Mike’s Journey
Whitewater Native Bikes 4,000 miles Pacific To Atlantic Solo
Mike Willegal, retired software engineer, started on his solo journey on June 1st flying with his bike from his home in Tewksbury, Mass. to Seaside, Oregon. After 40 days and 2,393 miles he is in southern Wisconsin visiting family before continuing to Mass. and the Atlantic. During the first weeks he followed the Lewis & Clark trail, camping with the small tent he has in a pannier and hangs the food over a tree branch to keep the animals away, with an occasional motel stay, due to weather. He has met many kind and interesting folks along the way. A nice gentleman gave him a can of bear spray in grizzly country and the small country shopkeepers offer to have him camp in their backyard if there’s no campground nearby. While here he bikes Lake Mills to Whitewater to Lake Geneva and back adding more miles to the trip. After a visit here with his two sons visiting from Colorado he plans to continue on his journey on Thursday.
This story is written by Genevieve Thompson.