That happy, musical biker dude

Traveling from Maine to California in any vehicle is time-consuming, tiring and uncomfortable. Now imagine making the 4,000-mile journey on a bicycle.

“A lot of people probably think I'm nuts for doing this,” said 23-year-old Nikolaus Hasenfus of Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, who made a stop in Minneota last week.

“It’s just something I wanted to do. I’m raising awareness to fight hunger, while also selling an album my band Happy Folk made and I’m giving a certain amount of the proceeds to Go Big for Hunger and a certain amount to Adventure Cycling Association.”

After their initial shock, Hansenfus’ family members fully support his cross-country bike trip.

“I missed my sister’s wedding and she was not happy about that for a little while,” Hasenfus noted.

“But she has been reading my blog that I post on my trip and now she thinks it’s cool that I’m doing this.”

Hasenfus’ goal is to pedal from Portland, Maine to Portland, OR in 100 days. He left Maine on May 2.

Once in Oregon, he will try to advance his music career and earn enough money to move on to bigger and better things in California, or possibly return to Maine. Hasenfus is averaging 80 miles a day on a steel-framed bike he and a friend built specifically for this cross-country excursion. The bike and all the gear he took along on the trip weigh approximately 135 pounds.

Hasenfus weighs around 140 pounds. “We had to build the bike to withstand that much weight over a long trip like this,” Hasenfus explained.

In his front saddle bags, Hasenfus has snacks such as trail mix and dried fruit, a multi-tool pack, sunscreen, a bike light, a pin compass and his phone and charger.

He also has portable speaker attached to his handlebars in order for him to listen to music. In his larger saddle bags on the back of the bike, he brought along a tent, bicycle lock, several apparel items for all types of weather, a full portable kitchen set, six water bottles that can be refilled, purifications tablets, toiletries, a life straw, freeze-dried food, and some other food such as pasta and rice.

He has camped out in his tent and cooked on his portable camp stove about a third of the nights of his trip so far.

He is trying to follow bike trails set up by the Adventure Cycling Association online as much as possible.

Some nights he is able to eat and sleep in homes along the route in which residents have registered online with a site called “Warm Showers” that is designed specifically for bikers like Hasenfus that make lengthy trips.

“I’ve never been further west than Illinois before,” he remarked.

While traveling through Minneapolis, Hasenfus started a southward journey to visit friends while also being able to see some of the national parks in South Dakota. That journey took him to Highway 68 and into Minneota last Thursday.

“I was hungry and tired from bucking the wind all day, so I stopped at (Brad’s Market) and got a tossed salad, some Cheezits and chocolate milk,” Hasenfus laughed.

“The cashiers asked me there where I was from and when I told them I was biking across the country, they brought a chair up front and let me sit and eat my food while we continued to talk.”

“They tried to give me a town celebration t-shirt (Boxelder Bug Days), but I declined because I have so much stuff I’m carrying on my bike already that I didn’t need more.”

Police Chief Bill Bolt then came into the store and asked Hasenfus if there was anything he could do for him.

“Everyone was really nice in Minneota,” said Hasenfus.

“A lady from the newspaper (Sue Jacobson) took my picture and took some notes.

Some people saw my guitar and when I told them I was a musician, they asked me to play a song.”

So Hasenfus went outside Brad’s Market and sang “Country Roads” by John Denver.

The guitar was a gift along his trip by a man in Illinois who was also a musician.

After that, he was back on his bike and off to continue his journey in a stiff wind. “I actually was trying to take a break from music for a little,” said Hasenfus. “But then I started to miss it after this man in Illinois, who was also a musician, took me into his home, fed me, and then showed me his studio in his basement.

We played some songs together and then he gave me a Washburn-Rover travel guitar.” Hasenfus didn’t think he would have room for the guitar on his already-packed bicycle, but he secured it to his bike with a bungee cord.

He now uses the guitar for “busking”, which is the act of playing music in the street or public place for donations, to earn some spending money for this trip.

“I lived at home last year so I could save up for this trip,” he said. “I gave ski lessons to earn money.” “I brought enough money with so that I could pay to see something like a museum or something I really wanted to go to,” he said.

“But I’ve been trying to get by as cheaply as I can. So a little extra money helps.” The trip has not come without complications for Hansenfus.

Besides inclement weather, he has been chased by a pit bull in Vermont, had a man with “road rage’ try to fight him and has had four flat tires.

“I was riding down a dirt road by a trailer park in Vermont and this pit bull comes running after me,” Hasenfus told.

“Before I went on the trip, I read about what bikers should do when dogs chase them.

One of the things is not to speed up and another is to give them a command.

“I looked at the dog and said loudly 'NO, NO.'  And he kind of stopped and looked at me for a brief moment. But then he started chasing me again. Just as he was about to maul me, the owners yelled his name and he went back home. The dog’s name was Jack Daniels, so that says something about where I was.”

On a three-lane highway in Illinois, an angry man didn’t like having a bicyclist next to him and moved his vehicle toward Hasenfus in an attempt to get him to veer off the road.

Hasenfus’ gesture didn’t help matters and the man pulled his vehicle over to the side of the road ahead of Hasenfus and waited for him.

“I pretended I didn’t speak English and instead said a few words in German,” Hasenfus laughed.

“I think it confused him and I went on my way.” The majority of the people along Hasenfus’ journey have been quite pleasant.

“A lot of people want to talk and ask if they can do anything to help,” he said.

“I have really enjoyed meeting these people more than anything I’ve seen or done along the route.”

The high winds and mountainous regions, have been the hardest part about this pedal-powered trip.

“When I was going through Minnesota, the winds were so strong that I was only averaging five to eight miles per hour and my legs were getting very tried,” he said.

“I usually average about 30 miles per hour. When I walk the bike, I average 3-4 miles per hour, so it's almost better to walk in high winds so I don't get quite so tired.”

There have been times when Hasenfus gets flustered when he doesn’t think he is making progress, but there has never been a time when he thought about quitting.

“I fluctuate from days when I think I’m really killing it, to days when I think that I still have so far to go, or that I worry about my health.”

“But really, I am doing okay. I haven’t lost weight because I don’t have much to lose. But I have gained muscle mass in my legs.”

Hasenfus plans to write a book one day about his cross-country biking adventure.

“I guess I have a lot of dreams,” he said with a chuckle.

“I have my music, writing a book, fighting hunger and some other things. I think I need to just concentrate on getting through this trip first.”

The Happy Folk 12-tune album, titled “Pursuits of Happiness” is available online via a free-will donation by downloading at bandcamp.com.