Biking across the country

At the March 21 Evanston Bicycle Club meeting we were inspired by the story of Patricia Brumment who rode across the country three times.   Patty signed up for her first cross country ride in December of 2013 after she retired from teaching in schools in Wilmette and in fulfillment of a long time dream and promise to her father she made before he died of cancer in 2010.  ​

​At this time she had not done rides longer than 20 miles, so she embarked upon a training regimen that included spinning, swimming, ice skating and lot of bike riding including 40-60 rides daily and several century rides.  She included riding every day back to back in her training plan.  She started the ride June, 2014 on a route across the northern part of the country to raise money for cancer research and honor those who died.  The ride was a total of 3,744 miles over 50 days.
In 2015 she covered the central part of the United States, starting in San Francisco experiencing such sites as Donner Pass, Monarch Pass, Chillicothe, Michigan, the home of sliced bread, and Kinsey, Kansas the half way point between New York and San Francisco.  Total 3918 and 52 days.
In 2017 she rode across the southern portion of the country via a supported camping trip where the group of 13 people stayed in tents and make their own breakfast and dinner as a group. Total 3505 file, 59 days.
Observations from all three rides includes:

• Incredible natural beauty and wildlife sightings such as buffalo and prairie dogs; prior to this she did not experience much of the US
• She never got off her bike when biking up hills; she was afraid she would not want to get back on!
• The desire in her was the greatest training.
• In difficult road situations such as hills, rain, and winds, she called upon the memory of friends and family who died of cancer for support and used nature, focusing on what was around her
• Her 23 year old Kestrel bike is considered heavy by today’s standards but it fits her well; it now has 50,000 miles on it

Patty has a white jersey where she has written the names of 220 people she knows that has died of cancer that she wears when she rides.  And she is not done yet, planning a bike trip from New Orleans to Minneapolis this Spring, and Washington state to San Francisco in the Fall.   At the age of 73, Patty inspires us all to just get out there and ride!