Team Choda

Here is a crew of James Madison University graduates who rode the TransAmerica Trail in the summer of 1997 to celebrate their collegiate achievement, the third such group of JMU graduates to take on the TransAm.

Here they are, in all their glory: The 1998 James Madison University TransAmerica Group, known mysteriously as Team CHODA. Adam Johnson (environmental studies), Brian Overby (physics), Rudy Hayden (finance), left to right in back, and Jay Meyer (sociology), seated in front, visited the local Goodwill store just to get properly attired for this photo. (Which explains the dress on Brian. We think.)

"Got chased by 10 wild dogs in Kentucky, felt like part of a Kibbles & Bits commercial," wrote Adam Johnson. "Swallowed 2,528 mosquitos in one meal in Montana. Saw a huge bar brawl in Saratoga, Wyoming (a beer bottle was even broken!) Cycled all night under the full moon, putting in 175 miles in a single day!"

And sociologist Jay Meyer, who notes that he still doesn't know what "jake brakes" are, confirms our assumption that the TransAm crossing has become an annual tradition at James Madison. "Look for more to come!" writes Jay.

We will.