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Conversations Across America: A Father and Son, Alzheimer's, and 300 Conversations Along the TransAmerica Bike Trail that Capture the Soul of America by Kari Loya (view source)
Revision as of 12:48, 23 September 2022
, 12:48, 23 September 2022no edit summary
Kari (that rhymes with ‘sorry’, by the way) wanted to spend some time with his father and the period between two jobs seemed like a good time to do it. The decision was made to ride the Trans America Bike Trail from Yorktown, Virginia to Astoria, Oregon - all 4250 miles of it - in 2015. They had 73 days to do it - slightly less than the recommended time - but there were factors which pointed this up as more of a challenge that it would be for most people who considered taking it on. Merv Loya was 75 years old and he was suffering from early-stage Alzheimer's.
The preparation for the trip highlighted the problems which that Kari would encounter. They had to carry all their own luggage so they needed to pack as light as possible. Merv was difficult about the clothing he decided to take and unwilling to compromise, so Kari had to decide whether this was because of inexperience, cognitive impairment or stubbornness. He quickly adopted a mantra of adjust, be patient, adapt and realised that smiles gave the best feedback.
We get a story of how they conquered the trail - and it’s certainly no misery memoir. I quickly grasped Merv’s limitations and saw how frustrating they must have been for him - this was a highly-intelligent man struggling with cognitive impairment - but we understood his strengths too. He was a communicator and drew the best out of the people he met.