The Tribune

AFTER climbing the world’s highest peaks and sailing the Atlantic in a centuries old square-rigger ship, Freeporter Dave Mellor can now add cycling across the United States to his repertoire of exhilarating adventures.

Mellor, 71, and two other friends, cycled altogether 2,500 miles across seven states from California to St Augustine, Florida. It took them 53 days, crossing a California desert, the Colorado River and braving some treacherous inter-state highways.

Mellor and his cycling buddies – 69-year-old Peter Higgs of Nassau and American Chuck Laird, 72, from California – set off on March 2 from Victorville on the southern tier route. This took them through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to Florida.

“The description ‘veterans’ had been loosely applied to our three-man team, which seemed to fit since between us we had an age handicap of 214 years,” Mellor quipped. “It was a lot of fun,” he recalled of their “Riding Across America” adventure. “We bumped into some people who were also cycling in the opposite direction.”

The trio rode the same bicycle model – a lightweight touring version made by Trek, fitted with baggage carriers, water bottles, splash guards and a flag pole.

Mellor - who has planted the Bahamian flag atop seven of the highest mountains in the world - also took a miniature version along for the journey.

“Our plan was to make a steady, quite leisurely ride, gradually increasing the distances covered every day up to an average of about 50 miles a day – certainly nothing for the record books – and above all to enjoy the vastness of North America.

CALIFORNIA

“We were delayed for a few days up in the desert due to weather but finally headed out amidst snow capped mountains on March 2, slowly pedalling to Joshua Tree National Park, where we lit a fire and camped for our first of many nights, waking at sunrise on a beautiful frosty morning,” he said.

ARIZONA

“A couple of days later we were crossing the Colorado River into Arizona gradually making our way across that beautiful state via Gila, Phoenix, Tucson and eventually into Wyatt Earp country, the old cowboy town of Tombstone, where we took our first rest day and joined the gunfights at the OK Corral.”

NEW MEXICO

The trio encountered several steep hills. Mellor described how he hit his top speed of 36mph going downhill and within an hour was grunting uphill at a slow pace of barely 4mph. After 12 days of cycling, Mellor, Higgs, and Laird arrived in New Mexico, where they saw a signpost marking the Continental Divide.

“This was Apache country and we passed the Geronimo monument commemorating his surrender and the end of all Indian Wars in the USA.

“We were right on the Mexican border by this time and later we rode into Columbus, where in 1916 the Mexican bandit Pancho Villa attacked the army post and brought down the wrath of the United States which sent 10,000 thousand troops after him (they never caught him!) This according to the history books was the last time that anybody attacked the USA (not sure how they class 9/11!).”

TEXAS

They journeyed on to Texas, the second largest state in the US. It took them 19 days to cross but the roads were in very good condition, Mellor said. “The Lone Star State is a wealthy state and the roads that we travelled were well kept up, although the traffic was a bit wild on occasions,” he recalled.

The trio experienced “quite a few close calls” while cycling along the inter-state highways for much of the time. Mellor said: “The professional truck drivers were fine but some of the monster motor homes dragging a swinging jeep or car behind, and commanded by some real ancients, were another story and we were all run off the road at various times.”

The crew rested in El Paso for a day. They then made their way slowly across the state passing through Fort Davis, the highest town in Texas, across the Rio Grande into Del Rio and to one of the best campsites of the whole trip at Fort Clarke. While there, they swam in the third largest swimming pool in Texas.

Mellor and his friends also stopped in San Antonio, known as the home of the Alamo. “We spent a rare rainy day there enjoying the comfort of a hotel,” he said, compared to their usual sleeping arrangements on the back of their support pick-up truck which sleeps two, and one in the bike trailer.

“So a night in a hotel was a rare treat,” he said.

Mellor said Houston was a bit of a challenge. “Trying to cycle through Houston was the equivalent of having a death wish so we cheated and drove through in the truck. By this time, the mosquitos were starting to make themselves felt and the nights were getting more hot and humid,” said the expert mountaineer.

“It took us 19 days to cross Texas but it was an enjoyable ride through some surprisingly beautiful country, with the early Spring flowers decorating the lush green fields that we passed.”

LOUISIANA

As they crossed into Louisiana, the cyclists noted an immediate difference. Mellor said the highways and byways were filthy. There was garbage, road kill and tyre fragments on the street.

They camped out in casino parking lots. “We convinced management that we were a trio of high-rolling eccentric gamblers from the Bahamas so that we could use their facilities,” he said humorously.

The trio enjoyed New Orleans, Louisiana, especially trad Jazz in Bourbon Street and Jackson Square and the paddleboat cruises on the Mississippi River.

“We camped on the outskirts and took advantage of the senior citizens bus fares into town so that we could indulge in the exotic alcoholic cocktails and avoid cycling under the influence.

MISSISSIPPI

“The next day we rode into Mississippi and over the St Louis Bridge to reach the Gulf of Mexico and the magnificent white sand beaches that stretch for miles through Gulf Port and Biloxi. A big plus was a neat and very safe bike track right along the sea shore,” he said.

ALABAMA

In Alabama, the cyclists encountered road conditions similar to Louisiana. “We had been quite encouraged by reports that the prevailing winds on our trans-continental ride would be mostly pushing us from the West. I don’t know where that gem of information originated but it was totally the opposite and we were riding into the wind for most of our trip at times, battling a 20-30mph head wind!”

FLORIDA

“Alabama was soon behind us and the signpost said ‘Welcome to Florida’.

The road system changed and the Sunshine State was very cyclist friendly with clearly marked bike lanes and signs saying ‘give way to cyclists’.”

Mellor said Florida also brought a change in the weather.

“We experienced our first real heavy rain of the trip which kept us in a swampy waterlogged campsite for a couple of days, fighting the mosquitos before we were able to make the last long ride to Jacksonville.”

There the cyclists visited and stayed with former Freeport residents Bob and Anne Howells.

The next morning they took US 1 into St Augustine. It is the the oldest city in the US. “We were just in time for their Easter Parade and then said ‘hullo’ to the Atlantic Ocean,” Mellor said.

Mellor, Laird, and Higgs enjoyed every day of their 2,500 mile cycle trip on the road.

Mellor and Laird continued even further south to his son, Steve, in Deerfield Beach. They also went down to Key West, the southern-most point in the US.

“It was something that I had decided, at my 70th birthday, that I would do,” he said.

“Asked if they had any mechanical failures while riding, Mellor said their bicycles were outfitted with Kevlar tyres. “They are puncture-resistant and we had lasted the whole trip,” he said.

When asked about his next adventure, Mellor said that he is planning to travel to Peru to do some climbing.

Mellor has been on many adventures.

He climbed Mount Everest twice. He flew in a single engine Cessna from Bangor in the US to Spain. He sailed in a 108-year-old square-rigger, the Alexander Von Humboldt, and another square-rigger, the Dutch ship Europa, from Ushuaia in Argentina, the southernmost city in the world, on a voyage across the wildest ocean in the world, past Cape Horn and across the Drake Passage.

He and Peter and Monty Higgs from Nassau also kayaked the full length of the Exumas.