Bo Newsom’s retirement includes winters in Florida, along with cross-country bicycle rides.

The 56-year-old Lawrence retiree recently returned to his home in Lawrence after a 26-day, 2,550-mile bicycle trek that began on Sept. 7 in San Diego and ended in St. Augustine, Fla., his winter home.

Ask Newsom, former owner of Bo Newsom Construction Co. in Lawrence, why he decided to ride across the southern part of the country in 100-degree temperatures, through heavy rainfall and on treacherous back roads. He says: “It was just on my list of things to do. It was just a personal goal, that’s all.”

Newsom’s goal, and that of his friend Peter Cornell, 60, of Port Charlotte, Fla., who rode with him, was deemed crazy by some and admirable by others.

Cornell, a 6-foot-3 former wrestler, has completed three of four legs of a quest to ride the perimeter of the country, corner to corner. On the third leg, with Newsom, he wanted to make the trip a test of endurance.

“My goal, it just seems to be the round number of 100 miles a day, that I just wanted to do with no days off,” Cornell said.

The men planned their trip six months ago. Newsom had already been riding between 200 and 250 miles a week, so he just lengthened his mileage each week.

But when Newsom took a group ride with Jim Sing, 68, of Alpine, Calif., he began to doubt himself.

“I’m familiar with the desert immediately west of San Diego,” Sing said. “It’s just dangerous; there’s not enough water or shelter. At the time, Phoenix had an unusually high number of days at 110 degrees right on his path.”

Not one to quit, Newsom and Cornell were in San Diego three days later dipping their bikes in the Pacific Ocean as per riders’ tradition before hitting the road again.

Newsom’s girlfriend Michelle Miller, 37, of Lawrence, saw them off. Despite being concerned for his safety, she encouraged him the whole time.

“I said you just have to do it. You can’t wait until tomorrow; sometimes things happen,” she said.

Days on the road

Newsom said he felt like a trucker, the way they traveled across the states. He and Cornell would wake up at about 4 a.m. in a seedy motel they happened upon and fuel themselves on junk food they bought the previous night at a convenience store.

“I ate everything and anything,” he said. “There was no time to be dieting. We had to keep our energy levels up.”

They got ready in about half an hour. Little time was needed to put on the single outfit Newsom brought and load his 15 pounds of gear in his bicycle bag.

Then they rode for 30 or 40 miles before stopping for a hot breakfast. They finished their day with 60 or 70 more miles, usually by late afternoon, depending on how many flat tires they had that day. In all, Cornell had 14 and Newsom had 16.

“Then we’d go to sleep, wake up and do it again,” he said.

With their quick pace, there was only time to take in the scenery surrounding them along the road. Often they were riding in the dark, including stretches on the Interstate, but caught several sunrises over the desert or mountains. They rode through the Algodones Sand Dunes Wilderness Area in Southern California, climbed about 8,000 feet to cross the Continental Divide and along the Gulf of Mexico.

In the dark hours, Newsom said he could only see a few feet in front of him and had to watch for road kill and tire debris, and there was plenty, he said.

“The road kill bothers me because ‘but for the grace of God,’ it could be me.”

Newsom said Texas was the most stunning state. For Cornell, Texas was “daunting.”

“My initial response – huge,” Cornell said. “I thought that I was going to establish a residency; we were in that state so long.”

When the men made it to east Texas, Sing said he knew they would be okay.

“I’m thrilled,” he said. “You ride 26 days of 100 miles a day, you really accomplish something. That’s a Tour de France effort.”

On their homestretch to Jacksonville, Fla., they were greeted by heavy rain. Their plan was to jump in and dip their bikes in the Atlantic Ocean anyway, so getting wet didn’t much matter.

Newsom was also greeted by Miller.

“I’m really happy I lived,” Newsom said.

Next on Newsom’s list of things to do – riding and sightseeing in Japan next year and Britain’s “End to End” ride.