The Big BAM Ride drew bicyclists from near and far as it kicked off Monday morning from Ray Clinton Park. However, one of the farthest travelers arguably was veteran bicyclist Greg Coulter, who made the 600-plus mile trek from Houston, Texas, to Poplar Bluff to ride across Southeast Missouri.
Coulter has been bicycling across America for three decades, but he got his start in a bit of a surprising fashion.
“I was a Boy Scout scoutmaster,” Coulter said, “and one of my scouts wanted to get the cycling merit badge. It all started from there.”
Before making the journey to Poplar Bluff, Coulter participated in the Oklahoma Freewheel ride last week — but he is excited to be back in Missouri, and especially Southeast Missouri, where he has never ridden before.
“I love Missouri, and I love Missouri Life’s Greg Wood,” Coulter said. “And I love the Pork Belly (Ventures) people, Pete (Phillips) and Tammy (Pavitch) … if Pork Belly’s supporting the ride, I ride.”
Coulter’s favorite place to ride is the Katy Trail, which runs across the middle of Missouri before ending in St. Charles. But it’s far from the only ride that Coulter enjoys.
“We’ve rode in the Great Allegheny Passage from Pittsburgh — and then you add the C&O Canal that goes all the way to Washington D.C., so 350-375 miles,” Coulter said. “We’ve rode the Chief Ladiga Trail down in Alabama that goes to Atlanta, Georgia. We’ve rode the Natchez Trace, we’ve rode the Mickelson Trail which is up in (western) South Dakota. And we really love to ride out in Big Bend (National Park in) Texas, out in that little hoop part of (southwest) Texas. All the scenery changes, but the people are pretty much the same. When you get to small towns, everybody’s friendly, helpful, nice — salt of the earth people.”
Coulter’s equipment for the Big BAM Ride includes his touring bike.
“(It’s) mostly for gravel trails because I love the Katy Trail,” Coulter said. “I’ve ridden the Katy Trail six or seven times ... It changes every time you go, even though you’re going the same place.
“And when my wife rides, we have a road tandem that we can set up to ride on trails or ride on streets. So you set them up for long-distance and its time in the saddle is what you’re really shooting for.”
Another item that Coulter has packed is his tent cot, which is basically a tent built on top of a cot. It allows the user to sleep off the ground, but also provides shelter from the elements.
“Me and Mama (Coulter’s wife) decided we got too old to be falling on the ground and trying to get back up,” Coulter said. “We can just sit down in the tent (cot) and go to sleep.”
Throughout all of his travels, Coulter does not have to think long when asked what has stood out the most.
“More than anything is the people,” Coulter said. “The little towns, people on the ride, friendly people — you learn a lot about America, you learn a lot. You sit at home in a big city like Houston and all you get is negative news.
“You come on a ride like this and there’s almost nothing negative — even when you have a huge hail storm in the middle of the night, there’s nothing really negative about it. You just deal with it and move on.”