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Is there anything sweeter than daydreaming about doing something as a kid, and then being able to actually do the thing you had imagined?  John Frischmon says since he was in grade school he has wanted to do a cross-country bike trip.   He originally envisioned riding from his house in Center City to the ocean’s edge on the west coast.  Later on, it hit him that it may be a more practical to have the prevailing winds at his back.  So this summer he decided to do the “quest” from west to east.

He’d always enjoyed the train route to Montana, where there’s a cabin his family visited.  So, a starting point was decided on...he took the train out to Whitefish MT and earlier this summer, he embarked on a 1,400- mile-plus bike ride back to Minnesota, with his dad Scott Frischmon.  
Family friend, Tosca Lindberg, joined up with them in Billings.

Neither Scott nor John really did any training for the trek that started June 21, said John.  The adventure ended back at the Frischmon home July 12.   

Scott toted the tenting gear and two sleeping bags on the rear center-rack of his bike, and John hauled water and various equipment and food.  John comments, “People try to keep the weight down and they skimp on bringing along equipment.  Tubes are light, bring plenty of tubes,” is his advice.  “It beats walking your bike for 50 miles.”

And, carry water.  It’s excruciating when more miles of road lie ahead than there are ounces of water.  Water’s heavy, but bring more than you think you’ll need, John said.  

The trek covered as much ground  as possible depending on weather conditions and what the terrain threw at them,  usually doing  60 miles per day;  with the exception of a killer 100 mile day.  They’d been warned repeatedly at cafes and gas stations, to not stay overnight in Mobridge-- where nightly there’s gunfire fueled by alcohol consumption. And, of course, they ended up navigating Mobridge and reservation territory,  right about the point they should have been pulling off to put up the tent.  They pushed on and got to a safer area to camp.

Scott plotted the course on many secondary roads and they were able to end up near a motel about half the time;  which is no easy feat considering how far apart towns sit where they were traveling. John admits it’s a good thing he did share this adventure with his parent.  Riding with a friend, he’s convinced, would have resulted in getting lost.

By the time they crossed from South Dakota into Minnesota,  homebase was still three days away, and John said everybody was quite eager to see the finish line.
And, no they haven’t been on the bikes since.  

John, 18,  heads for freshman year at Michigan Tech this week; where it’s unlikely he will encounter galloping cattle, racing him along a fenceline.  Scott too, goes back-to-school soon. He is an industrial technology teacher and Project Lead the Way instructor at Chisago Lakes High School.














 

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