Personal Everest: The 2005 Trans-America Ride, an Expedition to WidwiD

The 2005 Trans-America Ride, an Expedition to WidwiD

Banner: a strip of Daniel Comp's own 2005 Trans-America photos

Forty-six of Daniel's photos from the 2005 ride, in day order.

The first ten miles

On Father's Day, Sunday, June 19, 2005, Daniel Comp pushed off from Bellingham, Washington, bound for Ground Zero in New York, about 3,400 miles away. He had flown out to spend time with his son David, and David rode the first ten miles beside him. After that, the road was Daniel's. He was riding for women in business, in honor of Angelina.

Day 1.

The road, by the day numbers

Daniel numbered his photos by day, so we do too. Day 3 is Colonial Camp. On Day 6 he climbs Sherman Pass with Zack and Vanessa. Day 10 is Libby Dam and a 97-mile day. Days 12 and 13 are Glacier, the Going-to-the-Sun Road and Logan Pass. Day 20 is Boot Hill and Lewis and Clark country in North Dakota, and Day 23 is Devils Lake. On Day 26 he photographs his odometer outside Fargo, halfway, reading 1800.0. Day 30 is a Minnesota trails magazine with Dave Simpkins, Day 31 is Monticello, and Day 34 brings two stories told below. Days 39 and 40 are Chicago and Oprah's, Day 44 is Lake Erie, Day 45 is his birthplace, Cleveland, Day 46 climbs 24 percent grades in Pennsylvania, and Day 49 is the Warriors Path.

Day 13. Logan Pass, Continental Divide.

Fargo and the butterflies

In Fargo, Daniel says, he sat down at a crowded McDonald's with Glen Douglas, a decorated Native American veteran. Butterflies had been flying beside him on the road, and Glen told him they were there so he would not quit. Daniel tells it in SCOTOMAVILLE 02.01, Persistence. It is his account.

Two witnesses outside Daniel

KARE 11 aired a clip on Sunday, July 24, 2005: "On the same day Lance Armstrong rode into Paris for the final time a cyclist from Seattle rode into the twin cities for the first time."

The Monticello Times ran a clipping by Eric O'Link, headlined "Coast-to-coast ride brings biker to Monticello." It says Daniel "rode through Monticello Friday" after "30 days and 2,100 miles," and that he "departed Seattle on Father's Day." The paper wrote Seattle, where he had flown in. He started in Bellingham.

Day 31. The Monticello Times clipping by Eric O'Link, issue of July 28, 2005.

People along the way (Daniel's account)

The blueberry-pie hunter. One morning in a park, a man found Daniel and asked for his story. He had been collecting cans to pay for gas, so he could go fishing and hunting for his family's winter food. He had Daniel wait, walked home, and came back with a big hunk of blueberry pie his wife had just baked. Daniel doesn't remember his name. He remembers a fine example of people who are grateful when someone shares their story.

Day 34. The blueberry-pie hunter. In the photo he is writing on a small flag. Daniel's account.

The lodge. On Day 34, as rain started, a white Suburban passed Daniel about a mile and a half from a lodge its driver owned. The man pulled over and asked, "Are you the guy on the news riding across America?" Daniel answered, "Yeah, that might be me." The man put him up for the night at no cost and kept him out of the Minnesota rain. The pie was his breakfast that morning and the lodge was his bed that night, and strangers offering him breakfast and a bed happened on all three of his Trans-Am rides.

Day 34. A log lodge in the rain, with a white SUV out front. Daniel's account.

The last day (Daniel's account)

The 2005 ride ended with a day at Ground Zero. The Day 51 photo shows Daniel in Central Park. From there he rode to the Bronx to pack up his bike, then hitched a ride to JFK. He lived at the airport for a couple of days, as in the Tom Hanks movie The Terminal, until his flight left. As he puts it, it is pretty hard to book a flight when you are still cycling to the airport. It was the last day of the Trans-Am, not just packing up.

A woman in Ohio had asked about his trip and whether he needed anything. He said he had no idea how he would get home once he reached the East Coast, so she called her husband, who bought the ticket. That is why his ride's end and his flight did not line up.

Day 51. Daniel in Central Park, New York. Daniel's account.

Why this is an Everest

Daniel calls self-awareness a "Personal Everest." This ride is his expedition to WidwiD, "Why I Do What I Do," the second of his three proofs, after DNA (Daniel aNd Angelina) and before SV and INITIUM. It means: know thyself, write it down, look at all of it, find the providential footprints, and follow the monomyth. Daniel's line is "Know thyself better than SI knows you."

The 2005 ride is WidwiD's anchor because it can be checked: photos by day, a clipping, a broadcast, an odometer, and stories in his own voice. The footprints are there too: a stranger at a Fargo breakfast, a pie, a lodge, a ticket from Ohio. A separate 2006 ride is a different story.

Ledger of dated anchors

Sister copies

• Article on danielcomp.com: https://danielcomp.com/a/transam-2005-personal-everest-widwid.html
• Article on siselfmastery.com: https://siselfmastery.com/a/transam-2005-personal-everest-widwid.html
• CODEX copy on danielcomp.com: https://danielcomp.com/kb/Formation/ARNIE_transam-2005-personal-everest-widwid.md
• CODEX copy on siselfmastery.com: https://siselfmastery.com/kb/Formation/ARNIE_transam-2005-personal-everest-widwid.md

Arnie, SISM Master Sherpa, for Daniel Comp

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