Epic Family Bike Journey Across America

Tahverlee [00:00:03]:
Welcome to the Bike Life podcast by Warmshowers Foundation, where we will be sharing knowledge, experience, tools, and stories of touring cyclists and hosts from around the world. I'm Tahverlee, the woman behind the scenes at warmshowers foundation, the leading platform for cyclists looking for hosts and to connect with a passionate international community. Find out more by visiting us at warmshowers dot org. Now, on to the show.

Jerry Kopack [00:00:40]:
Hey, everyone. This is Jerry Kopack, the host of bike life coming to you from the mountains of Breckenridge, Colorado. Fall is in the air, but I'm today, I'm talking with Justin Wolfenberg and 2 of his kids who together spent this past summer cycling the Transamerica route from Oregon to Virginia. Hey, guys. Welcome to bike life.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:00:59]:
Welcome. Glad to be here.

Jerry Kopack [00:01:01]:
Alright.

Henry [00:01:01]:
Yes.

Jerry Kopack [00:01:02]:
So I wanna start with Leila and maybe have her and and, her brother introduce themselves. So how about maybe name which I already gave away, but maybe name, age, and I don't know. How about your your favorite trail snack from this summer on your journey?

Leila [00:01:20]:
I'm Leila. I'm 17, and the absolute favorite was Clif Bars for the journey.

Jerry Kopack [00:01:29]:
Yes. What, what flavor? Yeah.

Leila [00:01:32]:
Crunchy peanut butter.

Jerry Kopack [00:01:33]:
Yes. Yes. Okay. Henry, what about you?

Henry [00:01:38]:
Yeah. I'm Henry, and I'm 18. And, trail mix would definitely be my favorite. I've always loved trail mix, and I ate tons of trail mix on that trip. So that was a lot of fun.

Jerry Kopack [00:01:50]:
Okay. So did you make your own trail mix? And if so, what was in it?

Henry [00:01:55]:
I have made my own trail mix, but for the bike trip, I was we were just buying, like, peanuts, or we were buying premade trail mix. I had, like, peanuts and raisins and, M and M's and that kind of stuff in it.

Jerry Kopack [00:02:09]:
Yes. The M and M's are the key. That's been my favorite as well. Yes. Justin, no pressure. Do you wanna you wanna play along in this game?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:02:17]:
Yeah. I would say one of our favorite things we did, at least snack wise, was often we would bike and it would be so crazy hot. And we had to bike to the campsite with no, obviously, refrigeration. So we would have a pint of ice cream right on the on the sidewalk as we walked out the grocery store. That's just something you civilized people don't do, but it's perfectly acceptable on a bike trip, and it was so fun. Right out of the container.

Jerry Kopack [00:02:43]:
Yes. So favorite flavor?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:02:47]:
Anything kind of chocolate peanut butter was anything like that was fantastic.

Jerry Kopack [00:02:52]:
Got it. Got it. Now I know that you all have written a blog, and I read some entries in your blog, and there was definitely a ice cream for dinner theme in a couple of days. Has that stuck around since you've been home?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:03:08]:
No. We we had to go back to normal civilized diets. So we did not. We have not continued that. You know, when you're biking 8 hours a day, you have different set of calorie rules.

Jerry Kopack [00:03:19]:
Yeah. That is the beauty of the bike packing. Right? You can kinda just eat Mhmm. Whatever because you just need to get calories in.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:03:26]:
Yes.

Jerry Kopack [00:03:26]:
But ice cream is still a part of the dessert menu maybe?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:03:30]:
Absolutely.

Jerry Kopack [00:03:31]:
Alright. So, Justin, what was it about this summer, 2024, that made this the right time for an adventure? Was it something you've been scheming or planning for a while?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:03:41]:
Yeah. I've always just had that kind of back pocket goal of saying, man, I'd love to go on the bike across the country. But, again, we had a young family for many years, and it just didn't make sense. And this year, I turned 50, Henry turned 18 and graduated high school, and Leila was 17. And I went to my wife and I said, you know, I've got a crazy idea. If you say no, I won't even breathe another word of it, but I'd love to bike across the country with Henry and Leila. And she's surprisingly said, I'm for it. I'll support it.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:04:12]:
And I have an incredible wife, and I went to Henry and Leila. And I was like, I'm not doing it unless they come with me, and they both wholeheartedly agreed. And then off the planning went.

Jerry Kopack [00:04:22]:
Yes. And so speaking of planning, what goes into planning a trip like this with your kids?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:04:29]:
Yeah. We I we kinda had to have a count the cost to talk. Like, we can't just show up on this thing and go on a trip. We have to train for the next year. So for us, we have winters here in Cincinnati.

Jerry Kopack [00:04:39]:
Yeah.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:04:40]:
So that meant we had to we, joined the YMCA. That was, like, the one place we could find economical spinning classes. Like, if all 3 of us went to spinning classes at those high end gyms, it would have been, like, $800 a month. So for a $100 a month, our whole family was able to join the y. And we had this fantastic group of old sweet Catholic ladies from Cincinnati that we did our spinning classes with, and they were a hoot. So we ended up doing a lot of that in the winter. And then, obviously, we were doing bike riding on the roads in the fall and summers. Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:05:11]:
And then once the time came, you felt like you were ready? You were trained?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:05:16]:
Yeah. I think so. I mean, as always, I wish I would have done a little bit more training, but I think we had just enough to get us through.

Jerry Kopack [00:05:22]:
So you spent pretty much every day, all day together for what? 2 months?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:05:28]:
Yeah. Just over 2 months. It was a couple days over 2 months. Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:05:31]:
That's incredible. Did you feel like you evolved and grew as a family?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:05:35]:
Yeah. I think there's something that you just that only can happen when things are really difficult. Of course, there was times we felt, we all felt irritated. They probably never felt irritated with me, but, we all felt irritated with each other at times. But I thought we were really good and respectful and and kind to each other. So that made it work. But there's just something that happens when you have to dig really, really deep. And I think what I said I most appreciated about my kids on the trip is I never had to motivate them.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:06:05]:
You know? They acted as adults on this trip, and they were so motivated to do whatever it took. You know how these things are. There are some days it's freezing cold, rainy. Some days you make a wrong turn, and you're 20 miles off, and you just want you wanna you just wanna lose it, and they never did. They were just fantastic to be a part of that. And so, I really respected their character, and how they handled all these things.

Jerry Kopack [00:06:27]:
Wow. I love that. So I wanna sort of pivot and talk about experience and gear and the actual tour itself. So, Leila, besides going to the Y and doing spin class, what was your experience with biking and camping before this trip?

Leila [00:06:48]:
It was it was very fun for me. I really love doing athletic things, and I had been on one trip where I was kind of backpacking and, biking at the same time. And so I had a little bit of experience, and it was fun. And so, yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:07:11]:
What, what was your longest outdoor bike ride before this?

Leila [00:07:16]:
It was a weekend. It was pretty much training to go across America. Okay. We my brother and my dad and I, we biked to Yellow Springs about 80 miles from Cincinnati and stayed for just for the night there and then came back the next day to Cincinnati.

Jerry Kopack [00:07:38]:
And after that trip, you're like, yeah. I think I can do this every day for 2 months.

Leila [00:07:44]:
It wasn't quite like that. But yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:07:48]:
Was there anything that you along the way, you wish you had brought with you, or did you think you had everything you needed?

Leila [00:07:56]:
I definitely wish I had brought better, gear for, like, snow and Snow? Like, hail. Yes. Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:08:05]:
You had snow?

Leila [00:08:07]:
Yeah. It did. It snowed on a mountain we went.

Jerry Kopack [00:08:11]:
Dang. Snow in the summer. You can't plan for everything, I guess. Right?

Leila [00:08:15]:
No.

Jerry Kopack [00:08:16]:
Henry, what about you? What, what was your longest bike ride? Same experience? That one overnighter?

Henry [00:08:23]:
Yeah. I would say I had very little experience. Just that one trip that Leila was talking about. That was I've done some, like, 60, 80 mile rides before, but I have never done any, like, bikepacking trips. So

Jerry Kopack [00:08:38]:
Okay. So you've done some longer rides? Yeah. Okay. So you felt pretty strong and pretty ready for this trip?

Henry [00:08:47]:
Yeah. I think so. I was I was I was definitely feeling it at first the first couple weeks. I was like, man, this is hard, but it got I was definitely ready, I think.

Jerry Kopack [00:08:56]:
How many, how many tents did you guys have?

Henry [00:09:01]:
We just had one for all 3 of us. It's a 3 person tent. We all Okay.

Jerry Kopack [00:09:07]:
Since you're the, the young strong 18 year old, you carried the tent. Right?

Henry [00:09:12]:
Yeah. I had most of the gear Yes. On my bike. So

Jerry Kopack [00:09:17]:
Smart move, Justin. Way to go.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:09:19]:
Yes. He was the workhorse. We, we used it.

Jerry Kopack [00:09:23]:
So, Henry, anything that you, felt like maybe you're missing out by not having on your bike, or did you have all the right gear besides besides snow gear?

Henry [00:09:32]:
Yeah. I think I had we had most of the right gear. I think I'm sure there was a few, like, small things, but not really. I feel like we're pretty well prepared. We didn't we did ton of extra stuff we wanted to send back. Like, we met up with my mom halfway through, and we gave her a few things, but it wasn't like we had tons of things we overbroad or and there wasn't a ton of things we needed. So I think, overall, we did pretty well on the packing.

Jerry Kopack [00:09:58]:
So you weren't carrying a pair of, like, snow boots or anything like that that you had to get rid of? Okay. Cool. So, Justin, did you find that each person took on a role throughout the trip? Like, was someone in charge of setting up the tent? I don't know. Maybe boiling water or comic relief? Like, how did everyone's role sort of evolve?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:10:19]:
Well, unfortunately, I think I was the comic relief because I'm, like, can be an absent minded professor, and I think I lost my wallet maybe 3 times on the trip. And, we would end up having to have it mailed to us ahead of the of but someone would find it and, you know and so anyways, unfortunately, I played that role, losing things more than I care to admit. But we ended up with, like, Leila wrote the blog, and it was really neat to see her develop as a writer. And Henry did our video blog, and he did kind of his video things, something both of them had never done before. So it was really neat to see them do that. But we definitely had some division of labor. Henry actually ended up being the cook, so he would be, do all the cooking for us. And then Leila, I would do some of the cleaning up, and Leila would be assisting getting the tent set up and things like that.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:11:07]:
So when we got some of those things down, it made things go just smoothly as we all kind of fit in our little roles.

Jerry Kopack [00:11:14]:
Nice. And did everyone kinda stick to those rule those roles throughout the trip?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:11:18]:
Pretty much. Yeah. We were pretty content. I was happy to do the dishes if Henry was was cooking. So

Jerry Kopack [00:11:24]:
I, I have a that kind of rule in my life too. I think the cook doesn't have to clean. Yes. So how do you guys feel about that?

Henry [00:11:32]:
Yeah. Pretty good. I like that role.

Jerry Kopack [00:11:34]:
Okay. So, Leila, how's, how's your brother's cooking?

Leila [00:11:40]:
It was it was a little bland at first, but he, like, he really got the hang of it as, like, within 2 weeks, we were, like, finding foods that were very filling, but yet simple.

Jerry Kopack [00:11:52]:
Okay. So what's, what was the favorite meal around the camp that you that he made?

Leila [00:11:58]:
It's hard to say.

Jerry Kopack [00:12:00]:
So many good ones?

Leila [00:12:02]:
Yeah. Yeah. We got it got way better at the end. But one of the first meals we had that was actually filling and good was ramen noodles

Jerry Kopack [00:12:11]:
Sure.

Leila [00:12:11]:
With spicy beans and, like, it had, like, some sort of meat in it. And we had, like, 3 or 4 packs of, like, ramen noodles in that, like, little cook stove pot, but Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:12:23]:
It was filling. Okay. Alright. So here's something for, for the kids. You guys all spent a ton of time together. So Leila, while we're talking with you, was there anything about your dad or your brother that you learned that maybe you didn't know before as a as a result of this trip?

Leila [00:12:43]:
Well, I think I realized how much my dad could lose his things on the trip.

Jerry Kopack [00:12:52]:
He didn't he didn't display that in his normal life at home?

Leila [00:12:55]:
Well, like, it was very, very, like, seldom. Like, on the trip, it was a lot more frequent than it was at home.

Jerry Kopack [00:13:04]:
Okay.

Leila [00:13:06]:
But I learned oh, that just like my dad and Henry are, like, very tough and, like, very, very, like they were, like, really embrace, like, challenges and going through hard things together. So

Jerry Kopack [00:13:25]:
I love that. So they kinda bonded over that adversity at times.

Leila [00:13:28]:
Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:13:29]:
Henry, what about you? Did you learn anything new about your sister or your dad that maybe didn't know?

Henry [00:13:34]:
Yeah. Like, my sister Leila did all of writing all the blogs for us, and I did not realize how good of a writer she was. And that was that was really cool to see her write all those blogs, and then I thought they were really good. So that was cool.

Jerry Kopack [00:13:50]:
Yeah. I've read a lot of those entries, and you're right. They are really good. And at the end of our show, we'll we'll post a link to to the blog so everyone else can check these out as well. Justin, anything else you learned about your kids that maybe didn't, already know?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:14:07]:
Yeah. I I would say, I think, sort of what I referenced that, when it really, really got tough, they showed up. Nice. And that's something you just don't know. You don't know what it's like day 30, when all the you know, you're running out of water, you're running out of food, you don't know if you're gonna make it a campsite, and they just have what it takes to to dig deep in their souls. And that was a that was a treasure I'll never forget.

Jerry Kopack [00:14:34]:
Yeah. And a lot of that that adversity and that grit, you you can't teach in in a lot of ways. Right?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:14:40]:
No. They just had it. That has, Yeah. They had it in them. That was neat to see. Really neat.

Jerry Kopack [00:14:44]:
So I'm curious, with the results of this trip, it sounds like everyone had a good trip. You have other kids. Correct?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:14:53]:
Yes. Yeah. We got 3 other kids at home

Jerry Kopack [00:14:55]:
or 4.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:14:56]:
I'm sorry. Four other kids at home. Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:14:57]:
And they're younger. Right?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:14:59]:
Yes. So is

Jerry Kopack [00:15:00]:
this gonna be part of the, the curriculum going forward with the, with the young kids? Were they all jealous?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:15:05]:
They they I think we'll see. You know, you never I've learned not to make bombastic promises about 10 years from now, but my 2 boys are 8 and 9. And so we'll see we'll see what happens, 10 years from now if we rekindle it and and go forward again. So it's on the table. Yes. We may take some smaller bike trips as a whole family between now and then. So yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:15:28]:
So were the other the other kids kind of envious? Or, like, oh, man. It sounds so cool. I wish I could've gone.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:15:33]:
Yeah. I think so. I think they were envious, and and it probably enjoyed their beds in the air conditioning, and things like that. Yes.

Jerry Kopack [00:15:41]:
Yeah. I'm just thinking, wow. What a gift that, you have with your kids this summer. I'm just trying to imagine if I had the opportunity as a kid in the well, in the eighties nineties to bike across the country with my dad and my brother, like, that would just would have been amazing. So so very envious of this experience with you guys.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:16:01]:
Thank you. Yeah. It was a gift.

Jerry Kopack [00:16:03]:
So, Leila, just curious. What did your friends think about this adventure? Did they think it was crazy? Was it silly? What what what were their thoughts?

Leila [00:16:13]:
They were really supportive. They, like, constantly were checking up being like, oh, hey. How's the journey going?

Jerry Kopack [00:16:20]:
Yeah.

Leila [00:16:21]:
And, you know, they were just very supportive and encouraging. When I first told them about it, they're like, oh, that's Layla for you. No.

Jerry Kopack [00:16:28]:
Thank you. Because you're, you're known to do crazy adventure stuff like this?

Leila [00:16:34]:
Yeah. That's true. Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:16:35]:
So they were probably reading along in your blog and felt like they were right there with you.

Leila [00:16:40]:
Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:16:41]:
So were you bummed when it ended? Were you ready to keep be be home, or were you ready to keep going?

Leila [00:16:48]:
Mixed feelings.

Jerry Kopack [00:16:49]:
Okay.

Leila [00:16:50]:
I didn't want the adventure, like, the adventurous feeling of it to end. Yeah. But I was ready to get back to my normal life.

Jerry Kopack [00:16:58]:
Okay. Henry, what about you? Are you ready to keep going?

Henry [00:17:02]:
Yeah. I, I had a lot of fun, and I wanted to keep going. But I was also glad to get back home too, but it was it was it was a a sad parting with the trip, kind of.

Jerry Kopack [00:17:14]:
Yeah. Right? So you just graduated. What were your friends doing this summer while you're off cycling through the country?

Henry [00:17:21]:
They were all working and getting ready for college and stuff.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:17:26]:
You you

Jerry Kopack [00:17:27]:
thought, like, yeah. I had a pretty good summer.

Henry [00:17:29]:
Yep.

Jerry Kopack [00:17:30]:
Alright. So fun fact. You guys were the first guests from the show that I've had a pleasure to actually host in my home. So besides your obviously incredible experience in Breckenridge, what were some of your favorite warm shower experiences along the way? Anyone.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:17:51]:
Yeah. It it's such a neat yeah. I'll start, and I'll let them add on. I would say we started this trip. We had hoped we would meet some interesting people, but we knew we would see beautiful scenery, and that we did. But the tapestry and the beauty of the humans we met across the way outweigh the beauty of the landscape. And that's something I'll never forget. I just because what you when you're on these trips, you're so vulnerable.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:18:18]:
Like, I remember once we were pulling into some town. I think we were in Montana. It all blurs together. It was cold and rainy, and we pulled into this small town, and we were far away from anything else. Everything was closed. Everything. Not even the gas station had a sign on open. It's like open Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:18:35]:
We're like, what? We're here Tuesday. Like, nothing was open. We had no dinner. Nothing. And it was like just you could see the this the melancholy on our faces just overtaking. And some lady walks out her door and is like, how are you guys? We're like, oh, we're cold and hungry. Do you know where should we get in to eat eat? And she's like, no. Everything's shut down in this little town.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:18:56]:
She's like, hold on. I'll meet you at your campsite in 30 minutes. And her and her friend her boyfriend brought us dinner, and we had dinner at our campsite with them. And they told us stories about their biking adventures, and we just met the most wonderful people, you, included, as well. Like, it was just so fun. It was such a highlight. You know? Yeah.

Tahverlee [00:19:22]:
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Jerry Kopack [00:20:09]:
Leila, what about you? Did you have anything that sticks in your mind for a really memorable experience?

Leila [00:20:17]:
Yeah. When like, with the warmshowers host, like, you know, you get a warm shower for free and, you know, cyclists would be like, oh, yeah. You can camp in our backyard. But what I didn't expect was how many times warm shower host would be like, no. Don't set up your tent. Come on in the house. And, you know, we got beds all ready for you, and we'll cook you dinner so that you become stuffed in. I didn't expect that, and that was wonderful and really amazing.

Jerry Kopack [00:20:48]:
Was it, nervous at all just to go and sleep in a stranger's house, or did you feel pretty comfortable with that?

Leila [00:20:56]:
I think it was, like, I was a little on edge, like, maybe the first two times, but I was kinda tired too. So it didn't really cross my minds too much.

Jerry Kopack [00:21:05]:
Sometimes fatigue has a way of taking over for sure. Yeah. Henry, what about you? Give me a a good memory from this experience. A good takeaway.

Henry [00:21:14]:
Yeah. I just I remember one of the warm shower sauce we were in somewhere in, I think, Montana it was, and then we were just, we went this guy is like, I live 2 miles up the mountain. I'll pick you up right on the trail.

Jerry Kopack [00:21:30]:
So

Henry [00:21:30]:
he picked us up in our pickup truck, which was super awesome because it's like a gravel road, and that would have been, like, a nightmare to try and ride our bikes up. So he picked us up, and he he's living it. He has he has this mansion on the side of the mountain, and it's, like, super nice. They cook us dinner, and, like, we each have our own, like, clean bed because he has, like, 3 extra get guest bedrooms and

Jerry Kopack [00:21:54]:
Goodness.

Henry [00:21:55]:
And Jake gets us breakfast and everything. It's it was and he's like the host there was just, like, super nice and hold great stories, so that was a lot of fun.

Jerry Kopack [00:22:05]:
And so you said that was in Montana?

Henry [00:22:08]:
Yeah. Somewhere in Montana. I can't remember exactly where.

Jerry Kopack [00:22:11]:
But So relatively early on in your in your journey. Because you guys live in Oregon. Right? So it sounds like it set the tone for a really good experience.

Henry [00:22:20]:
Yeah. It definitely did.

Jerry Kopack [00:22:21]:
Where was it when you guys, got snowed on? Was it Montana?

Henry [00:22:25]:
It was right as we are crossing into Montana. Like, I think it was, over Lolo Pass, which I believe is the top of the mountain. It's, like, where you cross into Montana from Idaho.

Jerry Kopack [00:22:38]:
Okay.

Henry [00:22:38]:
And that was where we got snowed on,

Jerry Kopack [00:22:40]:
and that

Henry [00:22:41]:
was very cold.

Jerry Kopack [00:22:43]:
You, you get warm when you're pedaling uphill, but then downhill, it becomes just frigid. Right?

Henry [00:22:48]:
Yeah. It wasn't too bad up going up, but once we started going down, we were really cold.

Jerry Kopack [00:22:53]:
Right. Right. So who was in charge of, of navigation? Was that you or your dad, or was it Leila?

Henry [00:22:59]:
That was my dad. Okay. He handled all of that. I didn't even really touch the maps much at all.

Jerry Kopack [00:23:06]:
How did, how did he do? Did he get you guys lost, or did you stay on track?

Henry [00:23:09]:
I did really well. We barely very rarely got lost or went off the route or anything like that. So, yeah, it was good.

Jerry Kopack [00:23:20]:
So, Justin, was the, with the Trans Am sort of always one of your bucket list items?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:23:26]:
Absolutely. It was. And, yeah. I can't believe we did it, you know, when we finished. It was so emotional. I just started tearing up. I was like, I didn't somewhat didn't realize the weight I would feel, the responsibility of taking 2 of my kids all the way across the country, you know.

Jerry Kopack [00:23:41]:
Yeah.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:23:41]:
And one of the stories, that kind of ties in the people and the adventure and the setbacks was, Henry being 18, has had a has a lot of testosterone and not all the wisdom to go with it. And so he was going down to one of these winding hills in Kentucky and went off a cliff at 40 miles an hour and, fell 30 feet down. And we were in Appalachia, Kentucky at this point. And, and we didn't even know he was off the hill until 10 minutes later, he regained consciousness and called us. And, and I you know, just as a parent, that's obviously your worst nightmare. And I said, Henry, are you okay? He's like, yeah. I'm okay. So anyways, Leila and I instantly turned back, and we biked back up the hill to find him.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:24:28]:
And he had crawled back up the 30 feet to the side, bloody blood coming out of his ear, swollen face, you know, just a nightmare scenario. And his front tire looked like, completely destroyed wobble. You know? And I was like, man, your bike doesn't work. We're gonna have to take you to the hospital. This guy pulls off the road and says, do you need some help? I said, yeah. We need some help. We gotta find a bike shop. His bike is his wheel's broken.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:24:55]:
And he looks at it. His forearms were full of grease, but the size of tree trunks. And he took the wheel and just bent it with his bare hands using his wheel well and his car back into shape, you know. And, it was the most unbelievable thing. And then we met other people that literally would this is one of the places we met, rich people that were so kind and then poor people that were so kind. And, we had another couple take us to the hospital that their car is bare they had to, like it took 20 minutes to start a car because they had to do all this funky stuff under the engine to get it going. And they still took us to the hospital, you know. And then a local church who doesn't do this opened their doors and let us stay at their church.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:25:35]:
And so we just I don't know. All of those kind of things that we experienced were just so incredible. And, you know, and Henry's determination, he got stitches that night. And the next morning, you know, I was like, Henry, we can rest as many days as we need. And the next morning, he's like, I'm ready to go. And off we went. You know?

Jerry Kopack [00:25:52]:
I mean, he's he's

Justin Wolfenberg [00:25:53]:
18. Right? I know. It was I thought for sure you know? And because I had other kids and a wife at home and a job back here, I didn't have the luxury a lot of people have. We had to kinda keep on a pace. You know? Sure. Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:26:09]:
So I love that story. I just love how amazing humanity is.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:26:14]:
Yes.

Jerry Kopack [00:26:15]:
And I've done a fair bit of bike traveling myself. And it seems like no matter where I've gone, no matter where I am, people may talk different, they may look different. But in my experience, people are just people. They're kind, they're generous, and they're just wonderful. So I'm so glad that you had a very similar experience as that. That's amazing. And it Yes. Probably scared the the heck out of you too.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:26:38]:
Yes, it did.

Jerry Kopack [00:26:39]:
But until he became conscious again, I'm sure. Right?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:26:43]:
Yes. So

Jerry Kopack [00:26:44]:
Yes. Henry, tell me about this, this little this little corner you sound like you blew through, or how did this happen?

Henry [00:26:53]:
Yeah. I I was just going really fast down the hill, and it was one of those lined corners where you can't see how how sharp it turns, and it turned a lot sharper than I was expecting. And I I kinda panicked and just didn't turn at all and just went straight off the edge.

Jerry Kopack [00:27:12]:
Do you, do you remember anything about the impact? It sounds like you're unconscious.

Henry [00:27:16]:
No. I was conscious. I didn't I didn't blackout or anything, but I kinda just landed on my back at the bottom. And then I I kinda carried my bike and my stuff back up to the top of the road, and, like, some of my pan years had, like, gone flying down the hill. So I had to, like, drag all that back up, and then

Jerry Kopack [00:27:41]:
So got to the Go ahead. Yeah.

Henry [00:27:45]:
I I had originally I didn't realize, like, how badly I was hurt.

Jerry Kopack [00:27:49]:
Oh.

Henry [00:27:50]:
Or how badly I'd crashed. So I thought I could just, like, put my panties back on, get back on my bike, and keep riding. But when I saw my bike, I was like, oh, that's not good. And then that's when I called my dad. Got it.

Jerry Kopack [00:28:06]:
What was the extent of your injuries?

Henry [00:28:10]:
I was like, my back was hurting a little bit, but and it, like, didn't start hurting right away and cut my, hurt my leg a little bit. But, like, after after a couple days, those things started to went away. But the first day of riding after, that crash was kinda painful.

Jerry Kopack [00:28:31]:
Okay. But no collarbones or wrist or anything like that?

Henry [00:28:35]:
Yeah. Nothing. No broken bones or anything like that. Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:28:38]:
Good stuff. Like, I gotta tell you, I'm on your team. I love going downhill fast, so I've been there. So yeah. I'm glad you're okay, but I can definitely relate to just going downhill fast because it's fun. Right?

Henry [00:28:51]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:28:53]:
So I guess, I kinda wanna transition to we already talked about some of the things that have gone right, things have gone wrong. Was there anything else that you thought to yourself, Justin, like, I guess, we need to talk about this. But I will, anyways, what what would you have done if, if if things didn't work out that way? You said, like, you got a fixed amount of time and you couldn't just sit things out. So you had to get back to work. Like, were you were you thinking, like, hey, this this might be the end of the trip?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:29:27]:
Yeah. There was a few moments that, you know, we it's one of those things. It's like in marriage, you try to never think about divorce ever. So, like, quitting was never even thought about for us. So we were, like, you know, we didn't even think about quitting, and so it was always how we're gonna solve the problem and keep hope alive. And so that really kept it if we had to quit or we would have, you know, it's kinda you know, I don't know. We didn't hit that point. But I we never hit a point where I was like, oh, we we're not gonna survive this.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:29:57]:
We're gonna quit. The bike, crashed, and then when Leila's bike got stolen, she should tell that story. Oh. Were the 2 probably low low points of the whole trip. But both of those we're able to, you know, miraculously bounce back from. So

Jerry Kopack [00:30:11]:
And, Henry, you never thought about tapping out?

Henry [00:30:14]:
No. Never.

Jerry Kopack [00:30:16]:
Okay.

Henry [00:30:16]:
I, I really wanted to finish the trip.

Jerry Kopack [00:30:19]:
Awesome. That is some impressive resilience. So, Leila, what's this I hear about, your bike getting stolen?

Leila [00:30:28]:
Yeah. I was we were all in Pueblo, Colorado, the halfway point of the journey, and we decided to take a rest day, you know, just to, like, have some alone time because you're squished together for, like, pretty much the entire ride. Yeah. So I was, at a bubble tea store and, you know, I'm writing up blogs on my phone. Henry and my dad are 3 miles away on the other side of town, and so, you know, I'm on my by myself. And but, at this bubble tea store, there's no restroom. So I'm, like, trying to find a restroom. I end up going to a gas station.

Leila [00:31:08]:
And so I go in and I come back out, and my bike is gone.

Jerry Kopack [00:31:13]:
How long?

Leila [00:31:14]:
It, like Like,

Jerry Kopack [00:31:15]:
2 minutes?

Leila [00:31:17]:
Yeah. I was in there for, like, 2 minutes, and it's just Jesus. Gone. And so, you know, I'm, like, thinking, like, oh, I know I put it right here. Like, this wasn't some absent minded thing I usually do. So I, like, tell a manager who likes runs into the office, who who, like, you know, is, looking at the footage and I'm, like, outside asking people if they've seen a bike and saw it. And there's, like, a bunch of people around, but, nope, they weren't paying any attention to their surroundings. Oh, jeez.

Leila [00:31:52]:
So I'm I'm calling my dad and I'm, like, crying. And I'm like, dad, I have a confession to make. And, and my dad's like, hey. Don't worry about it. I'll be there as fast as I can. You shouldn't try fight like, calling the police. And so I do that, and they're and the police tell me to file an online report. And so I'm like, oh, okay.

Leila [00:32:18]:
So I do that, but you're supposed to be 18. And I was 16 at the time, and I'm like, okay. Well, I'm just gonna say I'm 18. And I filed it, and they said, okay. We can get get we can get to this issue in about 3 to 6 days. And I'm like, well, I don't have 3 to 6 days. So the manager comes out. He's looked at all the footage.

Leila [00:32:43]:
He says, oh, yeah. We've seen this guy around before. You know? It gives basically gives a description. So I'm like and then, you know, I thanked him and was sat outside waiting for my dad. My dad comes in and, like, presses the manager for more answers, and they a manager gives him a little more descriptions. They they say, oh, his name's Anthony. He's a local around here. He's pretty much a regular customer and seen around the gas station a lot.

Leila [00:33:18]:
So the manager then goes on and says he took the bike off towards motel 6, and motel 6 is, like, 2,000 feet behind the hotel the gas station. And so my dad and I are slowly making our way around, and and we're asking, like, a bunch of homeless people like, hey. Do you know where Anthony is? Because Anthony is, like, within the homeless circle. And they're all like, no, sir. And they're, like, looking down at their feet and, like, avoiding eye contact at all costs. And we're like, uh-huh. Uh-huh. So my dad changes his tactic, and the next person we come to, he says, hey, do you know where Anthony is? I owe him some money.

Leila [00:34:05]:
And like the guy immediately perks up and is like, woo, you know? So the guy says that Anthony is at motel 6, but he doesn't know which room he's at. So we're heading off towards motel 6. And I'm like right by the parking lot entrance in case Anthony doesn't like try to sneak out. And my dad's on his bike circling around motel 6 using the money tactic and asking people. And finally, 1 guy walking around, he points he points to another guy in, like, a Kroger wheelchair electric wheelchair that he, like, got from Kroger. And the guy says to the that the guy in the wheelchair is, like, the guy you wanna talk to, and he's the one that knows where everybody lives in the rooms. So my dad goes up to him, and my dad takes all the cash out of his wallet, which is, like, $40. And my dad goes, I will give you all of this if you can get my daughter's bike back.

Leila [00:35:13]:
And the guy goes, can I have the money in advance? And my dad goes, no. You cannot. And and so the guy goes, wait right here. He goes around the corner and he comes back a minute later with my bike. My dad hands him the money, and we, like, zip out of there.

Jerry Kopack [00:35:30]:
Wow. That is a crazy story with a wonderful ending and genius tactic, Justin. That is how'd you come up with that one?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:35:40]:
I have no idea. I've never been in that situation before. I I credit to a level of desperation of going, we really need this bike back because we've gotta complete the strip. You know? So it just it just happened. Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:35:54]:
Man, way to push through and make it happen. That's incredible. So outside of of getting your bike stolen, and crashing your bike, and getting back on your bike with not being concussed. If there's some families out here listening to this story, and I know there are, what would you tell other parents who are thinking about doing a bike tour with their kids?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:36:16]:
Yeah. I would say it's a high risk, high reward deal. And the thing I would just say to myself in my head a lot was better together, you know. Oh, okay. And so, I just had a vision of us finishing this thing, and any inconveniences or irritations or struggles along the way would be miniscule compared if we could finish this thing together. And, and we did. And so that I just I had a vision of us finishing this thing and, you know, 20 years from now, 30 years from now, they're them telling their kids about it, you know, their grant you know, and so all of that just made it made it worth it, I would say. It's absolutely worth it, but you really have to you just have to transform your thinking.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:37:03]:
You just, you know, day 1 on this trip, it was pouring down rain for us.

Jerry Kopack [00:37:08]:
Oh, no.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:37:08]:
Nice 50 degrees, day 1, and I was that way for the first 3 days, you know. So and we just I was like, okay. I'm shifting my mindset to survival, and you just do. Like, it had been a while since I'd been in that much survival for that long, but, you just do it and you can. And there's, like, certain I found that there was a certain contentment and not having a lot of, like alls I wanted to do, honestly, was survive to the next day. But that's not a terrible way of living. You know, sounds terrible, but if there's a contentment in that, there was, like, none of us cared about politics. None of us cared about world peace.

Justin Wolfenberg [00:37:43]:
We just wanted we enjoyed the people we met and lived really, like, in the moment. And it was it was a really special time. Yeah. Very different.

Jerry Kopack [00:37:53]:
That is beautiful. I love that sentiment. And I wanna thank you guys so much for taking the time today to share your story. Are there any ways for our listeners out there to connect with you or maybe learn more about your adventure?

Justin Wolfenberg [00:38:08]:
Yeah. Just through, our blog or Henry's YouTube channel out there, you can send us a message that way. We'd love to connect with any families that are thinking about doing some bike tripping.

Jerry Kopack [00:38:18]:
Yeah. And we've got links to those. We'll post in our show notes. And with that, I wanna say everyone out there, thanks for listening to my conversation today with Justin Wolfenberg and his 2 kids, Henry and Leila. And if you enjoy our show, give us a like, a share on our social channels, or maybe just tell your friends. These stories hopefully will inspire you to set off for on your own bicycle adventure, and maybe make the world feel a little bit smaller, 1 pedal stroke at a time. My name is Jerry Kopack, and until next time, keep riding.

Tahverlee [00:38:49]:
Thank you for joining us, and we hope you enjoyed the show as much as we enjoyed making it. Wherever you are listening, please leave us a rating and a review as it helps us reach more cyclists and hosts around the world. Visit us at warmshowers.org to become a part of our community, or on Instagram at warmshowers_org.

Leila [00:39:15]:
If you

Tahverlee [00:39:15]:
would like to be a guest on the show or submit a question, please make sure to email us at podcast at warm showers dot org.