Barber treks beyond boundaries via bicycle
Campus Times
February 14, 1997
As the opportunity finally arrived and the occasion ultimately proved
to be triumphant, Oris Barber, director of human resources, pedaled his
way from the Golden State to Florida last fall on what is known to be his
"greatest adventure thus far."
Taking an Amtrak train to San Diego, Barber departed midday from the
Pacific Ocean on Coronado Island on Sept. 20, along with one other rider.
"I was accompanied by two riders; a young woman named Pam Freiders,
who is an airline pilot for DHL Airlines and Lynn Miller, a retired professor
of landscape architecture at Penn State University who met Pam and I in
El Paso, Texas," Barber said.
Travelling about 3,000 miles across the nation on a fully loaded bicycle,
Barber carried a sleeping bag, tent, cooking utensils, clothing and plenty
of water, weighing approximately 100 pounds.
Barber said, "We were drinking enormous amounts of water and becoming
creative in finding ways to carry enough water on the bikes."
A typical day for the three riders started at 5:30 a.m., indulging a
typical breakfast of eggs, sausage, hashbrowns, biscuits with gravy and
coffee.
Their journey on the road began by 6:50 a.m. and usually would last
10 hours, at an average speed of 10 miles per hour.
Barber had a unique appetite while on his trip. He ate candy bars, canned
goods such as peaches, fruit cocktail and corned beef hash, crackers, beef
jerky, raisins and ice cream. He drank orange juice, milkshakes and even
chocolate milk.
"I haven't drank chocolate milk in years, but I really craved it
throughout my trip," he said.
During his southern route tour, Barber encountered many obstacles.
The first few days of the trip, the weather was hot, ranging anywhere
from 105 to 120 degrees. He also said he got a rear flat tire that he managed
to fix in a matter of minutes.
By the time he reached New Mexico in the beginning of October, he faced
strong head winds. A camper was stung by a scorpion in the same campsite
he stayed at. He was also warned twice about mountain lions lurking in the
southwest.
When Barber reached El Paso, Texas, he took one day off from bicycling
to meet Miller and to do some shopping.
"Our trip lasted 50 days and that was the only day we took off,"
he said.
Burning about 8,000 calories a day, 800 for every hour he pedaled, Barber
continued his voyage on his bicycle through Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.,
listening to a Sony walkman he purchased at the beginning of his trip.
Of course, any expedition would not be complete without taking pictures
of moments he captured.
"I have two carousels I put together; a total of 160 slides,"
said Barber.
When he finally reached his destination in St. Augustine, Florida, on
Nov. 8, Barber estimated the trip approximately required 2 million pedal
strokes.
"People would ask, 'Don't you get tired?' The question caused me
to rethink what tired means to me. I can go home after a typical day at
the office and feel 'tired.' Not once did I ever feel tired on this trip.
Exhausted temporarily many times, but never tired. I could have continued
indefinitely," he said.