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Freedom riders stop in Valley on cross-country bike trip
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Lee “Shiloh” Pickering, 61, left, and his wife, Ruthie, 33, of Portland, Ore., travel through Youngstown. They stopped here Friday to visit a relative. They hope to be in Connecticut on May 1. They started their bicycle trip in their hometown Oct. 27, 2010.
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Lee “Shiloh” Pickering, 61, left, and his wife, Ruthie, 33, of Portland, Ore., travel through Youngstown. They stopped here Friday to visit a relative. They hope to be in Connecticut on May 1. They started their bicycle trip in their hometown Oct. 27, 2010.
YOUNGSTOWN
Two bicyclists paused to refuel with coffee at a local gas station Thursday as they pedal their way across America.
Lee “Shiloh” Pickering, 61, and his wife, Ruthie Pickering, 33, of Portland, Ore., likely will be in Connecticut May 1 after starting their travels in their hometown Oct. 27, 2010.
“We ride all over for free- dom. People are locked up in their jobs and in their lives,” said Shiloh, a former firefighter.
The couple came to Youngstown to visit Shiloh’s aunt, Edna Cluckey, who lives on the city’s West Side.
Shiloh’s and Ruthie’s journey already has taken them to Phoenix, Dallas and Nashville. They traveled part of the Cumberland Trail to explore Civil War battlefields.
Much of their trip has been on highways when permitted or back country roads.
“When we visit road memorials on the highway, we clean them up because everyone’s forgotten about them,” Shiloh said. “Ruthie usually takes a little trinket from the site so the person gets to go for a last bike ride.”
Maps with rough routes sketched in guide the pair, and when they arrive, they talk to locals who often give advice.
They carry everything they need on packs strapped to their bicycles: a tent, electric heater, clothes, water and food. The weather can keep them in the tent rather than on the road, although they have braved snow and rain.
Along the way, they’ve met an eclectic group of people: a Vietnamese ex-prisoner of war, a millionaire and chief of police. But Ruthie said the scenery draws most of her attention.
“The most reclusive areas, the mountains. ...I love looking at wildlife, whether it’s birds or groundhogs,” she said.
They travel with a sign on the back of one of the bicycles, letting people know their names and that they’re riding for the freedom of the experience.
“Everything isn’t private property or trespassing. People help us,” Shiloh said.
And sure enough, before they left here, a man who peered at their sign while entering the gas station stopped on his way out and tossed Shiloh a bag of beef jerky.
“For your trip,” he said, without introduction or waiting for thanks.
Shiloh waved and Ruthie smiled as she looked up from rolling a cigarette.
“If we can go, you can do it, too. You don’t have to do 4,000 miles. Just get on a bike and go. It doesn’t matter your age,” Shiloh said.
They plan to return to Portland on Oct. 27, 2011 — one year after their departure.