Untitled Document

Jennings tackles bicycle journey after 25-year pedaling hiatus

First of a two-part series

A journey may hold surprising discoveries, but it always begins with a first step or, for Brent Jennings, the push of a bicycle pedal.

Jennings, ITD’s highway safety manager, recently completed a journey full of discoveries on a 10-day, 500-mile bicycle ride from Astoria, Ore., to his home in Eagle.

This was an impressive feat for a man who, until the past few years, had not ridden a bicycle for a quarter century.

“About three years ago, my younger sister, from Nevada, got a bike and suggested I get into bicycling,” Jennings said.

“What started out as a buying a cheap cruiser bicycle for pedaling around the Greenbelt ended up with my spending more than a $1,000 on a Trek bicycle and accessories,” he explained.

Jennings began riding regularly with his sister on increasingly expanded trips, and he discovered that he liked it. It wasn’t long before he learned about long-distance bicycling and what it might take to really travel somewhere by bicycle.

He also discovered that preparing for long-distance bicycling is a “slow build.”

“You don’t decide to bike a long distance on a Monday night and then wake up Tuesday and go 500 miles,” he said.

Once he decided to tackle a long-distance ride, Jennings began riding his bicycle to work at ITD each day – a 16-mile round trip from Eagle. Longer weekend trips to Kuna or Emmett followed.

“I could almost see myself doing a long-distance trek,” he said.

It’s all about preparation
In the spring of 2012, Jennings, also an engineer, decided to prepare for a ride from Astoria, Ore., to Eagle. What followed, as no surprise, was research and training for the challenge.

Online, experienced bicycle trekkers advised Jennings, who they knew as “Elbrento,” to prepare for his long-distance journey by riding at least 15 miles each day and periodically increase distances to as much as 50 miles. He was already doing that.

The Adventure Cycling Association website at www.adventurecycling.org was an important research and communication tool Jennings discovered. He found route maps, useful advice and personal support in the website’s forums along with many resources about how to succeed at long-distance bicycling.

“Their forums provided the experiences of others, necessary equipment lists and tips for success,” he said. It was online that Jennings learned that success at long-distance bicycling is 30 percent physical and 70 percent mental.

With research well under way it was time to tackle the equipment list. Meet BOB, the “Beast of Burdon” bicycle trailer. BOB is a narrow, one-wheeled trailer built for bicycle touring. “Like a cat’s whiskers, if your bicycle’s handle bars fit, then the bike and trailer fit,” he explained.

Jennings packed BOB with lightweight gear typical for backpacking, and by early this year he was training with a fully loaded bicycle and trailer on evening and weekend rides to destinations like Emmett or Montour.

“I kept telling myself, ‘Regardless as to the training challenge, you are going to go,’” he said. “If I fail, it will be on the trip.”

The trip really began to take shape for Jennings the last week of April – five weeks to launch – when he completed a round-trip, overnight run from Eagle to Vale, Ore., as a trial. “The planning and training were paying off,” he said.

Getting there is half the fun
Planning a bicycle trip from Astoria to Eagle requires that one first get to Astoria, he recalled, and there were “no volunteers in sight.”

This led to another discovery for Jennings – the experience of riding in a Greyhound bus. He had never ridden in one.

Returning to the World Wide Web, Jennings learned how to pack his bicycle and gear for the bus ride west. He learned tips about riding in a Greyhound bus. He discovered also that the $70 cost to transport the bicycle, trailer and gear to Astoria was nearly as much as his $88 ticket.

On May 28, Jennings, his backpack and three boxes loaded with a bicycle and touring gear were nestled on a bus headed west to Astoria, located at the mouth of the Columbia River.

He said that while he met a few “interesting” people along that leg of the journey, “Most of the people were folks just trying to get somewhere.”

After 17 hours, Jennings admitted he was glad to be off the bus. He assembled his bicycle and equipment in a remote corner of the Astoria bus station and began the long trek home.

Next week, Part 2: The pedal begins