In 1993, a co-worker of mine convinced me into going on a weeklong bicycle tour in Missouri called “C.A.M.P.” Cycle Across Missouri Parks. It took a lot of talking from my co-worker for me to finally decide to give it a try. I had been riding for about a year and was not concerned about that part of it. The problem was, I had not been camping since my Boy Scout days and that was a really long time ago.
Bubba Barron
To say I was hooked after this event would be an understatement. I really loved it. So much so, I registered for the Bike Ride Across Tennessee which took place two months later. That event confirmed it, I was hooked!
The next eight years found me riding all over this great country doing four to five week long tours a year. I just could not get enough. It was while riding these events I kept saying, “These rides would be lots more fun if I didn’t have to deal with the tent thing, I would pay someone to do that for me”.
In the fall of 2000, I retired from the St. Louis County Police Department after 27 years and was ready to fulfill a dream. Riding self-contained, solo across this wonderful country of ours. So, on April 13, 2001,in Yorktown, VA. I mounted my Vision recumbent which had a loaded B.O. B. trailer attached and started heading west to Florence, OR. What a great trip that was. It was during that trip I decided to start Bubba’s PAMPERED Pedalers and offer riders the opportunity to enjoy week long tours however without any of the hassle. I have been PAMPERING riders ever since, offering riders what I wished I had while riding these events.
In 2003 and 2004, I invited a few of my good biking friends to join me in the beautiful Florida Keys for a week of riding and fun. They dubbed the trip “BubbaFest”, a name that stuck.
In 2005, I decided to offer this tour to the general public and have been doing so ever since.
The summer of 2009, I decided to put together a Coast 2 Coast Tour remembering how much fun mine was. After months of research, the route was penciled in. After spending a few weeks driving the route and securing overnight locations, things were in place and registrations started coming in. March 2010, the group all gathered in San Diego, CA for the inaugural Coast 2 Coast Tour. Things could not have gone any better. For the riders, they dipped their rear wheel into the Pacific Ocean and the front wheel into the Atlantic Ocean and I did everything in between.
The first Coast 2 Coast Tour went so well, I decided to make it a yearly event.
So, whether you are riding in a weeklong tour, enjoying the beauty of the Florida Keys on BubbaFest, or accepting the challenge of a Coast 2 Coast Tour, you will see firsthand what I mean by saying,
“It’s ALL Good”
