Name: Charlie Smith
Age: 18
Height: 5' 11"
Weight: 155-160
Education: High School Graduate
Hobbies: Soccer, biking, hiking,
Method of Travel: Trek 520
This story begins when I was just a year of so old. My dad would take me
on bike rides around town in a baby seat attached to the back of his 25 year old
Raleigh. He would ride around until I fell asleep, and ever since then, riding
has been an interest of mine. I started riding a tricycle and then started on a
two wheeler on the baseball field across from our house. In elementary
school I was part of a group of 5 or 6 kids who would ride four miles to the
school whenever the weather was nice.
Anyway, I have always loved riding my bike. When I was about 7 years
old, my dad and I took a two-day trip and biked across Cape Cod and I somehow
put together that if I could ride from the Cape Cod Canal all the way to the
Atlantic Ocean on the tip of the Cape, why couldn't I ride from the Atlantic to
the Pacific? Ever since then, it has been a dream of mine to ride across the
country, and this year I finally made it possible to happen.
Last year, I was a junior in high school and one of my neighbors found
out it was possible to graduate a semester early if you had enough credits.
So I went and found out about the program, and decided it was the perfect
opportunity for me to take my trip. I went to see my guidance counselor, setup
meeting with an array of school officials and then arranged to graduate early. I
ended up having to take both junior and senior English at the same time, which
meant two huge research papers due simultaneously. It was a ton of work, but I
kept telling myself it would pay off in the end, and it did. I graduated
from high school on January 26, 2006, a full semester earlier than the rest of
my classmates. Since then I have been furiously organizing my trip and things
are just starting to wind down (or is it the other way around?).
Because of the timing of my trip, a few friends that wanted to come are
not going to be able to. This means I will be going solo. This trip is
completely self-sustained, and entirely planned and funded by me. I plan on
leaving April 1st 2006 and making it back in time for my high school graduation
ceremony on June 17th 2006, which puts me in a little bit of a crunch, but I
think I can handle it.
For those who were wondering, I am going to the University of New Hampshire this fall to study Civil Engineering.