Friends Fulfill Cross-Country Dream

Last week Chris Dittmore and Matt Swinnerton dipped their back wheels in the Pacific Ocean.

Sometime in August, and something like 4,000 miles later, the two will dab their front wheels in the Atlantic Ocean.

"That's kind of the tradition when you cycle cross-country," Dittmore said.

With a "sag car" full of supplies, a few weeks off, a pouch full of CLIFF bars and a tube full of chamois cream (a cyclist's best friend), the two left for Revere Beach, just north of Boston, last Thursday morning.

Dittmore, 52, and Swinnerton, 49, are longtime friends and longtime Danville residents. They are finally fulfilling their longtime dream to ride bicycles from coast to coast.

A family story takes root

The idea of taking bicycles cross-country grew from a story Swinnerton, who comes from a cycling family, told Dittmore of when Swinnerton's 59-year-old father made the trek east in 1994 with a few friends.

"It planted a seed," Dittmore said the day before the two left.

That seed started to take root about five years ago when the two began planning the trip. And it was about a year ago that they put pencil to paper and actually mapped out the route.

Dittmore and Swinnerton have been friends since their time as Indian Guides in the YMCA father-son program, which started 18 years ago.

But they knew they couldn't do this trip while their children were little and still in school. They are both are married. Dittmore has three kids and Swinnerton two. And this summer, both have their youngest exiting college.

"We knew as parents of young children, we're not going to be able to leave for a month and we knew we'd have to do it later in life," Dittmore said. "We decided that this summer was the right time to do it. Our two youngest sons are graduating from college. And we didn't want to get too old."

Stopping for a great milkshake

The route Dittmore and Swinnerton planned isn't a straight line across the country, as Swinnerton's father took. The two plan to do some zigzagging, making some stops, and taking in what they are accomplishing.

"For us, and it sounds cliché, but it's about the journey more than the destination," Dittmore said.

"We'll be stopping along the way," he added. "So, if there is a place for a great milkshake, we'll want to stop."

Dittmore noted this is probably one of the only times in life when he'll be able to eat whatever he wants. "We'll be burning 4,000 to 5,000 calories a day. I want to enjoy replenishing those calories."

They left from the Golden Gate Bridge and will travel through Lake Tahoe, through Jackson Hole, Wyoming and down to Iowa where they will partake in the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.

From there, up to Cooperstown, N.Y. -- "For a stop at the Baseball Hall of Fame," Dittmore said -- and ending in Revere Beach, just north of Boston, which is the same place Swinnerton's father ended his trip.

"Our journey will be about 4,000 miles," Dittmore said.

77 miles a day

The two friends expect to cycle about 500 miles a week. Dittmore said, prior to the trip, that they would average 77 miles a day, riding for 5 to 7 hours. But, of course, this all depends on the terrain and the weather.

"Wind is a big enemy or an ally, depending," Swinnerton said.

Both have been preparing for the trip, riding longer than normal, participating in various events -- such as a 100-mile mountain bike race

"Training isn't new to us but we've stepped up the volume each week," Swinnerton said.

They've also started doing yoga to prepare their bodies for sitting on a bike several hours a day.

"It's not just the legs that you need to strengthen, but the core, the neck, the back, the spine," Swinnerton said.  

He added that no matter how much the two train, the trip will be something completely new physically and difficult to prepare for.

The sag car and totally teched-out

They'll be driving through deserts, up inclines, most likely through some type of inclement weather, but they aren't going in cold. They'll have what is called a sag car with them the whole time.

To avoid bogging down their bicycles -- their expensive bicycles -- with pouches filled with supplies, a sag car will meet them at their daily destination, which will be a hotel room. Dittmore and Swinnerton said camping is a "younger man's activity." The sag car will also, if need be, assist in the case of a breakdown or some other unseen incident.

"The sag car will never be more than an hour away," Dittmore said.

Through different legs of the trip, different friends and relatives will drive it.

When Swinnerton's father went cross-country in '94, he too had a sag car, driven by Swinnerton's mother. In the sag car, they had a stack of maps. But not this time. Dittmore and Swinnerton are leaving the map folding at home.

"We're totally teched-out," Dittmore said.

They have a GPS devise made for the bicycles that downloads their routes onto a website for their families to track. They also have an emergency beacon that is a real-time tracker that tells their families exactly where they are.

Additionally, if a situation occurs when their phones are out of service and they need emergency help, it has an SOS feature that sends out a call to 911.

In addition to these gadgets, the two have also created a blog to follow their journey.

For them, it's a bicycle... what is it for you?

Sometime in August, the two are expected to hit Revere Beach. They won't cycle back. They'll have their bikes boxed up and will fly back to the Bay Area. Part of their goal is, yes, to make the 4,000-mile journey and part of it is to spend time together as friends.

But, Dittmore said, he hopes people look at this as a reminder to live your dreams.

"I want people to take their own lives, pick out what it is they want to do, and do that," Dittmore said. "What's your dream? What's the vehicle to do something in your life?"

However, despite the legacy of a grandfather and now a father, for Swinnerton's son, it won't be a cross-country bicycle trip.

"He thinks I'm crazy," Swinnerton said.

You can follow along Dittmore and Swinnerton's journey through their blog here.

What's the farthest you've ever ridden your bicycle?