Bishop concludes bicycle ride across America
9/9/1998 News media contact: Tim Tanton · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn. By Gary Keene* Bishop Mary Ann Swenson of the Denver Episcopal Area and her husband, Jeff Swenson, have successfully completed their tandem bicycle ride across the United States.
They rode up to the Revolutionary War Monument to Victory in Yorktown, Va., at about noon on Sept. 2, and officially ended 4,059 miles of riding. Their 58-day journey took them through 11 states.
"America is truly beautiful, and America is really diverse, both in its expression of God's creation and the cultures of the people who live across the continent," said Bishop Swenson. "The high of the trip for me was the immersion into creation, the experience of nature, wild flowers and the animals. The lows were how we have been destructive of creation. I come home with a new sense of desire to read again the episcopal statement, 'In Defense of God's Creation,' and to look for new ways to defend God's creation for future generations."
All bishops are expected to take a sabbatical leave of three months once every six years. Bishop Swenson has served the Denver Area since her election in 1992. The ride took them through the four states of her area, including Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Utah, plus a corner of Idaho.
The Swensons left Virginia directly for her family home in Jackson, Miss., to visit her mother.
"I was taken by the amber waves of grain, the rivers, the mountains of the Rockies, and the Tetons, and the Ozarks and Appalachia, the cornfields and tobacco fields, and then by the coal trucks!" the bishop said, speaking by phone.
She also mentioned their disappointment: "Sometimes we were warned to look out for dogs, but the real problem was litter -- a few places were just awful. It hurts to see it."
Always a bit more than casual riders since their marriage, the Swensons' interest in bicycle touring climbed after taking part in a United Methodist-sponsored bike camp along the California coast in 1994. Cycling became a part of their home life, with Jeff often riding with Mary Ann on the back of an antique tandem to the office when she was in town.
Cabinet and conference meetings are often dismissed in the early afternoon by the bishop with the invitation to join her for a ride, made possible by Jeff's extensive collection of bicycles. Many guests and visitors to their home have been surprised to be handed a bicycle when it was time for dinner, and all would hoist skirts and suit pants to ride to a local restaurant (family friends have learned to come calling in shorts and sneakers).
"It looked to me like the ministry of United Methodist congregations is alive and vital across the country," the bishop said. "We'd be on these dirt roads out in the middle of nowhere, and there'd be a sign pointing to a United Methodist church down some even smaller dirt road.
"Many of the churches along our route were set up to host bicyclists overnight."
Swenson served as co-leader of a United Methodist bicycle camp last spring in preparation for the ride across the country. With her usual blend of southern charm and firm directness, she asserted the need for "more people to get out of their heads and into their bodies."
"God has given us a beautiful world to live in," she said, "and you can't know that until you're in it, up close, and biking is perfect for that!"
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*Keene is area director of communications, conferencing and strategy development for the United Methodist Church's Denver Episcopal Area.
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