A Most Beautiful Country

Reuben and Teresa Peterson of Modesto, California, rode their Co-motion tandem up the west coast, picked up the Transam Trail and headed east until they hit Bar Harbor, Maine. In all, using portions of five different Adventure Cycling routes. The journey took 131 days (95 riding days) and covered 5,076 miles.

Reuben summed it all up, “God has created a most beautiful country and has filled it with wonderful, caring, interesting and generous people. We met so many folks along the way who went out of their way to help us, to speak to us, to share their stories and their faith with us and to be genuinely interested in us. The media would have you think that this is a very dangerous, troubled, god-less, selfish and unkind nation, but we found the absolute opposite to be true. Yes, we are all busy and focused on our goals – we are Americans, after all – but we are also mostly just shy folk when it comes to strangers. All that is needed to bring people together is something that opens the door to conversation, an ice-breaker. Traveling by bicycle provides that vehicle to breaking down the barriers. People can’t help but come up to you and ask, “Where’re ya headedω Where’d ya come fromω How’re ya gettin backω” Then the eyes get big, head shaking starts and you end up spending an hour of prime daylight meeting the nicest people on earth. I LOVE IT! CAN’T WAIT TO DO IT AGAIN!”