Pedal Power Valley Teens Taking A Summer Road Trip To Virginia - On Bicycles
A chance encounter with a moose along the Centennial Trail a couple years ago was a harbinger of things to come for three friends who on Saturday begin the trip of a lifetime.
Recent East Valley High School graduates Nolan Fridley, Dave Musser and Josh Birt plan to bicycle in two months the approximately 3,400 miles to Virginia Beach, Va.
The journey will cross the northern United States and wend its way south from Chicago. Tentative arrival date at Virginia Beach is Aug. 4.
They’ll face severe weather extremes, the monotony of the trip and the unknown. But the three are determined to make it work.
“Everyone is saying they won’t be able to do this,” said Sue Fridley, Nolan’s mother. “They’re set on proving they can.”
The idea came last summer to the longtime friends and EV athletes.
“All three of us were sitting in a Dairy Queen talking,” Nolan Fridley said. “We wanted a new way of challenging ourselves, seeing the country and meeting people.”
Musser provided the inspiration. He and Fridley’s sister Julie had attended a Bible conference in Utah and listened to a talk by Joel Kramer and Aaron Lippak, authors of the book “Beyond Fear: A Journey Across New Guinea.”
The two were the first to cross 1,700 miles of mountainous jungles and raging rivers without the use of motorized vehicles. They walked and kayaked, overcoming all manner of obstacles from man-eating crocodiles, to bouts of malaria and even an encounter with a Stone Age tribe of cannibals.
“They were really awesome guys to get to know and the stories they told,” said Musser. “We were just joking about doing something adventurous like that. We weren’t really serious.”
What may have started in jest did become serious during school.
Their parents’ reaction initially was generally one of support, but they figured privately that the idea would wear off and the boys wouldn’t go.
By Christmas, when the three requested biking gear for presents, the parents realized how intent their sons were.
“Josh’s mom called me and said, `We’ve got to talk them out of it,”’ said Sue Fridley. “I said, `Laree, we can’t.’ I knew at that point they were so head-set on doing it that there was nothing we could do.”
Friends since seventh grade, wrestling is the common thread that bound the three together throughout high school. The sport’s demands, they say, have helped ready them for the rigors of their journey.
“That’s one of the reasons we’re doing it,” said Musser of the cross-country tour. “Wrestling is very hard. When you don’t think you can do it, wrestling taught us to push ourselves beyond what we thought we could do.”
Birt is a two-time state runnerup and national placer who is headed to North Idaho College to compete.
His national place earned him a touring bike, a present from his grandfather. Birt has been living with his grandparents, Larry and Dorothy Skinner, since his parents moved in February to Klamath Falls, Ore.
Fridley was into football and didn’t take up wrestling until high school. He was in the same weight class with Birt and a district participant who just missed qualifying for regionals.
Musser was district champion, regional runner-up and a state qualifier for the Knights. Both he and Fridley will attend Christian colleges.
Their parents said the idea of this trip has been more nerve-wracking than watching them compete. But each young man has his own reasons for taking the trip.
Birt said he likes to travel and wanted to do something different this summer to prepare for college.
“After I signed, my coach (Pat Whitcomb) asked what I was going to do this summer,” he said. “When I told him, he was kind of surprised. He thought I was going on a little bike ride. But he thinks it’s cool.”
Musser said it will allow him time to think and pray and “get to know these two guys better.”
For Fridley, it’s about meeting people of all kinds. “I’m sure we’ll meet nice people and really mean people,” he said. “I’m looking forward to meeting the nice people.”
And why Virginia Beach?
“I heard there were a lot of cute girls there,” said the affable Musser. “Just joking.”
They actually learned about the area from classmate Twyla Serbell, who grew up there. They have friends and relatives along the route, which could change, said Fridley, “depending upon the people we meet and what comes along our path.”
Originally their plan had been to begin the bike trip in San Diego and travel to Florida across the southern states.
“We felt it was fairly impractical, but they revised it so we feel better,” said Laree Birt. “I have my worries, but we have to let them go.”
The three are packing light. Each of their 21-speed bicycles is outfitted to carry about 40 pounds, including tents, sleeping bags and temporary repair kits. They will carry phone cards to keep in touch and a cell phone in case of emergency.
While preparing for the excursion they talked with an employee at REI who had biked to Washington, D.C. He warned them of the pitfalls, particularly the weather.
His advice was to not push themselves and focus on time, not how many miles they travel daily.
He told them that he preferred going it alone so he could make decisions without worrying about anyone else. That isn’t the case with these three who, except for the time Fridley was dating Birt’s sister and they didn’t speak for four months, get along famously.
And there was that incident with the angry female moose that startled the trio on the Centennial Trail the day they were preparing to bike from the Valley into Spokane to pick up Hoopfest packets.
When they realized what they were facing, it was time to skedaddle.
His friends took off, leaving Fridley in the dust, said his mom.
“Me and Josh were on 10-speeds and Nolan was on a little BMX,” said Musser, ever the jokester. “Dad didn’t raise a fool. All you have to do is outrun one of them.”
The three will need all the humor and togetherness they can muster to complete a trip that will test every fiber of their being.
The experiences and memories gained and the stories they’ll be able to tell will last a lifetime.