Father and Daughter Ride Antique Bikes from Canadian Border to Key West
November 15, 2020 ctn_admin
| A father and daughter pedaled antique high-wheel bicycles up to Key Westās Southernmost Point marker Saturday afternoon, concluding a ride of just over 3,200 kilometers that began on the U.S.-Canadian border. Randy and Amy Oleynik started their journey Oct. 9 in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, at the northeastern end of Michiganās Upper Peninsula. They celebrated its conclusion at the Key West marker that delineates the southernmost point in the continental United States, jubilantly lifting their 132-year-old bicycles as spectators cheered their achievement. āItās our second ride,ā said Randy Oleynik, a 61-year-old pharmacist from Carleton, Michigan. āWe rode from San Francisco to Boston in 2016, and after that we decided we should do the north-to-south to complete basically the āholy grailā of high-wheel biking across the country.ā Randy Oleynik said he became interested in the Victorian-era cycles when he was asked to join a high-wheel bike band in 1992. He and daughter Amy, a 30-year-old who works for the University of California in Davis, are part of a national organization that collects and restores antique bicycles. On their trek from Michigan to Key West, the father-daughter duo rode about 60 miles per day, accompanied by a support van driven by Randyās wife and Amyās mother. āWhen people see us going by, number one they smile, so itās a great reaction,ā said Randy Oleynik. āThey wave, they yell, they beep their horns, they swerve, theyāll stop their cars in the middle of the road.ā Amy Oleynik said she hopes the ride, which she and her dad undertook for the sheer adventure of it, will inspire others to seek out enjoyable moments and challenges. āWhat we want this ride to tell people is, number one, get outside,ā she advised. āGet out there ā youāre definitely never too old to learn how to ride a bicycle.ā |
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