June 6th marked the day Wend editor-at-large Rick Olson has been preparing for for the last five months. It was the day he departed from Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado to embark on the adventure of a lifetime: a four-month, 5,000-mile bicycle tour of the National Park-to-Park highway.
Olson and journalist Cali Bagby are the riders behind The Playground Tour, which was named after the “Playground Trail,” a 5,000-mile tour of twelve National Parks west of the Rockies that was taken by a group of Americans in 1920. Their mission was to generate awareness and support for better roads to facilitate easier access to recreational areas.
The Playground Tour is an attempt to recreate this dedication tour that took place nearly a century ago–only this time it will be accomplished by bicycle. The mission is to raise money and awareness for the United States Bike Route System (USBRS). The duo is teaming up with the Adventure Cycling Association and will be observing and documenting the difficulty of travel and roads conditions for cycling throughout the ride, intended for use in a film.
So far, the team has had to deal with the absence of the comforts of home and familiarity as well as self doubt, wretched puking, uncomfortable heat and altitude, a flat tire and exhaustion. And this is only the beginning. They have twelve more parks to visit before their excursion ends in Telluride, Colorado.
View the interactive Playground Tour map, donate to what could become the world’s largest bicycle route system,the USBRS, and get your daily updates on Rick Olson’s tour de bicycle.
[Via: The Playground Tour]
[Photo Via: The Playground Tour]
