Instead of taking a cruise or celebrating with a fancy dinner, Lin McLaughlin-Bruce did something remarkable on her 60th birthday. She used her own physical strength and endurance to trek across the United States on a bike! McLaughlin-Bruce felt that she wanted to do something for herself to mark the milestone. Something that was challenging and that she would enjoy. That something turned out to be a bike tour for women that she found advertised in a magazine. The trip was for women only age fifty and older. The course was across the southern U.S. and departed on March 13, Lin's birthday.

Although McLaughlin-Bruce had spent some weekends biking with her husband, she had never done any endeavor of this magnitude. But she was in good company, among the 28 riders in the group none were world class athletes. Their ages ranged from 55 to 72. Leaving San Diego in mid-March, Lin dipped her rear tires in the Pacific Ocean and the group set out on the trek. In mid-May, they reached their destination and Lin dipper her front tires in the Atlantic Ocean at St Augustine, Florida. All told, the riders went 3,385 miles! The journey between the coasts McLaughlin-Bruce calls "a bonding experience and the most satisfying thing I've ever done."

The group usually rode for 8 hours a day and spent nights in motels or camped out infrequently. They ate their meals in the motels or in the van that accompanied them. The headwinds seemed to be the biggest challenge. Outside of Silver City, New Mexico, it took them 4 hours to go 23 miles. Besides the wind, the weather wasn't a factor for most of the journey. McLaughlin-Bruce's Trek bike required only minor repairs and a change to a more comfortable seat along the way.

Seeing the country from a bike, gave McLaughlin-Bruce a new perspective, from the wide-open country in New Mexico to the "miles of brilliant flowers" in Texas. Although the bike trip ended on the beach in Florida, many of the relationships formed continued. "We're an e-mail centered group" reports Lin. Going across the U.S. at her own pace and under her own power was, McLaughlin-Bruce says, "the best birthday present ever."

*Original article by Susie Thomas. Reprinted by permission of UWAlumnews.