Eastern seabord adventure
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on August 17, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
New Jersey resident Adam Sylvester poses for a photo beside his bike Tuesday night as he makes an overnight stop in downtown Goldsboro on his trip to Florida. Sylvester recently lost his job and decided to cross the trip off of his bucket list and cash in on a bet he made with friend. He hopes to complete the trip on his birthday, Aug. 30, by traveling between 50 and 60 miles per day.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Messages of love from family members are among the things keeping Sylvester in good spirits along the way.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Adam Sylvester's backpack sits on the floor beside him at Well Travelled Beer while he shares stories with several customers. Among the things he brought for the trip is a small sock monkey that his niece gave him.
He lost his job, he bought a bicycle, and he took a friend up on a $20 bet they made several years ago.
And on Tuesday night, that led 33-year-old Adam Sylvester into Well Travelled Beer in downtown Goldsboro.
Sylvester, who lost his job as an auto body estimator in the middle of May, made a $20 bet with a friend that he could ride his bicycle from New Jersey to Florida.
Originally from Dunellen, New Jersey, Sylvester started his trip on Aug. 2 in Bound Brook, New Jersey, and has traveled roughly 540 miles so far.
"I was working a job for a long time, for about 7 years, as an auto body estimator and a mechanic -- I'm kind of a jack of all trades -- but I was making really good money being an estimator, and the insurance industry is terrible," Sylvester said. "You've got to sit there and take guff from people that don't know what they're talking about, and I'm not the kind of guy that takes guff, so I had a little bit too much sass and I ended up losing my job. My unemployment money is really good, and this is something that's always been on my bucket list, and I feel like the bucket list term -- people just fill the bucket and fill the bucket and they never take anything out of the bucket to go do it."
Making the bet with his friend put the biking trip on Sylvester's bucket list, and he's funding the trip with his unemployment money as he notches 50 to 60 miles on his bicycle each day as he plugs on toward Florida.
Sylvester said he hasn't mapped out or planned each day of his trip, and wakes up each morning and plans the day ahead of him.
He stopped at Well Travelled Beer when he was biking through downtown Goldsboro and one of the owners, Sam Hodge, ran out after him to talk to him.
"Sam (Hodge) ran out here after me," Sylvester said. "I didn't think it was weird at all because when people see this dude with this bike full of crap, they're like, 'What the hell are you doing?' They either think I'm a well-off bum, or that I'm going somewhere. They're like 'this bum's got it together.' But he came running out and I was looking for a place to eat, and I came all the way down here and I could tell it was just a bar with no food, but I was so hungry, so I started biking back the other way and Sam came sprinting out and he's like 'Hey, man, hey! Where are you biking to?' And we just started talking."
Hodge completed a long distance bicycling trip himself, and has biked all the way from Virginia to Oregon.
Sylvester said his body begins to signal for him to quit biking for the day after he has traveled between 50 and 60 miles.
"I get a bangin' headache, and I talk to myself a lot on the trip, but I start saying some really stupid stuff and I can tell I'm getting stupid, and that's one of the reasons why I'm talking to myself -- because if I can't formulate sentences to myself, then I'm probably having some logic problems and that can be the onset of heat exhaustion or heat stroke," Sylvester said.
Sylvester said he usually camps or stays in hotels in whatever town he stops in along the way of his trip. Tuesday night, Sam's brother, John Hodge, allowed Sylvester to sleep at his place for the night.
Sylvester said he is carrying several items on his bicycle -- a tent, a tarp, some ropes, caribiners, a Camelbak, a knife, a GoPro camera, a solar charging panel, the BFG by Roald Dahl, a campfire stove, fuel and a sock monkey from his niece.
"My niece gave it (the sock monkey) to me, and I was looking for stuff I needed to grab while I was packing for the trip, and I wanted one, frivolous, light thing that would just make me feel good looking at it," Sylvester said.
On his bicycle -- a Fuji 27 speed -- are other reminders of home that give him encouragement. Members of his family all wrote their names and short, inspiring messages on the bike frame to encourage him along the way.
"People make checklists of all these things they want to do, but you've got to go do them eventually," Sylvester said. "Some of the things people put on their bucket list -- you're not going to be able to do them when you're 70. If riding your bike from New Jersey to Florida is on your bucket list, you are not doing that when you're 65 or 70."
Sylvester said his final stop on his trip is St. Augustine, Fla. -- specifically, the Bridge of Lions.
"I'm going to get there -- there's these two giant lion statues -- and I'm going to sit there for a minute, probably have a good cry, cross that bridge, find a speedo and try and even out this tan and relax," Sylvester said.
Sylvester turns 34 on Aug. 30, and he said his goal is to complete his trip by his birthday.
"Right now is the perfect time in my life to do this," Sylvester said. "I don't have a girlfriend, I don't have any kids, I have a very supportive family, there's no job, I've got good unemployment -- why not ride a bike to Florida?"