Community: Friends That Turn Jokes Into Adventures

How did this whole thing start? How did four friends get to the point where they thought biking across the country was possible?

This is Joanna Friesen, by the way. We’ve decided to rotate writing on this blog, and I’m going to start. My friends are Jiwan Dhaliwhal, Chaz Ormond, and Tim Schmell (and Tim and I are engaged!!). And they will have plenty of time to share their stories in the future and introduce themselves.

So how did this all start? It’s hard to trace the genesis of a good idea. They have a way of growing and changing, and suddenly there it is - a wonderful idea fully arrived and ready to be realized. The thought of biking across the country has been influenced by a couple of people, places, and communities. I’m going to name a few in this introduction.

Bike and Sol. Bike and Sol is a non-profit community bike shop in East Greenville, PA. I interned there this summer with Pastor Scott Roth, and I got the opportunity to live in a community house and make new friends while having great conversations, repairing bikes, and (in addition to learning myself!) teaching kids about bike repair. It was a revolutionary thing for me to discipline myself to learn mechanics. It really broke my idea of “not being a mechanical person.” There are few things quite as enjoyable as figuring out a mechanical puzzle, and being rewarded by turning a rusty discarded bike into a functioning and shiny transportation device.

Bike and Sol gave me a bike for volunteering, and they guided me through the process of refurbishing it! And then I started riding everywhere, and really enjoying it. As a long-distance runner I constantly wanted to push the boundaries of my endurance, and I started joking about biking across the country. Jiwan Dhaliwahl took this joke seriously.

Dad. My dad consistently likes to tell stories about his biking days. In college and highschool he biked all over the place with his friends on overnight and all day trips. This gave me the idea that maybe I could do it too. His stories of camaraderie and cheerfully enduring self-inflicted adversity sparked ideas.

Houghton College. Houghton College gave Jiwan and I the skills to make this “joke” possible. We roped Chaz and Tim into this too… On campus, we were constantly encouraged by professors, friends, and community members to make this possible. Many have offered to bike along, or get us in touch with possible hosts out West. One of the chapel speakers inspired us with his talks on youth and wandering as a parallel to spiritual journeys. In Spiritual Formation class Jiwan and I daydreamed about incorporating a rhythm of prayer, devotions, and worship with strangers into this potential bike trip. We have a constant appreciation for the support of Houghton in this venture- in helping us with communication and connecting with Houghton-ites across the country.

Crazy Bikers. There are a few cyclists in our lives. People who have made a life-habit out of endurance and crazy ideas. We have gone to this group of people for professional advice (how hungry will we get on the trip? What are good panniers? How steep are the Rockies?) and we have been joyfully given many answers and stories. This group of awesome people have made us feel normal, as if we could actually do this.

Those are some of the influences that I can name for this trip. Jiwan, Tim, and Chaz all have various reasons that this trip is a reality for them, and they’ll get to talk about it soon. We’re starting this blog early as a way to connect with people who have volunteered to host us, friends who are interested, and family who are worried (haha, and excited too!). Mostly though, we want to emphasize to everyone out there reading this that this project and trip are a process.

Preparation and training are just as much a part of the journey as the ride itself. We want to share the work and the details with you. There is beauty in the process. Getting on a plane May 17th will be a takeoff to adventure, mostly because we bought the tickets in October and felt the rush of “here we go, this is real!”. No matter what, 4 people have a one-way ticket to Portland.