NBG TransAm Hall of Fame

Those who have ridden a bicycle across America, need to be honored. Because they do not stand out or have a way to call attention to their accomplishment, we need to recognize them. We need to know they are walking amongst us.

Far more than the sports stars and movie actors whose opinions we seek when our communities or the Nation seek answers, we need to have a way we can call upon TransAm cycling veterans. Blessed with an outsized accomplishment few can equal, they understand America and its people at a core level that goes deep beyond what can be taught in traditional learning environments. Like a journey to the mountaintop, the lead instructor for them has been the actual experience of interfacing with the people along the way.

They have learned, first hand, how our brothers and sisters all just want to help each other get to our next destination. Unlike the motorist who needs to minimize their contact with other humans to get to where they are going, people are a huge part of a long distance bicycle ride. For their very survival, those out for the long-haul have come to understand how much we need each other no matter the role any of us may happen to play. As anchors for an expectation of the best, in situations that present difficulty, it is the presence of TransAm cycling vets amongst us that can have the potential to bring comfort.

This is especially important as the nation struggles to once again place a premium on truth, a truth that has been marginalized by the nation’s media in recent years. George Orwell warned against this when he wrote –

The further a society drifts from the truth
the more it will hate those who speak it

By celebrating TransAm vets, making them honorable parts of our society, the same way we do for our professional athletes and Hollywood personalities, we are assigning worth to those who genuinely walk (bicycle) their talk.

By giving TransAm vets a way to stand tall, we are using their example to remind us that talk does not move one’s own body from one coast to the other. We are affirming the fact that, in any endeavor, no matter how often we repeat it, mere words do not get us the results we desire. We are acknowledging the importance of building grit, goal setting, inner strength, belief, trust and hope into any winning formula.

As attributes that have come into possession of these gentle warriors, it was the long distance road that brought out the best in them. It was connecting the coasts with their own two legs that gave them a blue print they could use for the rest of their lives. As such, it has built the mix of humility and pride they have needed to go forward in life with love, purpose, inner peace and a greater ease. It is this we need to promote.

As a right of passage, we need to encourage TransAmerica cycling. Especially amongst our youth. We need to make this something they aspire to. When they leave college, for example, instead of traveling to Europe as a way to broaden their horizons, they need to have the TransAm cycling option before them.

We need to be able for them to put NBG TransAm Hall of Fame Member on their job resume. In trying to understand why we have made this such an honor, potential employers will quickly learn the value a TransAm cycling vet can bring to their place of employment. They will see that these are prospects who can work with a lot of variables and people to get a very large job done. They will know that these job candidates do not substitute excuses for accomplishment.

In the game of life, coast-to-coast pedal veterans are a better different for many reasons as well. When on the long distance road, stuck in a desert with headwinds and no services for miles around, they have learned they can go inside for the strength to continue. When the mountain ascent in front of them cannot be conquered in a few minutes time, but requires much exertion for hours on end, a deep understanding of perseverance has become their very nature. When forced to drink warm water, put on the same clothes day in day out or wipe their  face with a dirty rag, instead of complaining, they have acquired a profound appreciation for the simplest of things.

When the next camping is miles away, it is getting dark, and before they can sleep, they  have to make camp, make a meal and and tend to their many nighttime chores, they resolve to become better planners. As a skill they perfect with each new riding day, away from the road they feel called to spend a few moments thinking through any of the challenges that lie ahead.  This as they become more  fulfilled and productive human beings.

Armed with a working knowledge of the principals of success, these are people who have come to know themselves pretty well. Comfortable in their own skin, this is who we need leading us. We need to be shown the way by those who know that whatever they can do, is possible for anyone willing to do the work required to build themselves. We also need to be reminded by their example that any accomplishment is measured one day at a time.

As a society, we win when we place the TransAm cycling vet on an equal footing with our movie actors and sports stars. With the NBG TransAm Hall of Fame on our web site and as a large room at our main Indianapolis office, the National Bicycle Greenway can make that possible!