ST. GEORGE (AP) — It took 65-year-old Hurricane resident Lucy Ormond 90 days and a whole lot of pedaling to get from Washington state to Maine last summer. It didn't come easy, she said during a presentation recently on her cross-country bike trip, but that was what made it so rewarding.
"There wasn't one place on my body that didn't hurt at some point," she said. "Never once did the thought enter my mind that I wouldn't finish the journey."
Speaking to a gathering of the local nonsectarian organization World Peace Gardens at the Green Valley Spa recently, Ormond said the lessons she took away from her trip could be applied to everyone in their daily lives.
"One of the reasons I did this is to show people you can do anything," she said. "I learned how to let go of everything. That's when I felt a warming, calming sensation come over me."
Ormond, who retired in 2008 after 30 years of working as a nurse, said she had a lifelong dream of biking across America. When she finally had the time there was no doubt in her mind what she would do.
From June through September, Ormond, along with friend Barbara Hanson, trekked more than 3,200 miles through the northern United States and parts of Canada. They relied on the kindness of "road angels" for occasional help with food and lodging, camped out when they could and updated a blog whenever they could find a computer with Internet access.
"A lot of people let us into their homes," she said. "Women especially were surprised and amazed."
One of those amazed women was Melissa Hansen.
While Ormond displayed pictures of her journey through Montana and upstate New York, Hansen sat with the audience quietly weeping.
Ormond's trip was not only an inspiration for her, but it brought back memories of her childhood.
"It's been 25 years since I lived there," Hansen said of New York.
She added that Ormond's adventure is something that helps her to remember how special life is.
"It makes you have an appreciation for the beauty of the world," she said. "So many things often get in the way."
World Peace Gardens founder Daniel Pettegrew said reactions like that are the reason he started the organization.
"That's what makes it so great," he said.
Pettegrew added that the organization plans to continue holding meetings and inviting speakers to bring people together in a nonreligious environment. The goal, he said, would be to have a 10- to 15-acre parcel in southern Utah to serve as a sanctuary and gathering place.
"We'd like to manifest something physical," he said.
As for Ormond, she said she returned to Utah a different person and hopes her experience can help others whether they're bicyclists or not.
"I let go of everything and realized in the morning all I had to do was pedal," she said. "I was so strong when I came back."