Naval Academy grads bike across country

Gray skies gave way to a warm and sunny morning Wednesday as 26 cyclists gathered at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island to dip the back tires of their bicycles into the briny waters of the Salish Sea.

At 9 a.m. Aug. 23, these cyclists — all graduates from the Naval Academy class of 1983 and their spouses or family members — embarked upon a month-and-a-half-long, continent-spanning bicycle journey to their 40th class reunion in Annapolis, Maryland.

The former classmates will travel more than 3,400 miles through 44 different cities on the 44-day journey, all while raising money for organizations that provide services to veterans.

This bike ride, dubbed the “Navy ’83 Ride Across America,” has been years in the making. It was at the class of ‘83’s 35th reunion five years ago that class member John Hults first pitched the idea of a cross-country bike ride to celebrate the 40th reunion. Every year since, class members have gathered for a week-long bike ride across one leg of the route.

Hults said his classmates embody the “Navy spirit” — everyone pitched in to make the ride happen. This sense of comradeship was forged during their time together at the Academy, he added.

“It brings people together in ways that obviously stick for 44 years,” he said.

This year, 75 cyclists in total will ride at various points along the route, with 16 participants biking the full distance from NAS Whidbey to the Naval Academy in Annapolis.

Participants include both avid cyclists and relative newcomers to the sport. The cyclists will begin each morning of the ride with 22 pushups, representing the estimated number of veteran suicides that take place in the U.S. every day to raise awareness for veteran mental health issues.

The group has a driver in a red Corvette leading the way across the U.S. The car is a call back to the class’s “plebe summer,” the rigorous training period that new midshipmen undergo before officially beginning their first academic term at the Academy.

One of their coaches that summer was Lt. Cmdr. Heinz Lenz. Lenz had emigrated from Germany as a teenager and served in World War II as an enlisted sailor. Heinz Lenz’s son, Alan Lenz, was a member of the class of 1983 and later became a Navy chaplain.

After giving a blessing at the beginning of the bike ride, Alan Lenz shared how in the summer of 1973, one of the older midshipmen who detailed plebe summer that year would regularly pester his father to check out his brand new red Corvette. When that midshipman led the plebes on a run, Heinz Lenz took the opportunity to poke some fun at him, calling out for the plebes to “follow the man in the red Corvette,” Alan Lenz shared.

The phrase stuck for years. The ‘83-ers recalled with fondness how Lenz would tell them in his thick German accent to “follow the red Corvette” on all their runs that summer.

On Oct. 4, the “Ride Across America” will arrive in Arlington, Virgina, where they will meet with members of the Naval Acadmey class of 1973 for a joint memorial service in honor of their fallen classmates.

Class member Dixon Smith said he and other ‘83-ers learned around a year and a half ago that some members of the class of ‘73 had been independently planning their own cross country bike ride for their 50th reunion. The class of ‘73 began their ride in Astoria, Oregon earlier this month. From Arlington, the classes will join together for the final leg of the journey to their old campus.

At the end of the route, riders will dip their wheels in the Severn River, marking the end of the transcontinental expedition.

Once on the yard, the class of ‘83 cyclists will ring the Herndon memorial bell and join the rest of their former classmates for their 40th reunion celebration. The reunion coincides with homecoming week at the Naval Academy, and the cyclists will be honored at the homecoming football game that weekend.

According to the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association, the class of 1983 was the Academy’s largest graduating class in history at 1,069 graduates.

Being together as a class is special, Smith said, in part because of the unique nature of U.S. service academies. No matter how long it’s been since they last saw each other, the classmates can relate to one another because of the formative experiences they shared in school and their subsequent years of service.

“You can pick up like it was just yesterday,” Smith said.

Class member Valerie Villanueva Dohoda said that her time at the Academy provided an opportunity for her an her classmates to prove their resilience. As an ‘83 graduate, she was one of the first women ever to graduate from the Naval Academy, which only began admitting women in 1976.

Dohoda added that while she decided to participate in the ride for the adventure, the cycling itself is “second place to what the real purpose for this is.”

The riders are raising money for organizations that provide services for veterans. Dixon said each participant donated or fundraised $1,983 for the USNA Almuni Foundation, which funds services and scholarships for midshipmen.

The cyclists are also raising money for nearly 20 other organizations, including the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society, the Challenged Athletes Foundation, the Wounded Warrior Project and others. The class has already raised more than $200,000 for these nonprofits and hopes to raise much more as the ride progresses.

“It helps you get through those hills,” Dohoda said with a laugh.

To donate to veteran causes or learn more about the “Ride Across America,” visit navy-cycling.com.

Photo by Karina Andrew/Whidbey News-Times Cyclists from the Naval Academy class of 1983 begin their transcontinental bike ride to Annapolis, Maryland, where they will celebrate their 40-year reunion.