Bios

Josh Bullis

When I was a kid my grandma and grandpa had a newspaper framed in the guest room that I stayed in whenever I visited them. The page had a large picture of my dad, Wesley Bullis, and my uncle, Chris Bullis, standing with their bikes. I asked my dad about it and he told me about how he and uncle Chris had biked across the United States in college, putting their back wheels in the water of the California coast and ending the trip dipping their front wheels in Virginia Beach. In recent years in college I’ve studied Bob Dylan, who hitchhiked to New York, Arthur Rimbaud, who walked across France, Kerouac and his time “On the Road” and many other traveling heroes and their great accomplishments, and I’ve developed a wanderlust being stuck in Jackson TN. Jackson is my US home, but I grew up traveling in many countries in Asia and Europe, primarily England and Turkey. I’ve always wanted to do a long trans-America trip like this; I’ve been talking about it it since high school, but it’s never worked out before. I was talking to Peter about it near the beginning of Fall semester 2012 and by the end of the semester we had Will as another confirmed travel partner. So last semester we talked with some staff and were able to get the trip added on as an experimental philosophy course in “embodiment” and Eastern philosophy, which is similar to what my dad did in college, when he got philosophy credit for his trip. So now the trip is finally happening! And I hope it will only be the first of many such trips.

Peter Riggs

I had Josh over for lunch one day about a year ago and he told me about his hopes to one day bike across the US. I told him I thought that was an incredible idea and that we should agree to do it for the next semester right then and there. Surprised, he agreed and we went about planning the greatest adventure of our lives. Like Josh, I am a Philosophy major at Union University. I have lived most of my life in Jackson, but my family is primarily from South Dakota. I have a good amount of experience hiking and backpacking, but very little biking. If you’re ever in Jackson next year, look to see if Union is putting on a play, because there is a good chance you may get to see me act. I’m looking forward to the experiences on this trip that i will share with my friends, God, and you-through this very blog! Please comment and message us during the trip! Oh, and i shaved my head, so you know i’m taking this trip very seriously!!

William Burke

When asked by two friends to bike down the East coast, the answer is “yes”. That is how I got involved with this trip. I am not a philosophy major by any means. I highly doubt I will have some sort of epiphany about the meaning of life as I pedal mile after mile. I will be biking 2500 miles just for fun! I am a music theory major at Union University who sleeps in the bunk beneath Peter. I was also born and raised in Jackon, Tn. Thus, the greatest adventure I have had the privilege of going on is the occasional weekend hiking trip. Being plunged into a homeless two months with the only company being my bike, two friends, and burning thighs, seemed almost as though God leaned down inches from my face and gave me a stern look. Needless to say, I am now in Maine typing this bio… Pretty terrified. God Bless!