Editor’s note: This is the first of two stories about the conclusion of Sidney resident Darryl Cloud’s bicycle trip across the United States. The second story will appear in Monday’s edition.
SIDNEY — It’s been nearly a month since Darryl Cloud, of Sidney, completed his 2,700-mile trip across the United States. And as he looks back on the journey, Cloud realizes the trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“There were a lot of things along the trip that I didn’t expect,” said Cloud, who began his Boot Camp to Boot Camp Trip on Aug. 15 from the Marine Boot Camp in San Diego, California. Cloud arrived at Parris Island in South Carolina, on Monday, Oct. 26.
“I had a lot of people at my church ask me if I knew what I was getting myself into,” he said. “The answer looking back, was probably not.”
The Southwest, he said, experienced an unexpected heat wave just as Cloud was leaving San Diego.
“It was 7 to 10 degrees warmer in the desert, so it was 119 to 120 degrees instead of 110 degrees,” said Cloud. “That was an unpleasant surprise.”
Cloud said he also had a serious miscalculation when he looked at the towns in the desert and thought many of the stores and restaurants would be open while he was riding through it.
“The RVs come to the desert in the fall,” said Cloud. “The dune buggies are there until March or April. All the businesses are closed when they aren’t there. So the restaurants and gas stations I was expecting to be open were closed when I was riding through there.”
He said he entered one Arizona town, and there was one restaurant open “but I thought I could do better in the next town which had three restaurants.”
He was surprised when he arrived in the town to find everything closed except a gas station.
“My lunch was Little Debbie doughnuts and water,” he said. “I was really exhausted at the end of the day. I was very undernourished for being in the desert for 10 hours.”
At that point of the trip, his wife, Julie, was at home in Sidney, began calling ahead to make sure there were restaurants open. That’s when they learned that a number of the restaurants wouldn’t be open until October.
“Julie worked harder than I did,” he said. “I just rode the bike.”
Cloud said the mountains were more of a challenge than he expected. Then he entered the state of Texas and learned he had underestimated the severity of the hill country in the state.
“I picked up a headwind in Texas that I had for the rest of the trip,” said Cloud. “Even going downhill I had to peddle because of the resistance of the wind. Even in Texas where it was flat, the headwinds made it feel like I was riding uphill.”
Cloud had planned 45 to 60 days for the trip — it took him 75 days.
“The miscalculation of the wind was the problem,” said Cloud. “The next person that tells me Texas is flat, I’m going to strap them to a bicycle and push them off and say ‘good luck.’”
Throughout the trip, Cloud received encouragement from his family, friends and church family.
“One night I was so tired that I didn’t post to Facebook,” said Cloud. “I got a scolding from people the next day. They kept track of me by my postings.
“I appreciate the kindness and concerns the people had for what I was doing. I had never gone for weeks on end before of not seeing people that I know.”
When he reached Florida, he stopped to see someone he had served with in the U.S. Marines. The pair had dinner together and reminisced about old times.
Cloud said he was impressed with the “kindness of strangers” during the trip.
“If I was taking a break, people would slam on the brakes of their car to make sure I was OK,” said Cloud. “I had people slow down, roll down their windows and converse with me as I was riding. One guy wanted to give me his lunch and I said no. We almost got in a fight about it.
“This trip renewed my faith in human beings.”
Cloud said he had no health problems during the trip, other than being exhausted after long days in the saddle.
“I had two 90-plus-mile days and a number of 75- to 90-mile days. They were long and at the end of the day I was tired. But I had no issues with my health.”
During his trek across the Imperial Sand Dunes, he rode at night when it was cooler.
“It was 66 miles to the next source of water,” said Cloud. “I was 15 hours in the saddle that day and rode 90-plus miles.”
He said he took a few extra rest days, “especially toward the end of the trip.” He took a day off every five or six days.
“If I took time off, it felt weird not packing and get going the next morning,” he said.
He slept 12 or 13 nights by the side of the road. The rest of the time he stayed at a hotel to help recover from the day’s travels.
“I had a couple of times that I was anxious about moving forward,” said Cloud. “But it was go home or move forward. I moved forward. When I had to ride through the tunnels, that was very tense.”
“I never used headsets while I was riding,” he said. “I’d listen to the sounds around me and I could detect how close a vehicle was behind me. I was focused on 12 to 15 feet in front the bike. There was a lot of trash on the roads that I had to avoid.”
“I talked to God a lot,” he said.
At the end of his journey, Cloud arrived in Parris Island a couple of days before he was expected. He was watching the weather and knew it was supposed to storm, so he wanted to arrive before it did.
“Because I was a couple of days early, the Semper Fi team was in Washington, D.C., for the Marine Marathon,” said Cloud.
After he arrived in Parris Island, the storms hit and the area flooded, he said.
“The Marines are famous for amphibious landings,” he said. “I think I’m the only one who did one from the inland instead of the seas.”
He said looking back the trip seemed long but then “in a snap of the fingers, the trip was over.”
Since he’s been home, Cloud has been busy with work at Concrete Sealants in Tipp City.
“On Sunday (Nov. 15), I took a 20-mile ride on my bike,” he said. “It felt good to be out.”
Cloud said he and his wife had a nice reunion when he returned to Ohio.
And what’s next for him?
“I have my eye on a couple of things I’d like to do, but I’m not sure what I’ll commit to,” he said. “This trip wasn’t about me, it was about the veterans and helping them. I can say ‘mission accomplished’ because it drew attention to their needs.
“If I had four months, I’d do the trip all over again. I’m a historical buff and I’d stop at all the markers along the way. I visited one ghost town in Texas and I’m thankful I went to it. It was an old town that just dried up. But you had a sense of how they lived 150 to 200 years ago.”
Cloud’s ride was made in support of the Semper Fi Fund. The ride was dedicated to U.S. Marine Maj. Lawrence “Larry” Helberg of southeastern Ohio. He never made it home from Vietnam.
His goal for the trip is to raise $90,000, which will be used to purchase six “Action Trackchairs” or “Action Trackstanders” for disabled veterans. Each unit costs $15,000. He has raised $50,000 so far.
A close friend of Cloud’s, Don Lochard, passed away during the trip. His family asked that memorials be given to the Semper Fi Fund.
“I was shocked to find out what the family decided to do,” said Cloud. “He was a big supporter of my trip. We would sit out on the back porch and talk. He’ll be missed.”
People along the trip, he said, would reach into their pockets and hand him money when they found out what he was riding for.
Donations via a credit card for fundraiser can be made at https://fundraising.semperfifund.org/fundraise?fcid=399234. Donations can also be sent to Cloud and should be made out to “Semper Fi Fund.” His address is 735 Stratford Drive, Sidney, OH 45365.
The Semper Fi Fund is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing immediate financial support for injured and critically ill members of U.S. armed forces and their families.
