adventures and life without a car at www.yellowtentadventures.com.
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Washington resident Durwood Moore’s longest, most-daunting bike trip likely will be his last.
Moore, 71, is in the midst of a cross-country journey along the Southern Tier Route, which is mapped out by the Adventure Cycling Association. The route stretches from San Diego, along the U.S.-Mexican border, to Florida’s Atlantic coastline. Hundreds of cycling enthusiasts take the 3,000-mile-plus trip every year. At the end of the route, Moore will turn north and travel through Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina to Washington.
“I’ve been reading for four or five years about people taking this trip. At my age, I figured I better do it now,” Moore said via cell phone Tuesday evening. At that time, Moore said, he was between El Paso and Del Rio, Texas, about 1,000 miles into his trip.
Besides the magnificent beauty of the Arizona mountains, Moore said, the generosity of the American people has stood out most to him, so far, during his trip.
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