KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
A photo of John McDonald, center, from his blog, of Kodiak friends who met up with him in Yellowstone. John McDonald photo
It’s been more than two months since Kodiak High School Alumnus John McDonald embarked on a bike trip of epic proportions. On May 22, McDonald and his trusty bicycle boarded a state ferry in Kodiak, the first step in his cross country bike tour that will eventually take him to Key West, Fla. Since leaving Kodiak, McDonald has traveled more than 3,500 miles and crossed the continental divide.
KMXT caught up with McDonald yesterday afternoon when he took a lunch break in Booneville, Missouri.
Check out John’s blog here.
— (McDonald Biking 1 :21 "The goal of the trip is to gather footage for a documentary that I later will be putting together and hopefully showing somewhere. And I’m going to end up in Key West, Florida, hopefully capturing a journey of a person finding his America. And hopefully I can do that, so far it’s been OK.")
He said the amount of miles he puts in per day definitely varies anywhere from 80 to 160 miles, mainly depending on how his legs feel. Throughout the course of his journey, he’s biked with various cycling clubs and random bike enthusiasts he meets along the way. He said he’s hit a few bumps in the road as far as equipment, but nothing big enough to stall his journey.
— (McDonald Biking 2 :21 "You know, I have hit a lot of hiccups with stuff kind of quit, or stuff got damaged and I had to replace it. But it all was easy to fix, well not easy, but I got it fixed in a manner of time that wasn’t too tedious. It’s all been good. I mean the problems and things that I face kind of just make the trip all the more worth it.")
McDonald said one of the best parts of his trip has been visiting small towns across the country.
— (McDonald Biking 3 :13 "I’d have to say the small towns and the people in them, I think are the coolest parts of the trip. Everyone is so nice and the towns are so cool and full of character. It’s fun to roll in and get a sense of that part of the world. It’s awesome.")
Being from Kodiak, he said a love for small towns may be in his blood, but so far he hasn’t found any place better than here.
— (McDonald Biking 4 :09 "I miss Kodiak. Haven’t found a place that I enjoy more than Kodiak. So I think that’s the shout out I’m going to make to all the people in Kodiak, thanks for making Kodiak so special.")
McDonald said he was aiming for Fenton, Missouri yesterday, and will spend most of today off his bike, exploring St. Louis with a friend. If he were to bike 80 miles a day for the rest of his trip, McDonald would arrive in Key West on August 28. However, he said he has many contacts on the east coast and expects to take more rest and filming days during this half of the trip. You can track his progress by visiting his blog, which we have a link to it on our website at KMXT dot org.
http://johnsamericabiketour.blogspot.com/
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