By Savannah Cottam — Deep insight into inspiring people’s lives that have used two wheels to take them across the country. Untrained, yet able to use their bikes and go on beautiful adventures.
John Kennington is an extraordinary man that I have known for a very long time yet had never heard about his great expedition until I recently pried it out of him. Don’t let his humbleness fool you. In 1976 John rode 4,280 miles on an 82-day trip through the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail in commemoration of the bicentennial of America’s Declaration of Independence. See map below.
John Kennington’s Story
“When my roommate asked me to go on this trip I thought, are you crazy? I was risking my job and the life I had built. I was working as an engineer in LA but in the long term it was the best thing that could happen to me. Otherwise, I would still live in LA and be miserable. I went back to my boss months later without a haircut and they wouldn’t let me have my job back but that was fine.
“I never regretted my decision because I enjoyed the other people; I realized what it would take to do the trip, so I was willing to do whatever the group did.
“The trip was organized through students at the University of Montana, assigning me with a group and date to leave. I took the train from LA to Oregon where I met the people I was going to be spending the next 3 months with. We dipped our back tire in the Pacific Ocean and hit the road.
“We stayed at schools or parks along the way as well as camped. My group used no sag wagons to carry all of our gear adding an extra 30-40 pounds of weight to my old ten speed, rickety bike. Everybody had regular ten speeds, we didn’t go real fast. I remember when we went across Kansas, there were no hills but there was a lot of head wind so we would go on small highways and have big pace lines. In Kansas, we had a big pace line going and somebody got too close to the other guy in front of him, catching his wheel and causing a domino effect of around 9 people crashing. There was a farmer in his field cutting hay and he thought that was really funny to see this big crash of these spoiled kids on vacation.”
Savannah Cottam: What was your least favorite part of the trip?
JK: As we biked, we were warned about a treacherous hill going onto the Blue Ridge, we were Eastbound going onto the Blue Ridge but started hearing about this trail in Colorado from the Westbound groups. They talked about the wheels and the brakes getting so hot that the tires would come off the wheels. Since we had ridden across three fourths of the country, by the time we got there going Eastbound, we were in good enough shape, and we didn’t have the problems of brakes. The reason I remember it so vividly is because it was this mysterious thing that we had a month to think about, and it really ended up being no big thing.
SC: What was your favorite part of the trip?
JK: Biking across the Rocky Mountains in Colorado but even more so meeting new groups of people and being fully immersed with people and nature. In this modern world, we have access to phones, but I was completely disconnected from the world that I had left behind. I couldn’t and didn’t care to know what others were doing because I was occupied with the present. There are studies related to phones really having an effect on your generation and your mental health. It’s so important for us to put our phones away and be present so time doesn’t pass without us ever really being there.
SC: Did you have a lot of experience biking before the trip? How did you train?
JK: I had ridden a bike quite a bit when I lived in Central America, I increased my riding prior to the trip, and I remember I had to adjust my seat height exactly right because it would cause knee problems if it was too low or underneath problems if it was too high. I rode maybe two or three times a week before the trip.
SC: How many miles were you riding per day?
JK: There was a fast tour that took only 55 days and ours took 82 days. So, we went about 40 miles a day and they went 55 miles a day. We used to joke that the only thing they saw was their front wheel. Since we were the slower group, we would arrive at our destination earlier and would have time to look around and see what was local. We had time to go to local spots that were famous like the state parks in the West. We ended our tour officially at the Yorktown Victory Monument that overlooked the Chesapeake Bay. I remember we took a detour going through one of the Eastern states 6 miles to catch another state up to Tennessee.
SC: What has changed in the biking world since you went on this trip
JK: I think that biking has become more popular. People are trying to not use their cars as much, E-Bikes have made a big difference. I think it has gotten more popular as climate change has started to have an effect.
SC: Were there any riders who quit midway through or regretted going?
JK: I don’t know of anybody that hated it, everybody enjoyed it and had a good time. I don’t know of anybody that quit.
SC: Would you say this experience changed your life outlook and values?”
JK: Definitely, it opened my eyes and exposed me to other opinions and people. It was good in that respect. I also become more aware of environmental stuff.
SC: Would you recommend that people do something similar to this?
JK: I think it would be way more difficult to do it on your own, but it truly was an amazing experience that lasts a lifetime.
Questions that have to be answered with one word or sentence
SC: What is the best advice you have ever received?
JK: Go for it!
SC: What is the worst advice you have ever received?
JK: Vote Republican
“I still love biking because of the amazing opportunities Utah offers, the exercise, environmental purpose, and the more realistic impression of your surroundings that you get as opposed to driving”.
