06/26/2008

Associated Press

An Oregon man pedaled into town this week with a high-fisted salute — a triumphant end to a two-week, 980-mile odyssey to attend his 50th high school reunion.

Tom Barber, 68, a retired high school band director from Redmond, Ore., set out on his recumbent bike on June 10. He averaged 70 miles a day on his three-state journey to get to the Powell High School reunion.

He said he took only one day off — last Saturday — to rest in Jackson following a tough ride over Teton Pass.

For most of the trip Barber had a riding partner, Bill Burk, but Burk had to bow out after his bike broke down on western Wyoming's Togwotee Pass on June 22.

Barber's wife, Barb, and family dog, Fritz, trailed the bikers in a sport-utility vehicle.

"For me, the time has flown by," Barber said. "I'm not sure it has been so fast for Barb. She has made this trip possible."

Barber estimated that he burned 4,000 to 5,000 calories a day. But he said he didn't lose any weight because of how much he ate.

"He rides so he can eat well," Barb Barber joked.

Tom Barber said crossing Teton Pass between Victor, Idaho, and Jackson was the hardest part of the trip. He had to stop every quarter-mile to make it up the 10 percent grade.

Riding 12 miles to the top of the pass, he said, took four hours.

"It was tough, but it felt like a great accomplishment to get to the top," he said.

Riding down from the pass took 15 minutes, but for much of the way he worried about his brakes getting too hot.

Barber said riding through Wyoming's mountains was the most memorable part of his trip.

"Just to be able to do this has been terrific," he said. "You certainly get a different perspective on a bicycle than you do from a car."