Last week, while many looked for ways to stay inside and avoid the heat, Rob Davis and his son Jake were cycling through Wisconsin as part of their mission to raise money to help families with autistic children.
On Friday, July 22, their journey brought them through Waupaca. They stopped at the Three Squares Restaurant for breakfast, where they were welcomed by fellow recumbent trike enthusiast Jim Klismet.
Rob and Jake are from Guilford, Vt. They began their journey in Port Angeles, Wash., because that city is the furthest west where they could have their Catrike Expedition trikes shipped.
They estimate their trip will cover 4,200 miles and take roughly 70 days. Their destination is one of the most eastern cities in the United States – Lubec, Maine.
They began their trip using maps from Adventure Cycling. They were a little sidetracked due to extensive flooding in the upper Midwest. When they were in Minnesota, they looked for the most direct route across Wisconsin and found it to be U.S. Highway 10.
From Waupaca, they planned to follow U.S. Highway 10 to Manitowoc, where they planned to take the ferry to Luddington, Mich., and continue east from there.
Rob is a behavioral consultant who works extensively with autistic children. He found many of these children are able to make great progress in school using technology such as an iPad.
Unfortunately, many of the families cannot afford to purchase one.
Rob and Jake hope to raise between $20,000 and $40,000 on their journey to purchase these devices for the children and their families that will benefit from them.
Jake is 17 and will be a high school senior this fall. He is no stranger to adventure. He spent the first semester of his junior year studying in Ecuador. He used part of this biking trip with his father to check out a college in Washington that he is thinking about attending next year.
When asked what has been their biggest challenges on their trip, both smiled and talked about tires.
At the start of the trip, the camber on Jake’s trike was a little out of adjustment, and he wore a set of tires out in the first 200 miles. That was followed by a day where they experienced seven flat tires in one day.
The biggest surprise so far for them has been the friendliness and hospitality of the people they have met. Along the journey, the pair has received unsolicited offers for housing, transportation and meals.
Follow Rob and Jake on their ride, offer words of encouragement and donate to their cause at their website: Givingbacktour.blogspot.com.