10812 | Riding With History
T
ngheRK pA i Lot wAs cRAwLing with kids on bicycles when Slade
and Sally pulled into Tiny’s, a regionally famous fruit stand, in the
summer of 1972. Heading home from a campaign appearance in
Wenatchee, Slade had been intent on lemonade. Now he was mingling
with the cyclists.
Fran Call, an intrepid teacher at Mercer Island Junior High, was lead-
ing her third group of “Cyclemates” on a coast-to-coast trip. Instantly fas-
cinated, Slade inspected their bikes and gear, quizzed them about their
preparations, wanted to know how many miles a day they hoped to cover
and where they would be spending their nights.^1
After moving from Seattle to Olympia in 1969, the Gortons became
biking enthusiasts, taking weekend jaunts along Thurston County’s be-
guiling back roads. Slade, Sally, Tod, Sarah and Becky had biked from
Olympia to Portland over Labor Day weekend in 1971, collecting $800 in
pledges for Children’s Orthopedic Hospital in Seattle.^2
As Tiny’s disappeared in the rearview mirror, Slade could see the kids
waving. “Wouldn’t it be a lot more fun to be doing that than what we’re
doing this summer?” he said. “Yes, dear,” said Sally, who could see the
wheels turning.^3
Five months later, glad to be done with the “awfulness” of the 1972
campaign, he went to see Fran Call, picked her brain and began plan-
ning a bike trip from Olympia to Gloucester in the summer of ’73. Sally,
who likes adventures, signed up as quartermaster, medic and safety of-
ficer. It took her months but she finally found everyone matching yel-
low-and-orange jackets with reflector tape and bright yellow T-shirts.^4
Tod, who was 14, would have been happier playing soccer with his
friends but he understood the glint in his father’s eye. His sisters—
Sarah, almost 13, and Becky, just turned 11—were the most dubious.
Then Dad offered a tantalizing bribe: “If you make it all the way across
the country you can use your paper route savings and buy horses.” They
had them picked out before they left—Windy and Shema. “We had their