Jim Ray’s cross-country bicycle ride began at the Pacific Ocean, but the Kansas portion of the trip carried a family connection.
Ray, an optical networking engineer from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, has family roots in the Wilsey and Delavan area. He contacted the Council Grove Republican while riding through Kansas as part of a long-distance bicycle trip that began June 14 in San Francisco.
Jim Ray’s cross-country bicycle ride began at the Pacific Ocean, but the Kansas portion of the trip carried him near the communities tied to his family history.
Ray, an optical networking engineer from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, has family roots in the Wilsey and Delavan area. His great-grandfather, W. Charles Hopper, was the founder of the Wilsey Warbler newspaper. Although that newspaper no longer exists in the small Morris County community, the name continues through Reba Sumner’s correspondence to the Council Grove Republican, which she still titles the Wilsey Warbler.
Ray’s family also has Delavan-area ties through Albert Ray, another great-grandfather. Family materials Ray shared identify Albert Ray and his wife, Julia Olive Illk Ray, with the Delavan area. Ray said the family was involved in poultry and egg incubator sales, and he shared old family clippings and materials connected to that history.
Ray’s father graduated from Delavan and later attended Kansas State University. Ray’s wife, Lisa, also attended K-State. Ray said she remembered the older man who cared for the roses in a Manhattan park, later learning that man was Ray’s grandfather, Ford Ray.
Ray contacted the Council Grove Republican while riding through Kansas as part of a long-distance bicycle trip that began June 14 in San Francisco.
Ray and the other riders began the trip with the traditional “rear tire in the Pacific” start. The full route is about 3,500 miles to Savannah, Georgia, where riders would dip their front tires in the Atlantic. Ray plans to complete his portion in St. Louis, where he expects to arrive July 11 before returning home because of work obligations. His ride will cover roughly 2,500 miles.
The trip is also a fundraiser and awareness effort for the Be Loud! Sophie Foundation and Bike Loud! The Be Loud! Sophie Foundation, based in Chapel Hill, was started after Sophie Steiner died of cancer as a teenager. Ray said the foundation supports programs for teens and young adults going through cancer treatment, including help connecting patients with resources and planning next steps during treatment.
Ray said he had purchased bikepacking gear in 2019, expecting to begin long-distance riding, but those plans were delayed by COVID. This year’s ride has taken him through mountains, desert and plains, including California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and Kansas.
Some of the most difficult days came early, he said, as the riders climbed from San Francisco toward Lake Tahoe.
“We climbed almost 20,000 feet of elevation in two days to get from San Francisco to Tahoe,” Ray said.
Crossing Nevada on U.S. Highway 50, often called “the loneliest road in America,” also left an impression. Ray said the open road seemed to stretch endlessly across the desert. In Utah, the riders faced a 120-mile day toward Blanding, with about 100 miles and no services. They carried about five liters of water each, packed their food and started riding at 3 a.m.
The route also took them over Colorado’s Monarch Pass, at about 11,300 feet.
Ray said one of the rewards of the ride has been meeting friends and relatives along the way. In Kansas, he stopped in Tribune to see his cousin, Joyce Hudelson. He was in Emporia July 6 and planned to ride to Kansas City before crossing Missouri on the Katy Trail, a longtime goal of his.
Ray had hoped to route through Wilsey and Delavan, where his family has deep roots, but said adding the miles and gravel roads was not practical after repeated long riding days.
After crossing Nevada, Utah and Colorado, Ray said Kansas looked especially green.
“It’s amazing for July,” he said. For Ray, the ride has combined challenge, purpose and family history, carrying him from the Pacific Coast across the country and back near the Kansas communities tied to his family story.