Coast to coast: A bicycle ride built for two

By Kim McDarison

Former Fort Atkinson High School science teacher Chick Westby, and his son, Sam, broke camp Wednesday morning in Imperial, Neb.

The small community of little more than 2,000 people is among places they’ve encountered as they bike together across America. The coast-to-coast trip they’ve embarked upon began in Oregon some 21 days ago, and will finish in New Jersey, if all goes according to plan, they said, in mid-July. 

Chick said the idea for the cross-country trip germinated first with Sam. He began talking about it a few years ago, but couldn’t find the time. 

This year, Sam, who is enrolled at Northeastern University where he is a graduate research assistant working on his doctoral degree, was able to set aside some time. 

“I had time,” Chick, who retired from teaching last year, said. 

To begin the journey, each member of the father-and-son team boarded a plane, Chick in Wisconsin, and Sam in Massachusetts, arriving together in Portland, Ore. They next took a bus, traveling about 90 miles, to the coastal community of Pacific City. 

“I looked on a map and found a city called Pacific City and one called Atlantic City and I thought that was kind of cool,” Chick said. 

The two men began cycling on Thursday, June 1. 

According to Chick, the full trip is 3,600 miles. By Wednesday morning, the team had already logged some 1,720 miles, placing the west coast and Rocky Mountains behind them and positioning the Great Plains as the next leg of the trip. 

Building a plan 

Chick said the internet and Google maps, with its option for “street view,” were helpful tools as he and Sam considered the pathways and terrain they would travel, adding that they “self-planned” the trip from Pacific City to the Mississippi River, and consulted a site called “Adventure Cycling” as they charted a path east of the Mississippi.  

Once on their bikes, they have been traveling about 90 miles each day, Chick said, which, he noted, could be considered ambitious. 

With between nine and 10 hours spent each day on the road, they break the time up, stopping along the way for periods of rest and refreshment, including water and snacks. Chick said about six to seven hours each day are spent cycling while a combined total of three to three and a half hours represent breaks. 

While they prefer avoiding interstate highways, Chick said: “We’ve had to go on some interstate in Colorado because there was no other road, but most of the time we are on county and state highways, and some back roads.”  

He said they also work to avoid gravel roads. 

“As we get farther east, there are more options for roads,” he said. 

In preparation 

Chick said a lot of preplanning was not really required for the trip. He and Sam both ride bikes and enjoy the outdoors. 

Along with biking and camping, Sam also enjoys hiking and climbing. 

As a family, Chick said, he and his wife, Kim, and their two sons often took road trips and have spent time visiting state parks. 

On this trip, he said, “We were both pretty aware of what we’d be getting into as far as terrain. Going on something like this, you think: ‘oh my gosh,’ but it just becomes the rhythm of the day.”

Sam, too, described confidence in taking the trip. He was 9, he said, when he went with his family on his first bike tour. They cycled in Door County. 

“We don’t push,” Chick said, adding that he might have viewed a shorter ride as a “workout,” but on a long-distance ride, he said, a goal is to keep the energy consistent, and avoid straining. 

As a former high school cross-country coach, Westby said he liked to say that the most important workout was the next one. 

“It’s the same here: the most important day is the next one,” he said. 

Before they made the trip, Chick said, they assembled some gear. 

“You kind of load your bike up with gear and see how that handles,” he said, adding that when he and Sam weighed their bikes and gear, including food and water, they each were packing between 60 and 65 pounds. 

After they began cycling, and the weather warmed once they cleared the Rockies, they began to mail some stuff home, Chick said. 

Among supplies they continue to carry are tools to make field repairs to their bikes as needed and basic first aid kits. 

What have they encountered so far? 

As they traveled the first leg of the trip, Chick and Sam have encountered changes in scenery, elevation and weather. 

Towns on the west side of the Rockies have small populations, perhaps as few as 120 people, and it was not uncommon for them to be as many as 55 miles apart. 

In towns, Chick said, “they might have a gas station.” In between the towns, he described long stretches of national forests and undeveloped land. 

As the pair moved farther east, rural towns became larger, with populations of approximately 2,000 people, and they cropped up closer together, with as many as 20 miles between them. 

Said Chick: “When we started our trip, in Oregon, the weather was real nice, in the 70s, no rain, but as we gained elevation, the weather was more spotty. There were these popup storms, but it was still in the 70s.” 

In the Rocky Mountains, he said, as they worked their way along the I-70 corridor, the weather “turned sour.” Temperatures dropped to 40 degrees, and there was rain. 

“On the morning we woke up in Frisco, Colorado, it was 35 degrees and raining, and we had big plans, but we spent about an hour and a half at an outdoor (supplies) store debating if would we ride.” 

They pushed on, he said. 

“We climbed Loveland Pass, and the weather cleared up that day,” he added.  

Sam said biking in the mountains is new for him. 

Counted among his memorable experiences is traveling downhill at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour for stretches of roadway as many as 10 to 12 miles long. 

“That memory will stick with me,” he said. 

Along the way, the father and son have been taking photographs and videos. Chick said he has sent some photos home, and Sam has been uploading one-minute vlog posts to his TikTok and Instagram accounts. 

Sam said the vlog posts have been popular online. 

On his Instagram account, before the trip, he had about 500 followers. As of Wednesday, he had about 22,000, he said. 

The videos posted to social media have made people aware of the team and its cross-country quest.  

“People have been very nice,” Chick said, noting that one man stopped on the side of the road to talk with them and a woman suggested if they were passing through her community that they should stop for free coffee. 

Chick said he and Sam had planned to “stealth camp,” which, he said, involved finding unintrusive spots along the road to sleep. 

On two occasions they stayed with friends, and, Chick said, “we had a nice guy who offered to let us stay in his camper, and we’ve stayed in a couple of church yards.” 

On Tuesday night, the pair stayed in a wooded area near a fairgrounds on the outskirts of Imperial, and stopped Wednesday morning at a nearby softball field to chat by phone with Fort Atkinson Online.  

Wednesday’s itinerary, like most days on the trip, included breaking camp before 8:30 a.m. Chick said he and Sam would plan to travel at about 12 to 15 miles per hour, and settle in at their next campsite by 6 p.m. 

Along with the adventure, another perk of the trip is spending time together, he said. Away from home, Chick said, “you are seeing different sides of each other.” 

Sam said inviting his father to share this adventure was “an easy choice.” 

They also look forward to a stop in Illinois where they plan to meet Kim and spend a day or two together before heading east. 

In about two week’s time, Chick said, they anticipate they will be in Indiana, which is where Fort Atkinson Online has made plans to check in with them, again, by phone. 

Describing the trip thus far, Chick said: “It’s been fun.” 

In the meantime, Sam continues to share videos of the adventure on his Instagram and TikTok accounts. 

He has also given Fort Atkinson Online permission to share a few below and in our video porthole found on the front page of FAO.