"Toe Knee"

This is Anthony. 

On Sunday, we were driving by a general store near Whiting, Maine, when I spotted this fully loaded bicycle sitting out front with kitty litter bucket rear panniers on it. 

We turned around so I could take a photo of the bike to send to my friend, Bob, in Chattanooga because Bob also has kitty litter bucket rear panniers on his touring bicycle.

This is Bob^

The owner of the bike, Tony, was sitting on the porch of the store so I started what I thought would be a normal conversation with him. The regular, "Where are you riding from?; Where are you heading?; How long have you been riding?, etc."  Turns out that he is mute. He could make some sounds, but no words.  He could understand my questions, and was able to respond by gestures and letters written in the air by him.  When I asked his name, he first pointed to his toe, and I responded "Toe" and then he pointed to his knee, and I responded "Knee."  I just wonder how many times he has said his name, Tony, that way. 

He started his bicycle trip in Oregon 6 months ago and had ridden through 38 states at the time we met him. His plan is to ride down the east coast to Florida and then head west to California and then turn north and travel to Washington state to end his trip. He plans on riding in all 48 states by the time he completes his trip in 6 more months. 

Self-supported bicycle touring itself presents many challenges and difficulties. It is hard to imagine how much more challenging it would be having communication barriers. Like most touring cyclists, he seemed to enjoy communicating the details of his trip to me, and I certainly was blessed being able to communicate with him in a non traditional way.  I find his accomplishment to be very inspirational.