He had been thinking about it for quite some time. One morning in early January, 57-year-old Michael Dillman got up, and decided this was the day to begin a cross-country from the State of Maine to San Francisco, CA via his mountain bike. He called his boss at Rice GMC, an auto dealership, and informed him of his plans.
He caught a ride with a friend who was taking a load of pumpkins into Maine. The friend took him as far as he was going. Dillman caught two more rides before he got to the place he wanted to start. After a beautiful sunrise, Dillman started peddling across America.
“People in Maine are kind of weird,” Dillman said. “They do not like people on bikes. They would yell and throw things at me.” Once he got past Portland, things settled down for him.
Dillman said he really enjoyed making his way into Washington, DC. “I got to see several things I never got to see by driving through in a vehicle.” He said he stayed on trails throughout Virginia as far he could, like the famous “Virginia Creeper,” a trail made from an old, abandoned railroad bed. As he got back to Knoxville, he regrouped and continued his way westward toward San Fransisco, CA.
“Everybody told me to be really careful when I got to Memphis, TN,” Dillman said. “But that new bridge they have going across the Mississippi River was just beautiful.”
Upon reaching Arkansas, it was not something he enjoyed quite as much.
“People and animals in Arkansas were something not to mess with,” Dillman said. “They’d run you off the road, and I got ran over by four cows in a farmer’s field.” It was not all bad luck. Dillman said he found over $200 in change along the roadside in just three days.
All along the way, people would stop and pray with him and give him groceries. It proved to him that there were still more good people than bad in the world. People would stop traffic just to give him a drink. One service station owner chased him down just to give him some nourishment.
While most were nice, some were not. In one place, someone hit him, breaking his glasses, and then hit him in the mouth and robbed him. At least they did not kill him.
Traveling in Nebraska, he met up with a couple on vacation and went biking with them. A deputy sheriff stopped them, ordering them to the ground. He told them that they did not allow homeless people to hang around there. They all told the deputy they were not homeless. They had all their identification, including drivers licenses, debit cards, etc. Dillman’s traveling partners worked for State Farm Insurance. They told the deputy that they would have already been out of his county if he had not stopped and detained them.
Las Vegas on a bicycle is one of the oddest things one can do on a bicycle. “You ought to do it at least once,” Dillman said with a grin. “People would just hand you all kinds of things.”
While he was in Nevada, Dillman spoke of an adventure that one man took him on-- a 21-mile round trip excursion on an old railroad. He said there were many adventures that ex experienced along the way.
“When I reached San Fransisco, it was as bad as people said it would be.” Dillman said. “There were homeless people everywhere. You cannot hardly ride a bicycle for all the needles and the drugs. The beach was covered up with broken bottles.” They were at least trying to clean it up by washing down the streets.
“If you ever want to try a place that is small,” Dillman said, “you ought to try Linden, TN. Linden
Café and Donuts is where you need to go. They are some of the most honest and upright people in the world.” He stayed extra time with them along his journey back home.
On his way to and from the West Coast, he got to experience the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and meet lots of people. Many places like small town museums, fishing spots and other places Dillman experienced, where he used to blow by them going 70 m.p.h. on the interstate. He got to meet many just plain folks and hear their stories.
It has been an adventure of a lifetime, and he is glad he did it. He found out just how kind people are and how cruel. But the “nice” always wins out. Though he is about 75 miles from home, Dillman said he’s still got more to take in. He hopes to finish his journey in about three month. Yes, he has a job awaiting him.
