Two tandem cyclists on Saturday finally finished their trek of nearly 9,500 miles after an accident more than two years ago in Kingman, Arizona.
Kathy Behrens and Roger Hardy of Redlands, California, were hit from behind by an SUV in October 2016 after traveling through 27 states and a part of Canada. According to the Redlands Daily Facts newspaper:
“Kathy and I found ourselves first sprawled on the shoulder of Route 66, then in ambulance transport and finally in the emergency room at Kingman Regional Hospital,” Hardy wrote in a report for The Facts. “Kathy suffered facial lacerations and a nasty gash behind her knee and I was held in the hospital for observation after my blood pressure sank to alarming levels.”
They counted themselves lucky, as they knew cyclists who have died in such incidents.
After a tire blowout and crash in December 2016 led to a fractured pelvis for Behrens, recovery set the trip back to summer 2017 – not a good time to cross the Mojave Desert. Next she broke her wrist, had to have carpal tunnel surgery, was diagnosed with a heart condition, and then began teaching at the University of Redlands.
The resumed their journey Jan. 7 from where it stopped at the accident site in Kingman. They endured a flat tire, the twisting curves of Oatman Road (aka Route 66) and rain on the downhill side of Cajon Pass in Southern California. They celebrated the near-end of their trek with friends — they still had two miles remaining to their home in Redlands — at Escape Craft Brewery in Redlands.
A reporter interviewed the couple at the brewery:
Kathy Behrens and Roger Hardy, of Redlands, talk about finishing the last leg of their cross country tandem bike ride, which originally began in 2016. 9,200 miles after the start of their journey, both were hit by a car in Arizona, but have now finished their ride two years later pic.twitter.com/vGjoZnIrmE
— Jennifer Maher (@JCMaherPhoto) January 13, 2019
To read more, check out their blog, Kathy and Roger’s Excellent Adventure.
No one will ever accuse the couple of lacking persistence and resolve.
(Image of bicycle tires by Edna Winti via Flickr)