Insight photo and story by Russ Dillingham

Don Robitaille has been around the world four times – on his bike no less – but all within the United States. A few years ago when he hit the 50,000-mile mark Don was trying to explain how far it was to his grandchildren.

“They had no idea how far that was, but when I told them it was like going around the world twice, they were amazed. Like to China they said…….WOW Pepe.”

On an average day he rides about 30 miles, usually alone. But each Saturday he rides around Lake Auburn with his daughter.

In 2001, when Don turned 70, he spent three months crossing the United States. He left his house in Lewiston and casually made his way to Seattle, Wash. “It was the most amazing thing, and the people I met were so kind and generous. I even had one couple drive up to me when I was riding along the shore of Lake Erie and they just stopped and invited me to stay at their house overnight. It was a million dollar mansion on the shore. They let me stay in their house where they cooked me T-bone steaks and I awoke to the smell of a pound of bacon cooking on the stove, just for me. I couldn’t believe it!”

He had a number of stories like that from the trek that he turned into a small book that he sent to all those who helped him along his journey. “I still hear from them once in a while.” he said.

His love for bike riding started when he was a youngster. “I can still remember picking out my bike downtown at the S.S. Kresge store. Shortly after, he got a paper route and delivered papers six days a week on a 5-mile route until the day he left for the service in 1951 where he served aboard the USS Yellowstone, a destroyer repair ship.

“There was no place to bike and I lost interest in biking, even after I came back from the service. But when I turned 40, I had a life-changing experience. I was becoming chunky and lazy, so I bought a canoe, skis and a bike. I went through a few cheaper bikes, and in 1990 I bought this top-of-the-line Trek bike with an odometer and started keeping track of how far I went. Last month on a trip to Bangor for the folk festival, he was riding the Acadia National Park Carriage Trails when he broke the 100,000 mile mark. That night I went into Bar Harbor and bought myself a lobster dinner.