Spokane bicyclist nears Mexico
WWU graduate plans to log 2,000 miles on bike
Taylor Livingston, of Spokane, finished his bachelor’s degree at Western Washington University last June and decided to celebrate the occasion with a 2,000-mile bicycle trip from the Canadian border to the Mexican border.
On July 1, he embarked from Blaine, Wash., on what he described this week as a trip of exploration.
Riding an average of 50 miles a day, Livingston, 23, fought off flat tires and loneliness to make his way to Southern California, where he was visiting with relatives this week before finishing the trip south of San Diego.
“I was really stoked about the idea of riding my bicycle clear across the country,” he said by telephone.
Along the way, Livingston has been posting dispatches on his Web log, www.telivingston.blogspot.com, and trying to raise money for his alma mater’s relief work in Guatemala City. He has raised $1,600 so far, he said.
He used a guide book, “Bicycling the Pacific Coast,” to help chart his course, but he wasn’t prepared for the two flat tires that disabled him on the Olympic Peninsula near Forks, Wash. A park ranger and some locals gave him rides so he could buy new tire tubes in Forks and get his bike rolling again, he said.
His Giant brand commuter bike is equipped with two saddle bags, and a trailer for gear, including a one-person tent. Mostly, he’s been camping in state parks and stopped at redwood forests in California. His diet has consisted mostly of food that doesn’t have to be cooked like trail mix and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He said he lost 10 pounds in the first couple of weeks of the journey.
Livingston said he was surprised at how all of the hours alone would create a sense of loneliness, but it made him eager to make new friends.
He said he was surprised that riding a bicycle in traffic-choked Southern California was easier and safer than he expected. He met a woman who invited him to stay with her and her boyfriend at their home near Hollywood and University of California, Los Angeles, he said on his blog.
Livingston is the son of John and Nan Livingston, of Spokane. John Livingston is the chief meteorologist in the Spokane office of the National Weather Service.
Throughout the trip, Taylor Livingston said he’s been making potential job contacts. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies, focusing on hazard mitigation and emergency planning, and has been checking out communities that might make a future home, he said.
“It’s been a great learning experience all over,” Livingston said.