9,320 Miles: Penny Roushar Jansen
Penny Roushar Jansen isn’t one to idle.One day after she and husband Ericretired, in 2014, the couple took off ona bicycle trip through 10 countries onfour continents.
“We were living in Malaysia when wejoined Warm Showers, which is like acouch-surfing group for cyclists,” Penny(Bus’82) said in March from her home inColorado. “We’d host people riding bikesthrough Malaysia. Just by talking to them,we thought ‘Maybe we could do that.’”
So, starting in Malaysia, the Jansensembarked on a 15,000-kilometer (9,320-mile), 11-month ride through southeastAsia, Australia, New Zealand and Europe.The eventful trip began Oct. 1, 2014.The experience, Penny said, wasworth every flat tire.
The Jansens, whose longest bike ridepreviously was a one-day, 135 km roadbike trip in the hot Malaysian sun, hadgrilled their bicycling guests for adviceon navigation, pacing and other matters.But as they quickly learned, there are nohard-and-fast rules.
“You can plan and plan, and then getinertia,” said Penny, who wrote an essayabout the trip for the Wall Street Journal.“The best thing to do is just go. You figurethings out on the road. Even in SoutheastAsia, you can find people to help.”
Before she retired, Penny spent much ofher career as a teacher in schools in Maryland and Washington. When Eric’s careerin industrial construction took themabroad, she taught in Turkey and finally inMalaysia, where they lived for 18 months.The couple were hardly cycling novices when the big trip started. In Malaysia,where it gets hot early in the day, theyroutinely got up at 4:45 a.m. to cycle. Itwas a favorite activity they began a fewdays after moving there, with a long-time resident serving as guide.
FromPenny’s CU days, a four-day cycling tripthat took her from Ridgeway to Telluride to Cortez to Durango stands out.Now she’ll remember the Vietnamcoast, a bout of food poisoning in Laos,cycling to the bridge over the KhwaeYai River in Thailand, and the hills nearFreiburg, Germany.
The Jansens ended their tour inZermatt last August — a bit earlier thanexpected. After Eric got an unexpectedbusiness opportunity, they came back tothe U.S. and settled in Fruita, Colo.Settled is not to say stationary — inApril this year, they embarked on yetanother epic bike tour.
“We are cycling in Spain,” she said.“It’s beautiful!”
Photo courtesy Penny Jansen