1982: Stories of the Young and Dumb, aka My First Bike Trip - CycleBlaze

1982: Stories of the Young and Dumb, aka My First Bike Trip

from the wrinkled pages of time

By Mark Bingham
3,269 miles (5,261 km) over 77 days between May 17, 1982 and Aug. 1, 1982

Pre-ride

about this journal heart 23
schnapsidee - an impractical idea which seems brilliant when one is drunk heart 16

Texas

the first guy we met heart 17
the second guy we met heart 14
bad judgement heart 21
great aunt ruby's house heart 21
just tell 'em Usup sentcha heart 16
rattlesnake heart 20
rattlesnake roundup heart 10
first flat heart 15
anyone crazy enough to pedal across the country on bikes can have whatever you want. heart 10
yeah, but we try to keep them out of our mouths heart 25
but I wouldn’t let my dog sleep there heart 12
clarendon's expired jelly heart 19
suicide dogs heart 18
the TNT equivalent of a cap gun heart 11
finding adventure by crossing the street heart 17

New Mexico

six corndogs heart 14
farsee heart 27
milestones heart 19
the purchase of absolution heart 12
the flatlanders' pinnacle heart 27

Colorado

terminal velocity heart 14
a lack of common sense vs innate laziness heart 19
the lucky flat heart 11
my five days in denver, briefly heart 16
trying to figure out what my 40-year-old journal means heart 9
prescient knowledge heart 11
the battle heart 16
no nuclear charring heart 11

Kansas

a thousand bucks and all the time I want heart 15
my invincible pup tent heart 12
the actual windiest city heart 8
even a couple of idiots like us figured that one out heart 11
my first attempt at a century heart 15
flint hills heart 10
friendship cake heart 8
Glum the preacher heart 8
the genius heart 9

Oklahoma

hick-a-billies in oklahoma heart 6

Missouri

the burned tick heart 9
collecting lead ingots heart 9
camp soaring hawk heart 11
how to earn $6.50 heart 8
what time I woke up heart 9
the manager heart 9
uncharacteristic and unfortunate good judgment heart 8
better than the bathroom floor heart 10

Illinois

it’s like Deliverance, man heart 5
a handful of sand in the face heart 7
it will only take a minute heart 8
the mosquito triangle heart 6

Indiana

the disappearing cyclist heart 6
fifteen cents heart 5

Kentucky

RC Cola heart 7
an apocalyptic deluge heart 8
this was your life! heart 8
yellow brick house with white trim and two windows heart 8
no such thing as a free lunch heart 11
8 heart 11
the coal miner heart 10

Tennessee

It WAS really good water heart 7
afraid for my life heart 8
my four days in cookeville, briefly heart 7
a bit of uncomfortable déjà vu heart 6
the tortured cow heart 6
the best bicycle lock heart 11
tacking heart 6

Alabama

my brilliant idea heart 6
turtle on the road heart 8
a convicted criminal heart 8
sproink! heart 7
if they know you they’ll do anything for you heart 6
the drive home heart 7
skinny benny heart 7
today’s television programming includes… heart 8
mark gets shingles heart 5
the case of the clothing culprit heart 7
the rest of the time heart 11
the spider heart 6
a motherly hand heart 6
my brancale heart 7
a whore in church heart 7

Mississippi

a timely coincidence heart 7
the dog heart 7
kudzu heart 8
it’s on the sign heart 7
the miraculous snake stick heart 7
not riding on this interstate, either heart 7
another lucky flat heart 7
show the plan, share the dream heart 7
the convention heart 5
the rest of the time heart 9
the first goodbye heart 5

Louisiana

about 3 ounces of crazy heart 7
unexploded ammunition heart 5
I pull a Rip Van Winkle heart 7
BBQ heart 7
the unwelcome church heart 7
the ice and gun truck heart 6

Texas

the random babins heart 6
unrestful stop heart 6
when the devil came to texas heart 8
the creepy guy at mcdonald’s heart 8
the motorcycle man heart 6
adding to my repertoire heart 6
gator stick heart 7
the revival heart 7
my last day, the beginning of the end heart 6
the hitchhiker heart 7
tattoo parlor heart 6
sometimes I just don’t understand myself heart 6
pictures I took along the way, but have no idea where I took them heart 34
things I took heart 6
epilogue heart 11