On the Trail

A team of California educators pedal the path of Lewis and Clark in search of the great American adventure.

By Kristen Loschert

Photos by David Paul Morris

Nearly 200 years after Meriwether Lewis and William Clark explored the American Northwest, three California teachers hit the trail. Last summer, Howard Gilbert, Harris Nussbaum, and Mike Lucas retraced the path of those pioneering American explorers by pedaling their way across the United States on recumbent bicycles. When they embarked on their expedition, the three Napa educators went in search of an adventure. But, after nearly a month on the trail, the friends returned with a renewed sense of camaraderie, a greater appreciation for life, and the resources to develop an online curriculum about the legendary expedition.

"Ever since I was a kid I read stories about courage and survival," says Gilbert, a retired third-grade teacher who conceived the trip. "What I found in Lewis and Clark was the greatest North American story of adventure. I wanted to experience part of that by riding a bicycle along the Lewis and Clark Trail."

So the teachers departed from St. Louis in June, bound for Fort Mandan, North Dakota, 1,100 miles away--the first leg of an 8,000 mile expedition Lewis and Clark traveled from 1804 to 1806. During their trip, Lewis and Clark followed the Missouri and Columbia Rivers on foot, by boat, and on horseback as they looked for a route to the Pacific. By contrast, Nussbaum, Gilbert, and Lucas took turns cycling nearly 70 miles a day and driving a support van loaded with gear. They documented their journey using digital cameras, recording meetings with historians and visits to local interpretative centers. The trio transformed the collection of resources into an educational Web site (available this spring) that features photographs, videos, interviews with historians, links to other Web sites, and journal entries.

"It was the perfect team," says Nussbaum, a retired psychology teacher. "Howard is a great guy. He got us into shape. And Mike was very knowledgeable about technology, knowledge that I totally lack. But I had the journaling. Each of us contributed something unique to the trip, which was important."

Like the legendary explorers from two centuries ago, Gilbert, Nussbaum, and Lucas will make their trek west in three phases. This summer they will return to North Dakota and cycle across the Rockies to Oregon. Next year they will tackle the return ride to St. Louis. The trio hopes teachers and students will follow the expedition online.

The project's combination of technology with education attracted Lucas, a computer science teacher at Valley Oak High School, from the beginning. So, naturally, he supervised the video and Web components of the project. But once he hit the trail, Lucas discovered that the physical demands of the journey left a more lasting impact.

"Before I went on the trip I was usually the kind of person who had a busy schedule. My mind was rushing to what I was going to do next," he says. "When I was on the trip, my mind cleared out. There was nothing else to think about other than what was affecting me while I was riding."

For Nussbaum, the trip holds even greater significance. Before he started training for the ride, Nussbaum was diagnosed with polycythemia, a blood disease that causes the body to produce too many red blood cells. Once he began cycling regularly, lifting weights, and watching his diet, Nussbaum's hemoglobin levels stabilized.

"When I started [the trip], it was the excitement of the adventure," says Nussbaum. "In the end, I gained life from it."

All three amateur adventurers admit they found the trip grueling at times, as they battled muscle fatigue, inclement weather, and the occasional lack of direction. But in the end, each man also describes the trip as enlightening and now appreciates the trials the original expedition members endured. Their next mission may prove equally challenging as they try to re-create their experiences in the classroom.

"In the same way that Lewis and Clark were challenged, we struggled sometimes and were reminded quite often of the struggles of the expedition," says Gilbert. "I wanted to bring back that sense of adventure to students and have them understand the importance of challenging yourself and overcoming obstacles by experiencing what Lewis and Clark experienced. It's like reliving the American dream."

To learn more about the Lewis and Clark Educational Tour, visit www.ncoe.k12.ca.us/lewisandclark/ this spring.