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Two for the road
By PAULETTE LASH RITCHIE HOMOSASSA SPRINGS -- As soon as school was out at the end of May, Jonas Majerski was on his bicycle with a stuffed crane, Vic, in tow. The 28-year-old English teacher at the Academy of Environmental Science didn't want to miss a minute of summer for his cross country bike ride. Vic is the mascot of Operation Migration, an effort to reintroduce migratory whooping cranes in eastern North America, and Majerski took him along to help spread awareness about the cranes across the country. Vic wore a backpack stuffed with fliers, which Majerski handed out across the country and in Mexico. When Majerski left Florida, he planned to meet his brother in Cincinnati for a two-week camping trip. His problems started right away. About 50 miles out of Gainesville (and that's the Florida Gainesville), he broke a spoke and ruined a rim. He had a cell phone and managed to reach a friend in the college town, but was set back two days while he waited for a new wheel to arrive. Back on the road, he pedaled northwest to Tallahassee and through eastern Alabama and then turned north, spending many nights in state parks along the way. He ran into a little trouble in one of those parks. He arrived in the middle of a downpour, he said. Because the camp was mostly empty, the ranger allowed him to spend the night in the park's recreation building. This was fine until the ranger went home and Majerski was discovered by the night security guard. Majerski was awakened by a kick and told to get out. He tried to explain his situation, but the guard wouldn't hear it. "So I hit the road and found a picnic table to sleep under," he said. As Majerski continued through Alabama, temperatures rose, and there were sections of road where he had to depend on the generosity of the local residents for water. He stopped at houses and churches and found a warm reception for a lonely cyclist. "People were so kind to me," he said, "especially in the South." He even had invitations to stay for dinner or overnight. His route crossed over to Georgia, where he visited Athens and Rome. From there he continued north to Chattanooga, Tenn. There he had to make a decision. His broken wheel in Florida had delayed him, and he needed to get to Cincinnati to meet his brother. He knew he wouldn't make it in time by bike, so he hopped a bus to Ohio with his bicycle. He set aside the bike for a couple of weeks while he and his brother drove to Isle Royal National Park in northern Michigan for a kayaking trip. "It's completely wilderness," Majerski said. "It's the only place where wolves still exist naturally." Majerski and his brother, Jason, kayaked and fished for two weeks. They ate a lot of pike. Campfires were not allowed, so the fish were prepared as stew seasoned with curry. "It was the only spice we brought along," he said. He admitted it wasn't very good, "but we choked it down with a lot of water." When they returned to his brother's, he planned to bicycle the Midwest. "But I only lasted three days on the flats," he said. "It was just flat and semi-industrial, so I turned around and went back to Chicago," Majerski decided to cross the monotonous flats by air, so he booked a flight and flew to Denver. When he left the airport, he was faced with uncomfortable conditions because of wildfires and had to turn north and travel off his original course. "And, again, people were very nice." One of Majerski's goals was to cross the Rocky Mountains. He chose Cottonwood Pass, a two-day climb on a nice paved road. But when he got to the top, he was dismayed to find the road changed to gravel. He said he clutched the brake all the way down the mountain. He headed into Gunnison, Colo., and then to Grand Junction. "It was 110 degrees, dry," he said of the weather he encountered. He really wanted to see San Francisco, but that meant crossing Utah and Nevada in unbearable heat. He decided to rely again on public transportation. He entrusted his bicycle to a friend in Grand Junction and took the train to San Francisco. There he met another friend, rented a Mustang convertible and headed up the coast. He spent four or five days backpacking. Then he headed south again, because Majerski wanted to see Baja California. He took a bus to Tijuana. Now bicycleless, Majerski hitchhiked down the peninsula, stopping at different places along the way to his final destination, La Paz. While in Mexico, he played the tourist, camping, kayaking and snorkeling. It was here that Vic the stuffed crane became a personal asset to Majerski. "In Baja, he enabled me to meet two lovely English girls from Berkshire," he said. "I can say that he was most useful." He and the girls became good friends, he said. The girls even used information in the brochure from Vic to e-mail the crane foundation. Time was now running out for Majerski because school was going to start soon, so he took the bus to San Diego and flew to Tampa. He wasn't done with his summer, though. An old high school buddy picked him up at Tampa International Airport, and they immediately left for New Orleans. He and his friend, Mike Amish, went to see "our favorite band from high school," Majerski said, "Sonic Youth." The two friends drove back to Florida, and Majerski arrived home about midnight on a Sunday night. The next morning, he was back at the academy, back at work. "I was originally planning to ride across the United States," he said, "but I managed to do everything I like to do in the summer."
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