Kile Exley, 19, stopped through Brentwood Monday afternoon for supplies at R.E.I. and nourishment at Saint Louis Bread Co. about a month into a solo bike trip from Philadelphia to LA.
After graduating from high school he decided to take a year off. “I had to do something for myself before I got into real life,” he said. “This was something I always wanted to do.”
Exley said he planned the trip in a month, ordering what he thought he needed from Amazon: “They came in the day before I left. It was an experience before it started, now it’s even more of one.”
St. Louis is the first large city he’s gone through, and he likes it.
“I’m from outside Philadelphia,” he said. “This looks so much nicer than all of that. There’s not a whole lot of trees (in Philadelphia) — it’s just buildings and stuff — it’s definitely prettier compared to Philadelphia.”
Exley said he needs to be back home by Christmas. He’s doing about 50 miles a day. He was planning to do 60 today, but didn’t know what it would be like going through the city. He said he navigates with his phone, not a paper map.
He camps and occasionally stays in hotels, especially on weekends so he doesn’t have to watch NFL games on his phone.
Exley said he’s driven across the country, and it’s completely different by bike.
“When you’re driving you don’t really grasp your surroundings. You’re not absorbing anything. You’re in the car, you have the radio on,” he said. “You hear that, and you see the road in front of you.”
“When you’re riding you see everything around you. When you don’t have a window your eyes and brain just absorb more,” he said.
Amazing, Safe travels!