BATESVILLE, Ind. – Travel for millions of Americans is part of the Thanksgiving tradition.
For Justine Nobbe, travel is the fun and untraditional part.
The 26-year-old departed October 7 on a bicycling adventure from Salt Lake City, Utah to her hometown of Batesville.
Nobbe, a self-described outdoor enthusiast, attributes the inspiration to first learning about the cross-country biking experience from a client when she was a personal trainer.
The 2006 Batesville High School graduate also participated in a 2009 California coast bicycle tour with then-boyfriend-now-husband Michael Nobbe, 26, of Batesville.
“I just went on adventure and adventure, and not just cycling but backpacking, rock climbing, and mountaineering,” Justine divulged. “Over the past year, it was like, ‘Ok I want to do another tour, and I want to do it for me, and something that means a lot to me,’ so I decided I was going to cycle home!”
“There were many different experiences that led to it, but I am surrounded by so many crazy adventurous people.”
Dubbed the “home tour,” Nobbe endured single-digit temperatures, bicycle breakdowns and foot problems while voyaging through Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.
“I think between Salt Lake City and back up through Colorado, just through those two states alone, I climbed over 35,000 feet or something like that,” Nobbe recalled.
To put this in perspective, Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, is documented at 29,029 feet.
At one point, she biked 125 miles in three days gaining 9,000 feet of elevation with mostly no cell phone reception.
“I’ll cycle up mountains all day, I can deal with it being zero degrees outside, and I can deal with being hungry and thirsty,” Nobbe said.
“The hardest part for me was toward the end of my trip.”
That’s when Mother Nature stepped in with an unseasonal accumulating November snow in the Midwest. It put the brakes on the bicycle tour as Nobbe had to make it back in time for a friend’s wedding this past weekend.
“We weren’t able to finish the last leg of our cycling and that was devastating to me, literally heart wrenching, tear-jerking devastating.”
When Justine arrived in Batesville on November 19, she had traveled 1,300 miles by bicycle and 500 miles by car or train.
“I tend to want to control everything and as soon as the unexpected sets in, I struggle with that,” Nobbe admitted. “So, it’s been a good learning lesson because, that’s life. It’s been an adventure even when I wasn’t cycling.”
This story isn’t about the number of pedal strokes, miles or states. It’s about an adventure. It’s about somebody reaching for something more.
“It was a dream I had and it is fulfilling! I don’t think everyone should go and cycle across the country; it’s about finding a way to live a life fulfilled,” Nobbe proclaimed.
On Tuesday, Justine spoke about her cross-county trek to seventh and eighth graders at St. Nicholas School in Sunman.
Her message was simple: Don’t be afraid to dream.
“For kids that age, I challenge them to even acknowledge their dreams and that’s the first thing I asked the kids to do,” Nobbe professed. “I don’t care how silly it is, and I don’t care if it is something that seems impossible or unrealistic, just say it, just say that dream out loud and acknowledge it.”
“We often live our lives in fear, like I am not going to do something because I am so afraid of failure, the people, and scared I can’t do it,” said Nobbe.
“I just want to encourage the kids to have courage to confront their own fears.”
Justine is the daughter of Mike and Julie Tekulve, of Oldenburg, and the late Bruce Allen.
The 2006 Batesville graduate married her high school sweetheart, Michael, in 2010. Michael is the son of Matt and Marla Nobbe, of Oldenburg.
