ASBURY PARK – Paul Webb has a jar of lentil sprouts that he grows and re-grows in the darkness of his phone pouch.

Webb ate those lentil sprouts on his journey from his home in San Clemente, California, to Asbury Park to attend his high school’s 50-year reunion at the Jumping Brook Country Club on Saturday. Webb completed the 2,899 miles by bike at age 67.

“He’s an incredibly enthusiastic, committed, I mean, super nice guy,” Webb’s friend Paul Fejtek said. “He’s just one of these contagiously passionate people.”

In those 2,899 miles, Webb ate lunch in the desert under the shade of a telephone pole, got hypothermia cycling down the mountains of Colorado in a hail storm, braved tough headwinds in Kansas, coasted off tailwinds of trucks and cars on the highways of Missouri and slept in the parking lots of churches, saloons, corn fields, gas stations, campgrounds and people’s yards. 

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Webb discovered that if he stood in his gear in the parking lot of a grocery store with his bike while eating, people would approach him, ask questions and sometimes invite him to sleep in their yards. 

“There were so many nice, generous people everywhere I went,” he said.

Paul Webb of San Clemente, California, who is sponsored by the Challenged Athletes Foundation to ride his bike from San Clemente, CA to Asbury Park, NJ to attend his 50th high school reunion in Neptune, rides the final 3 miles with (left) Tara Dunfee, 17, of Wall, a Challenged Athletes Foundation grant recipient, from Seed to Sprout in Avon-by-the-Sea to Convention Hall, where he dipped the front tire of his bike into the Atlantic Ocean, in Asbury Park, NJ Friday, August 6, 2021.

On his ride from St. Louis to Indianapolis, he hit glass and got a flat tire. In less than a minute, a man in a car shouted that he could help. The man came back with his son and a truck and the family took Webb to the bike shop, fed him dinner and let him sleep in a tree house in their backyard. 

“They just adopted me,” Webb said. 

Paul Webb of San Clemente, California, who is sponsored by the Challenged Athletes Foundation to ride his bike from San Clemente, CA to Asbury Park, NJ to attend his 50th high school reunion in Neptune, rides the final 3 miles with Tara Dunfee, 17, of Wall, a Challenged Athletes Foundation grant recipient, from Seed to Sprout in Avon-by-the-Sea to Convention Hall in Asbury Park, NJ Friday, August 6, 2021.

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Throughout most of the trip, Webb had van support driven by a few friends scattered across the U.S. Until the last leg of the trip, Webb’s friends would meet him in the evening and supply him with gear too heavy to ride with. They would sleep in the van while he slept in a tent. 

In Webb’s own words, he’s a semi-retired international corporate motivational speaker. He’s the man in the Mercedes-Benz training videos. 

Some of the lentil sprouts Paul Webb grew in his phone pouch for his ride across the United States on a bicycle.

So, in portions of Webb’s trip where he lacked van support, he would drive the van to his next destination, store the vehicle at a Mercedes-Benz dealership, zip back to his bike and then cycle to the dealership again and do a sales meeting as a thank you. 

When he arrived in Asbury Park, he came to the shore with his van, a police escort and two people from the Challenged Athletes Foundation, a nonprofit for which he is fundraising. He dipped his tires in the Atlantic Ocean, just outside Convention Hall.

Doug Olson, the Northeast senior development director for the foundation, estimates Webb has raised $30,000 for the nonprofit, which provides adaptive athletic equipment, classes and competitions for people with physical disabilities. 

“Health insurance does not cover the cost of that running leg,” Olson said nodding to Tara Dunfee, a 17-year-old participant of the nonprofit who rode with Webb during the last stretch of the journey. “It does not cover a racing wheelchair or a basketball wheelchair. Those are like $2,500 to $7,500 each.” 

Paul Webb of San Clemente, California, who is sponsored by the Challenged Athletes Foundation to ride his bike from San Clemente, CA to Asbury Park, NJ to attend his 50th high school reunion in Neptune, rides the final 3 miles with Tara Dunfee, 17, of Wall, a Challenged Athletes Foundation grant recipient, from Seed to Sprout in Avon-by-the-Sea to Convention Hall in Asbury Park, NJ Friday, August 6, 2021. Tara's bother, Brayden Dunfee, 11, rides behind them.

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Webb said he became involved with the nonprofit through his friend Fejtek. Fejtek was born with brachial plexus palsy and uses modified athletic equipment to achieve athletic feats like summiting the highest mountains on each continent and completing the Hawaii Ironman competition. 

Paul Webb of San Clemente, California, who is sponsored by the Challenged Athletes Foundation to ride his bike from San Clemente, CA to Asbury Park, NJ to attend his 50th high school reunion in Neptune, rides the final 3 miles with Tara Dunfee, 17, of Wall, a Challenged Athletes Foundation grant recipient, from Seed to Sprout in Avon-by-the-Sea to Convention Hall in Asbury Park, NJ Friday, August 6, 2021.

Greeting Webb at the shore were his relatives and classmates from Neptune High School class of ’71. 

“We’re past AARP, we’re now Social Security,” former classmate Gail Brenan said. “He’s our age!” 

“He’s in good shape,” another former classmate Bonnie Moore replied.

After his high school meet and greet Friday night, Webb said he planned on sleeping in his cousin’s backyard.

“When I get back, I’m thinking about going up to Alaska on a bike from Southern California,” Webb said. 

Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at [email protected].

Source: Asbury Park

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