Bikecentennial, Seen Through Judy Cureton’s Woodblock Prints
Judy Cureton, my mom, was born in 1938 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. She loved playing outside growing up and became very fond of her bicycle. As a young mother, she relied on her bike to run errands with me in tow. I always remember her having a bike. As I grew up, I remember her going for rides on Sunday with her bike group. She biked locally with them and traveled on bike trips with them. She has biked on all of the continents except Antarctica.
I was 11 when she rode Bikecentennial. I stayed with my grandmother that summer, and I always remember my mom saying she dipped her bike tire in the ocean at the start and at the end. The prints she made were part of her master’s portfolio in art school. She was a high school art teacher.
She continued to ride many miles over the years. She took my children on various bike trips, and she always loved to ride the Hilly Hundred in Indiana. In retirement, she worked at her local bike shop. She is something of a “bike legend” in Cape Girardeau. —Shannon Nunnelly
