Sophomore photography major Ryan Kann wanted to go on a summer trip.

His destination: California.

“I’ve always wanted to go to San Diego,” Kann said. “I wanted to see the ocean and everything (on) the West Coast.”

Kann has a friend who lives in sunny San Diego and was going to stay at his place for a week. He just needed to get there.

One can travel to California in many different ways. There’s the option to take a plane or a train. A person can drive out there. Kann chose to go in a slightly different fashion.

He rode his bike.

This is because Kann loves biking.

He said that he has been biking most of his life and that he competed in mountain bike races in middle school. His mom, Nancy Kann, added that he was into BMX riding in high school as well.

He also wanted to get out of Eau Claire to see the country. He said that with all of these things in mind, it just felt right to take the trip.

Unfortunately, Kann was unable to make it to California. He did make it to Durango, Colo. though.

“Towards the end of my trip, every day was just so hard to go farther because I was so tired,” he said. “In the beginning of the trip, I had more energy … By the time I got to Durango, I didn’t want to get up and bike the next day.”

The fact that he didn’t make it to California doesn’t bother him. He did ride his bike more than 1500 miles to get to the Mountain State.

He spent nearly a month on the road, traveling 90 miles a day on average, at least until he reached the mountains. Then he was forced to slow it down to about 45 miles a day.

His dad, John Kann, isn’t shocked that he could pull this trip off.

“He’s a very strong biker,” he said. “He did this Grand View (Wis.) race … and finished 12th on not very much training. He’s physically strong.”

Durango wasn’t just a random stopping place, Kann said. His uncle’s brother-in-law lives there, and allowed Kann to stay with him for a few days.

He also stayed with a person whom he competed in cross country against in high school, Nancy Kann said.

In the end, both of his parents had hoped that he would end his trip in Colorado. They worried about the dangers of the desert that he would have had to cross to get to the West Coast.

Planning for the trip

Kann didn’t just take a trip on a whim. He had been planning it for six months prior to his departure.

“I actually wrote my freshman English paper on the trip,” he said. “I did a lot of research on what kind of stuff I should bring.”

He said this included the realization that he needed to get a “touring bike” which cost him roughly $1000. Luckily, he snagged it for almost half-off its original price because he had worked at a bike shop.

John Kann described a touring bike as a heavier bike with wider wheels and the ability to hold packs (which Kann also needed to purchase). The bike weighed about 50 pounds.

Despite his planning, his mother, Nancy Kann, didn’t want him to go on this extensive excursion.

“He started at Christmas and decided that this is what he was going to do,” she said. “I just thought, ‘Well, by the time summer comes, he will forget about it and he won’t do it.'”

A couple weeks prior to his journey, she decided to look into the trip because she felt there wasn’t enough planning and regardless of what she or his dad thought, he was going to do the trip.

“He’s kind of a risk-taker,” Nancy Kann chuckled. “He likes to do something that nobody else has done.”

On the Road

Kann primarily stayed in local parks. His parents added that he also stayed in fairgrounds and campgrounds.

“I’d get to the town and ask the locals where the closest spot to camp was and most of the times they’d just point me to the city park,” he said. “Then you’d just set-up your tent for the night and then get up in morning, pack up, and go.”

He picked the routes he’d take the night before his journeys, and occasionally he wouldn’t even do that.

“Sometimes I’d wake up and not even know what roads I was going to take.”

His dad would help him with what routes to choose over the phone.

Trip Struggles

The solitude of his long adventure brought lonesomeness with it.

“Every day you wake up and you don’t see a familiar face,” Kann said. “It’s kind of tough sometimes.”

Nancy Kann pointed out how social of a guy Kann can be, and said she was not surprised that he got lonely.

“He found out that maybe it would have been just a little more fun if he was with somebody,” she said.

Kann also felt that leaving at such a later date forced him to rush the trip somewhat. Leaving earlier would alleviate some of the rushing that he felt he needed to do.

He added that he fell ill from the heat in Kansas after riding in 110-degree weather for a couple days. He had to halt his trip for a couple days to rest-up in a motel.

He said he also would constantly have to deal with a sore back that he received from a night’s sleep on the hard ground.

Kann said that he would definitely do the trip again and that he wants to make it to California the next time around.

“I’d maybe want to avoid going through Iowa and Kansas and Nebraska … they’re all just so boring,” Kann said laughing. “They make me happy I live in Wisconsin.”

Admittedly, he does not know how he would do this and still get to California, but he would prefer another way all the same.

“All the people that helped me along the way,” he said. “It meant a lot. Complete strangers would help you out.”

Strangers that helped him out included an elderly couple he met in Iowa, who, when they found out he had nowhere to stay, took him in, gave him a place to stay, and breakfast in the morning.

He also met up with a man in Colorado who had biked from Virginia. His goal was to get to San Francisco. They traveled for four days together and were able to split the costs of a hotel.

“It was just nice to have someone to keep me company and someone to talk to about (the trip).”

In Retrospect

After the plane ride that Kann took back to Wisconsin from Durango, he said he slept for a long time. He also was treated for Lyme Disease though it was never confirmed that he had it.

Looking back on the bike trip, John Kann feels that his son did an amazing thing.

“It’s a major accomplishment,” his dad said. “He pretty much survived Marine boot camp, I think.”

Kann’s mother found herself putting up things on the Internet for friends to see.

“After the fact, it was kind of fun for the whole family,” she said. “Everybody kind of followed what he was doing.”

Originally, he had his eyes set on the coasts of California. He didn’t get to see them, but that, as he discovered, was not the point of his journey.

“In the end, it probably didn’t really matter where I was going,” he said. “It was just about the bike trip … doing what I love.”