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Mondee Tilley/The News
Wayne Burton peddles into his driveway in Pilot Mountain, which is what he considered his finish line shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday. His bicycle journey began on June 21 in Fairbanks, Alaska.
After retiring from Burton Signworks a year ago, he decided he needed to have something to look forward to and work toward.
“I didn’t want to go to the rocking chair, I’m way too active to do that. I started thinking about this trip and talking with (Judge Jerry Cash Martin). He gave me a lot of help and helped me with a lot of research. I decided with my wife’s blessing, bless her heart, that I would do this,” said Burton.
He got the idea for the trip from retired Judge Jerry Cash Martin. He is Burton’s neighbor and a bicycle enthusiast who has done the Alaska to Pilot Mountain trip before.
Burton’s family flew out to Seattle, Wash., to spend some time with him before he headed up to Fairbanks. Richard Rhoden, owner of Foothills Cycling, dismantled Burton’s bike and shipped it to Alaska where it was reassembled for the trip.
Burton left Fairbanks, Alaska, on June 21.
Yesterday, Burton made a pit stop in Mount Airy. He had been craving a Reuben sandwich from Pandowdy’s for a long time. Unfortunately, the restaurant is closed while the owner is traveling, so he stopped at Speedy Chef and had a ground steak sandwich instead.
“There hasn’t been a day that I haven’t seen something that made me just say, ‘Wow.’”
He said on Friday, he was amazed at the Christmas tree farms in Independence, Va.
He tried to go at least 75 to 80 miles each day on the trip. He got up at 6 a.m. every morning and got on the road by 8 a.m. He would typically stop between 4 and 6 p.m. each night. He stayed in hotels and motels along the road.
“The first night I was out, I was going to stop in North Pole, Alaska, which is not the North Pole. It was only 15 or 20 miles from Fairbanks, so I thought, I’ll stop there and I’ll send some post cards as a joke. I got there and all of the rooms in that community were taken because the Air Force was having maneuvers, so I had to travel on 40 or 50 more miles just to find a place to stay,” said Burton. He said the towns in Alaska are pretty far apart.
Burton carried what he needed in panniers, which are like saddle bags for a bicycle. He carried more than 50 pounds of gear with him on the trip. In Alaska, he had to carry food with him because there were no stops between when he would leave in the morning and when he would get in at night. He said there weren’t even stores along the way to find food. He carried canned food, such as sardines and potted meat to eat along the way. When he was done with the food, he didn’t want to carry the cans that might attract animals so he would bury them on the roadside.
He saw 12 bears along the way. And he saw wood mice, goats, mountain sheep and moose. One of the most picturesque things he saw along the way were fields of Canola flowers, he said.
“They have a real vivid yellow bloom on those. I bet you the fields were 10,000 acres. They would go on forever and they were kind of rolling. They were so pretty,” said Burton. He said it wasn’t unusual to see thousands of those fields.
The trip allowed him to see the United States and Canada from a different perspective.
“What a gorgeous place we live in — the whole United States in particular. Canada is gorgeous, they have great people. I’ve had very few people cause trouble even on the road.”
During the trip, he had 16 flat tires, which he said slowed him down and was frustrating.
On Thursday, he took a spill and even hit his head on the pavement. Luckily, he said, he was wearing his helmet. Along with the accident and general fatigue, he took Friday off and stayed in Independence, Va.
He said the best part of the trip has been meeting people along the way.
“Everybody has been so kind and nice and helpful. I’ve enjoyed it,” said Burton.
Burton owned Burton Sign company in Mount Airy for 35 years before selling it four years ago.
On the trip, he used a satellite tracking system so that his friends and family could keep up with where he was on a daily basis.
The 66-year-old Burton said in December of 2008, he had some heart issues. His doctor told him that the causes of the condition are high blood pressure, high cholesterol and he was borderline diabetic. The doctor told him if he lost weight, he could reduce the number of episodes he was having. He started off at 220 pounds and is down to 170 pounds — a weight he said he hasn’t seen since high school.
He lost the weight by cutting back on his portions, and he and his wife, Bennie, started going to spinning classes at the Armfield Civic Center in Pilot Mountain. He lost two and three pounds a week until he got down to 180 pounds. That’s when he started riding road bikes.
During the course of the trip, he rode on 62 days and took 13 days off. He rode 85 miles in pilot cars, which followed him during parts of the trip, due to weather conditions. He spent six miles in a Tennessee state trooper car after getting busted for riding on the interstate. He visited 10 states, two Canadian provinces and one Canadian territory. The most miles ridden in one day were 123 miles from Grand Prairie to Fox Creek, Alberta, Canada. The least miles ridden were 29 from Bucking Horse to Sasquatch Landing due to heavy rain.
Although Burton’s wife could not be home when he returned, his neighbors, Betty and Steve Greenway and Mickie and Bob Scott, greeted him with a champagne toast. He said he was looking forward to taking a hot shower and sleeping in his own bed.
“I’m just glad to be home,” said Burton.
He said he’s going to take some time off from cycling, but does plan to participate in the Cycle NC “Mountains to the Coast” ride on Sept. 25.
Contact Mondee Tilley at mtilley@mtairynews.com or at 719-1930.
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