Chasing the American Spirit Lance Armstrong Style

First appeared on September 8th, 2010
in The Lebanon Reporter

There was a time when the American Spirit was a great source of pride in this country. And while she had a good run, for our purposes here the American Spirit is dead and gone. Of course this declaration is based solely upon America’s alarming obesity rate and the staggering amount of people voting via text during the American Idol results shows.


It’s depressing to realize future generations will never know the American Spirit as our fathers and grandfathers knew it. Yet somehow we must come to terms, in the same way we struggle to understand why we’ll never witness a Dodo in the wild or get to see David Hasselhoff performing live in German.

Of course determining where the American Spirit was first born is a debate rivaling the greatest man has known. Something comparable even to Original Captain Crunch versus Crunch Berries.

Whether first etched on cave walls thousands of years ago, or discovered at the bottom of a Sam Adams pint, the unique belief system that would evolve into the American Spirit was once indomitable. American Spirit persevered through the Civil War and carried us through the Great Depression and Second World War. The American Spirit led us to the Moon in 1969 and has brought us tremendous leaders and innovators like Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight David Eisenhower and Vince Shlomi (the Sham Wow guy).

Unfortunately the American Spirit lost steam somewhere. And as the identity of Americans began to melt away, many took solace in color television, foreign cars and fast food. And while most logical thinking people are right to point a judgmental finger at Rock and Roll, others realize Americans have simply gone rogue, turned selfish and fallen prey to the two greatest threats the American Spirit has faced since Nazi Germany; the political rationalizations of Hollywood movie stars and Facebook.

Theodore Roosevelt once romanticized the brutality of football embodied the American Spirit, but if Roosevelt were alive today he would surely recognize a more accurate analogy is likely competitive eating or sleep number beds.

Enter Boise Idaho’s Vogel family who, after trekking 14,000 miles via bicycle from Alaska to Bolivia as a family, have once again reignited the fire formerly known as the American Spirit. Navigating the Pan-American Highway in true Lewis and Clark fashion, the Vogels will have gone a total of 18,000 miles when they reach their final destination of Tierra del Fuego.

Corralling the sense of exploration and adventure that once formed the backbone of the American Spirit, the Vogel’s have given hope to every American family struggling with vacation ideas or a reason to go bike riding together.

Yes it would seem, before their story at least, the only thing most Americans felt compelled to explore was the internet or a bag of cool ranch Doritos. Now, considering the Vogel’s have survived 14,000 miles, it would seem no destination is off limits. China, Kenya, the U.S.S.R. (OK, so maybe pedaling to the U.S.S.R. is going to be tough).

Before the Vogel’s inspirational trip I’ll admit that I believed the American Spirit was a relic of years gone by. An oxymoron of sorts, like “jumbo shrimp” or “Accelerate Indiana”. This being said, let their story serve as a wake-up call; life doesn’t stand still. It’s up to us to saddle up and pedal after it. Whether that means riding a bike to Mongolia or simply finally putting down that Doritos bag, get out there and be an American. The good news here is that as Americans we can do whatever we want; and for that we can thank the American Spirit.