Pedaling Peace

A dear friend of ours, Sam Gloyd, age 74, is on the road—solo biking cross-country. After Sam’s send-off at the Family Promise Metrowest center in Natick, Massachusetts, a national organization that assists homeless families, Sam biked to Old Frog Pond Farm. Blase and I chatted with him about his trip until Sam said, “Don’t you guys eat lunch around here?”

A few years ago, Sam gave up his therapeutic practice, moved out of the room he rented in a shared house, sold or gave away his possessions, and began a series of volunteer jobs at retreat centers across America and in Europe. He returned from Spain and Portugal to Natick, staying with his ex-wife, Karen, to spend the holidays with their three children and two grandsons.

While in the area, he approached Family Promise Metrowest about volunteering, and they asked if he’d like a paying job driving their van instead. They needed a driver for the 6–8 am morning shift to take families to work and children to school. Then Covid hit, his driving services were no longer needed, and the retreat centers all over the world closed indefinitely.  

I asked Sam why pedaling.

“I love biking and can keep social distance on a bike, and I have some work to do with my sisters in Indiana. Collectively we’ve all mistreated mother earth. And I’m pedaling for my own penance and how I’ve caused hurt and injury to my sisters.”

Pedaling for Peace and Penance was born.

Blase Provitola and Sam Gloyd with the flag that took a farm to make. Blase bought the material, Ariel Matisse sewed it, and Holly Cyganiewicz painted it.

Sam and his sisters seem to represent the great American divide. Sam explained, “When Trump was elected president one of my sisters said, ‘Finally our country can return to our moral values.’” They couldn’t openly accept that Sam is a gay man.

I asked if they knew he was on the way to see them. Sam replied, “My brother told me, ‘Be aware, the closer you get to Fort Wayne, Indiana, the weaker the bridges are.’”

When Sam shared his plans for this bike trip with the “incredible group of women” who run Family Promise Metrowest, they got excited and wanted to be part of it. The organization not only offered him a generous donation but reached out to Family Promise centers in every city he would be biking through, requesting them to offer Sam a meal, a tent site, and a shower.

After Indiana he’ll take inventory and see if he has the energy to go on. But on his mind is a visit to a retired Methodist Minister in Michigan who was a spiritual mentor and married Sam and his wife. He’d also like to bike across Wisconsin, visit the Twin Cities, and is drawn to visit Standing Rock. And everywhere he goes, he shares the compassionate work of Family Promise’s 200 centers.

“I love seeing how providence will support me and open doors,” he said.

I hold Sam’s journey like a fan that is narrow at the bottom and widens out in both directions. He’ll be making new friends and reuniting with old ones. Especially significant will be the meeting with his sisters in Indiana. When we spoke, he seemed a little worried. He shared that he wasn’t always willing to understand their side. But Sam is a man with a big heart, and he truly desires to create peaceful ground with his sisters.

He told us he had just reread the slim book by Paul Coehlo, The Alchemist, popular in the early 80s. The protagonist crosses the desert and encounters many challenges seeking his legend. I think Sam is creating his own legend. He is inspiring people to get out of the box, think wider and larger, and take up that freedom that belongs inherently to each of us. His creative energy is bringing more peace into our divided world.

At a pause in our conversation Sam said, “Don’t you guys eat lunch around here?” When both Blase and I shrugged sometimes, he said, “Well, I’m hungry.” We scurried off to make a send-off lunch, delighting him with a large, fresh salad, bread, and cheese. Sam had already picked four pints of strawberries. These we put in a plastic container and strapped the box between his saddle bags. 

Peddle your Love, Sam! You have so much to give!

Sam Gloyd and Linda Hoffman socially distancing.

Follow Cycling with Sam on Family Promise’s website.
Watch an ABC Channel 5 interview!
Donate to his campaign here.