Cycling senior finds hospitality
on cross-country trek
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — Though retired, Jack Day isn’t one to slow down and live a life of leisure. Instead, the West Des Moines, Iowa resident has spent the summer bicycling from Key West, Fla. to Estcourt Station, located on the international boundary between Maine and Quebec.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
JACK DAY, 69, of West Des Moines, Iowa, spent the summer bicycling from Key West, Fla. to Estcourt Station, located on the international boundary between Maine and Quebec. Day, who spent two days in Presque Isle, stays with hosts as much as possible; otherwise he camps out. He left Florida May 23 and reached Estcourt Station Aug. 20. Day expects to arrive back home Oct. 1. The retired videographer said he’s making the journey to show seniors that there’s more to life than just sitting on the couch.
“The people that I know who are getting on in years use their years as an excuse to say, ‘Hey, I can’t do that anymore,’” said Day, who was in Presque Isle Aug. 15-16. “Well I’m kind of showing them different. You can get out there and do some things, and it’s fun. It’s a lot of fun.”
Two years ago, Day, who will turn 70 in November, rode his bicycle from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to Times Square in New York City.
“That took three months and was about 4,000 miles. That first ride was a ride across the United States; now I’m doing the vertical ride,” he said. “When I was planning the vertical, it was difficult to ship the bike and all my equipment to Florida, so I thought, ‘Why not just ride down there? It’s a bicycle ride anyway … why not just make it bigger?’ Of course, when you do that, you extend your trip on the other end, too, so instead of a 3,000 mile ride it will end up being nearly a 7,000 mile ride.”
Day left Iowa March 31 and began the Florida to Maine leg May 23. He reached Estcourt Station Aug. 20, and expects to arrive back home Oct. 1. The former videographer travels with his necessary gear strapped to — or pulled behind — his 27-gear touring bike.
“It’s pretty much me, my gear and my bike,” he said. “The gear is all the camping gear (tent, pad and sleeping bag) for those nights when you’ve got to camp, as well as gear for eating which includes a small stove and food, and clothes for multi seasons.
“I started out from Iowa to Florida in the winter, and I’m going to get home in late fall, so I carry a lot of clothes that I really don’t need except for a few weeks on one end and a few weeks on the other,” said Day. “I’ve never weighed all the gear; it scares me to think about it.”
Nights when he’s not camping, he makes arrangements to stay with locals.
“While I have a general route I want to go, I’m concerned about hosts every night,” Day said. “The idea is to locate a host and find a route from host to host. So far, on the entire ride, I’ve stayed with over 100 people, but that number will be quite a bit more by the time I get home.
“If I can’t find a host, I’ll camp out,” he said. “I’ve stayed at rodeo grounds, recreation centers, a jail cell and even in cemeteries.”
While a bed is nice, Day said a shower is more of a need.
“I’ve gone 2-3 days without a shower and it’s not that much fun because you’re sweating all day long,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s like, ‘I don’t even know if I want to get in my sleeping bag, I’m so funky.’”
Day said it was his son who got him interested in bicycling.
“He was starting triathlons and told me that I could do the biking portion of the relay,” he said. “I really enjoy bicycling. There’s no pounding from running; my joints feel good. You ride and if you get tired, you slow down. If it hurts, you stop. It’s only common sense.
“Biking long distances is not that hard; it seems like it would be, but it’s not,” Day said. “You just take it one day at a time. You don’t look at the whole picture because if you do, you’ll think, ‘Oh, I can never do this.’ You just do one day and say, ‘Hey, that was fun. Let’s do it tomorrow.’”
Rolling hills and potato fields were among the sights Day experienced while trekking through Aroostook County.
“I think it’s absolutely beautiful here,” he said. “It’s rural and — for the first time — I’ve seen potato plants. I never knew what they looked like before. There are hills here rolling in the background, and it’s just beautiful.”
Other than the obvious health benefits, Day, who hopes to vertically bike the West Coast next, said he gets a lot out of these cross-country excursions.
“It reaffirms your idea of what this country is like. You may watch the media and hear all the negative things that are happening like robberies, rapes and murders, but to me, those are unique experiences because everything I see is safe and normal, and the people are so hospitable,” he said. “There were two little girls who made their mother go home, get some ice water for me, and they brought it back. I’ve had a guy pull up in a pickup truck and say, ‘It’s almost the end of the day. Do you have a place to stay?’ I said, ‘No,’ and he said, ‘Well, come on. Let’s load your stuff in the pickup. My wife’s going to cook you supper,’ and I ended up staying there for two days.
“People are good — constantly — everywhere,” said Day. “It’s not just one place, and it reaffirms how great of a country this is. One thing that I’ve noticed is that everybody is proud of where they live. People who are raising families or have raised families and are content with where they are, they’re happy, and they’re proud of where they live and they want to show me things in their community. It’s really cool!”
Editor’s note: In February 2012, The Star-Herald published a letter to the editor written by Day looking for people to stay with while he would be in the area. During his recent central Aroostook stop, his hosts included Steven B. Johnson, Donna and Clarence Keegan, and Clare and Ken Arndt. Specific details about his ride through The County can be found on his Facebook page at “Call to Adventure — Follow the Ride.” Additional information on Day’s journey can be found at https://jacksvelosafari.shutterfly.com/.
