PORT ANGELES — After riding 3,400 miles across the nation, a Port Angeles education advocate returned home nearly three weeks ahead of schedule.
Tom Swanson, 57, rode his bicycle daily for more than four weeks across the United States to celebrate his youngest child’s graduation from the University of Washington and to help new young graduates fund secondary educations of their own.
Swanson, a former member of the Port Angeles Education Foundation, created the Pathway to Prosperity endowmwnt and set out on the trek to raise $100,000 for it.
The endowment would award annual academic scholarships for college or vocational students through the Port Angeles Education Foundation.
So far, the area manager for Green Crow Corp., has raised about $75,000. That includes $25,000 in matching funds from Green Crow.
He began his trip on May 30 at Hamilton Elementary School in Port Angeles — where his children attended school — and pedaled to his childhood home of Panama, N.Y., requesting donations from Port Angeles and Panama supporters.
He expected to arrived at some time in the third week of July, but instead rode into the small New York town on July 1 and flew home to Port Angeles.
The ride didn’t completely go as planned, he said.
Swanson planned to spend about 30 percent of his nights in hotels, and 70 percent in campgrounds or hostels.
Instead, he said, the numbers were reversed. Campgrounds were often far off his chosen path or he had a need for more services than the campgrounds offered.
Swanson said he skipped a 720-mile portion of eastern Montana and most of South Dakota because of the long distance between services and safety concerns on U.S. Highway 2.
“The last three to five days [before deciding to skip a section] were not pleasant when it came to safety,” he said.
He estimated he jumped ahead 10 days when he loaded his bicycle on the Amtrak Empire Builder train at Havre, Mont., and got off at Fargo, N.D.
A day later, he met up with a father and 13-year old son from Chicago who had begun their own ride in Anacortes just a day earlier than Swanson’s own departure.
The pair rode 100 miles per day on their trip, which was purely for recreation, and had a support vehicle to carry their gear, Swanson said.
He said he joined them for several days, then dropped off to take a different route than they planned.
Swanson said he was surprised at how few other cyclists he saw on the road, heading either direction.
“I thought there would be more,” he said.
Because of the Amtrak shortcut, he arrived at his high school alma mater early.
He was met by two teachers about six miles from Pananam, who then rode with him.
Panama emergency services met him a half mile from town and escorted him to the high school, where he was greeted by about 40 family members, friends and representatives from the high school and township.
There were also new things to learn along the route.
“The most surprising thing was the scale of agriculture in the Midwest,” Swanson said.
“It was acres and acres of corn and soy beans. You can ride for days and it’s the only thing you see.”
He also learned more about the people who work along the popular east-west travel routes.
During the trip he met many people who worked in hotels, gas stations, groceries, and restaurants that primarily provide service for travelers.
“I have a great degree of respect for people in the service industry, who do a lot of hard work for modest reward,” he said.
“They have to see thousands of different new faces a day and be kind to all of them.”
Swanson continues to seek donations for the endowment.
To donate, go to portangeleseducationfoundation.org.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.