Bicycling the Lewis and Clark Trail

Legs pumping, lungs burning, chin tucked to deflect the sting of 44-mph headwinds, Mary Kay Britton ’62 bicycled the Lewis and Clark Trail—from Seaside, Oregon, to St. Louis, Missouri—with her husband Jim. The couple, both in their 60s, logged 3,053 miles last summer on a Rans Screamer tandem recumbent bike.

Stunning vistas and a pioneering sense of adventure fueled their stamina. So did the people they encountered along the way.

They began riding locally through neighborhoods in Washington state in 1988 and have since toured in Canada and New Zealand. Halfway to their goal of biking in each of the 49 continental states, the couple is busy plotting this summer’s trip on a map tacked to their refrigerator.

“My definition of an old person is someone whose world is starting to get smaller,” says Britton. “Staying young, whether at 40 or 90, requires remaining open to new possibilities.”

—by Pattie Pace