Bicyclist, 81, confirms teenage memory of a gracious land and people
By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Howard Dietzman is home after riding his bicycle 3,600 miles or so across Canada.
Pedaling by himself, and sleeping out under the stars most nights, Mr. Dietzman left Vancouver, British Columbia, on June 26 and rolled into his Hillsborough driveway on Sept. 4. He got the only flat tire of the trip about a mile from his home.
Mr. Dietzman is 81 years old.
In 1948 Mr. Dietzman’s father took Howard and his brother on an auto trip to Banff National Park in Canada. A young teen, Howard was impressed by the friendliness and sincerity of the dominion’s people.
Ever since then, he wondered if his recollection was still accurate, he said.
And it was, he found out.
Canadian people are still outgoing, friendly and passionate, "and that pleased me very much," he said. When he ran into trouble, he always found people willing to buy him a cup of coffee, offer route-making advice, serve him a meal or grant the coveted chance for a hot shower.
"I live under a lucky star," he said. "I don’t know how many times when I was having problems with direction or weather, God would put a person in my path."
Barebones doesn’t begin to describe his trek. The only technology he took was a battery alarm clock and a digital camera. He carried as little clothing as possible and shopped every day so he only toted a small amount of food. He found hearty chunky soups — eaten cold, for he carried no stove — to provide morning energy or evening fulfillment. He charged up at breakfast or lunch on places that gave him as much coffee as he could drink.
The trip was relatively problem free, as Mr. Dietzman spins out memories of being invited in to a family birthday party. The most ornery critter he encountered was a chipmunk while camping, he said.
He rode a basic black Cannondale bicycle — "13 gears, I guess, but I don’t think I used them all," he said. A fading redhead, he favored long sleeves and quilted underwear under cargo shorts. No tight-fitting, bright-colored Spandex for him.
He took his first overnight, 150-mile trip at age 13 in his native Wisconsin, but long-distance bike trips have been his seven-year itch starting at about age 50, he said. Mr. Dietzman has pedaled across the U.S. three times — the last in 1999, starting in San Francisco. He once went from Alaska to New Jersey. Always it’s west to east, to take advantage of prevailing wind.
Retired since 1995 after 35 years as director of audiovisual education in the North Plainfield schools, Mr. Dietzman hasn’t let grass grow under his feet. An accomplished ballroom dancer, he’s gone on several cruises as a designated tuxedo-wearing dance partner, but also been to the Gobi Desert, where he took a bike he saw in one village for a little spin. He’s trod on all seven continents.
This could be his last long-distance trip, he said, conceding he "sorta promised" that to his three children, who were all schooled in Hillsborough and still live within 10 miles, he said.
But his father lived to age 102, and his grandparents died in their 90s. "So I figure I may have 20 years left," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

