Jacobs goes from math teacher to full-time biker

This summer Brent Jacobs, a math teacher at Lewiston High School, continued his biking journey across the country. This year was Jacobs’ second time biking across the U.S. starting from Portland, Maine, and ending up in San Francisco, California.

“I really found a passion for [bike riding] and decided since I don’t have anything else to do in the summer, why not,” Jacobs said. 

Jacobs has been working at LHS for five years teaching algebra, consumer math, and statistics. During the summer, he leaves his clean-shaven look behind as he becomes a full time biker. 

“One of my favorite things about going on these trips is meeting new people everywhere I go. I met this one woman in Niagara Falls who kicked everyone out of the elevator so I could fit my bike in with me. She even said I could stay with her son when I got to San Francisco,” Jacobs said. 

It took 47 days for Jacobs to make it back to the West coast. He started off with two people coming along on the journey, but about 700 miles in they decided they did not want to continue. 

“Most of the time I was by myself. So I started biking anywhere from 90-120 miles a day because I didn’t have anything else to do,” Jacobs said. 
Jacobs documents his rides on a blog called ‘Crazy Guy on a Bike.” A lot of people on this blog document where they go, so people they know can catch up on where they are at. 

“I mainly do the biker blog, so I can go back and read them and know that I always have them. But I also do it so people I know can see where I’m at for the day,” Jacobs said. 

Jacobs’ biker blog is at crazyguyonabike.com/jaco7457.