The Emporia Gazette

May 28, 2012

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Former Emporian Rod Taylor is no stranger to adventure.

After graduating from the University of Kansas in the late 70s and a stint in the U.S. Army — including a posting in Germany, Taylor moved to Australia.

“I went out there looking for adventure,” he said. “I certainly found plenty of it.”

His most recent adventure, however, happened in his native land. Taylor recently completed a 96-day journey traveling the TransAmerica Trail, which stretches from Astoria, Ore., to Yorktown, Va. The trip included 75 days of actual riding.

Originally ridden and mapped in 1976 for America’s bicentennial, the route ravels through Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Virginia. It includes passage through Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons and crosses the Continental Divide near Breckinridge, Colo.

“Once you hit Pueblo (Colorado), then it shoots straight east,” Taylor explained during a visit to Emporia in June to spend time with his parents, Georgia and Robert Taylor.

Rod Taylor left Emporia on June 30 to fly to Portland, Ore. There he met his friend and biking partner, Charles Gardner. The pair launched their trip July 3.

“We’re going on the no-plan plan,” Taylor explained. “We’ll take it as it comes — be in the moment and see what road opens up for us.”

Along the way, Taylor posted photos and short diary entries. Early in the trip, Taylor found himself bogged down by his load.

“We’re going completely unsupported so we have the maximum independence and freedom,” he said.

But, with no support vehicle, the pair packed everything for their trip on their bikes. Taylor’s list included a tent, sleeping bag, something to boil water with, dried fruit and bear spray, “which is essential in Oregon,” he said.

“We have to carry some camping gear. Really in the first third of the trip, the population density is not high enough to support a lot of towns. We could get caught in between.”

Everything was packed in four panieres — touring bags designed to fit on the front and back of the bike — with a handlebar bag and the tent strapped on the back rack of his Fuji touring bike.

At the end of Day 4, Taylor wrote: “Thanks to Charles, I discovered I wasn’t eating enough. I increaed calories by 50 percent and soared to the front. Heart coach clearly didn’t quite understand what carrying 26 kg up a mountain means!”

For the non-metric, 26 kgs equals just more than 57 pounds.

After 10 days of riding, Charles, who is British, offered some reflections on the travelogue. Among them:

“There is an unexpected bond between cycle tourists and Harley Davidson riders. One core topic of conversation is saddle comfort.” and “A more interesting Tour de France would be on touring bikes, carrying 25 kg, with riders camping and doing their own laundry.”

Throughout the journey, Taylor made friends. From a couple who opened their restaurant just to serve some fresh coffee to a family in Kentucky who helped after Taylor’s bike broke down. They drove him and his bike to a shop for repair, shared dinner then took him to his motel.

A different life

Taylor’s move to Australia came at a perfect time, he said. He spent his first year Down Under hitchhiking around the continent.

“There were wonderful opportunities,” he recalled. “All you needed to do was not be afraid of a little hard work.

“Everything is changed now. I went into Australia right on the edge when it started to be very hard. If you want to go now, you have to qualify.”

In Australia, Taylor met and married his wife, a Brit named Helen. They have two sons, 22-year-old Nat and 19-year-old Luke. Both his wife and sons share Taylor’s love of adventure, much of which is cultivated by a more European outlook to life.

While Taylor was biking across the United States, for instance, his wife was doing her own traveling.

“She’s going walking in Italy and will visit her nieces and nephews,” he said before beginning his trip.

Nat, meanwhile, was finishing a year of travels through Great Britain.

“He’s a real Anglophile. He loves English soccer, English football.”

Luke, meanwhile, loves his father’s heritage.

“He is the one oriented to America,” Taylor said.

Overseas, he said, it’s traditional for teens to take a year off before heading to college.

“Luke’s plan is to come here on his big adventure first,” Taylor said during his visit to Emporia.

The boys maintain triple citizenship — Australian, British and American. In the past, they would have had to settle on one, but U.S. officials, Taylor said, have realized that it’s often safer for U.S. citizens traveling abroad to have non-U.S. passports.

Taylor himself carries both U.S. and Australian passports. He sees plenty of travel in his future.

“I plan to spend the latter third of my life split between the UK, United States and Australia,” he said.

End of a journey

Early this month, Taylor pedaled closer and closer to the Atlantic Ocean in Yorktown, Va.

He ended the trip solo. Gardner had to head home unexpectedly about a month from the end, after the pair had taken about a week off to spend time with Taylor’s family here.

As Taylor prepared for his final 15 miles into Yorktown, he wrote, “This is it, final day of Transam ride. Heading out mostly with sadness today — not completely sure why — but also some growing excitement.”

Later that day, as he wrote his end-of-day accounting, which always tracked the miles ridden, maximum speed, time in the saddle and highlights, he grew introspective.

“As I rode, it became clear my sadness was due to missing Helen and the boys. Finishing a fabulous, life-changing adventure and finishing on my own without Charles, who I had planned and dreamed with for three years.”

• To read Rod Taylor’s travelogue and trace his journey, go to http://trackmytour.com/2298