Shadow of a Wheel - First Season

- "Shadow of a Wheel" is made possible

in part by Explore Asheville.

- Here in Asheville,

we're a mix of genres, a hybrid of styles,

settling for nothing, hungry for everything.

All drawn together to stand out.

You are welcome.

Always Asheville.

- Additional support is made possible

by The Charles Engelhard Foundation

and by these contributors:

'Kay, let's get up.

Let's roll.

Oh hey.

Oh, man.

- For more than 30 years, no one had seen the video.

No one knew where the VHS tapes were.

But when they were found, they opened a door

into a story of this remarkable experience

and the powerful shadow it cast

through many of the riders' lives.

["Take the Long Way Home" by Supertramp plays]

It was the summer of 1982.

31 teenagers, five adults

embarked on a 3,600-mile bike ride across the United States

to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

I wanna get in it.

Go ahead.

Most of the kids

had never ridden more than 25 miles at a time.

Most had never been far from home.

And most had no idea

what they'd gotten themselves into, including me.

How do our experiences as kids change us?

What meaning does it have now?

Hey.

Sittin' in the chair. I'm in the chair.

I'm Paul, and I'm the director of this film.

Well, we're getting ready to do interviews.

Some of these people I haven't seen in 40 years.

Some of these people I don't really know much about.

I hope that I learn something while making this film

about myself and about the people I rode with

and where they are now and what their lives have been

and how maybe it changed us.

That's the supposition.

That's the theory at this point.

So thanks for jumpin' in on the ride.

["Once in a Lifetime" by Talking Heads plays]

36 people with 36 stories to tell,

3,600 miles of highway, all 40 years ago.

So where do you start?

Tell me your name, your age,

and what you did in the summer of 1982.

Did I get it?

Judy, do me a favor and clap for me, if you don't mind.

Perfect.

- I've always said, in my next life,

I wanna be a rockstar

and wear black leather and be hot.

In the summer of 82, I was...

Oh Lord, I think I was 28 years old.

No, 29.

I was working for the Multiple Sclerosis Society

as their director of development.

- I never thought my world

could begin to look like this.

- Multiple sclerosis was getting a lot of attention

in the late 1970s and early 80s.

I am no longer the greatest.

Ridge is.

He's fighting multiple sclerosis,

a disease that comes out of nowhere.

- Many of us have seen public service announcements on TV

about how the disease was an almost untreatable mystery

that affected young people.

- It may attack your arms, your legs.

- The mysterious crippler of young adults.

- Sometimes your speech, your eyes, or even worse.

- The impulses which activate my nerves

are short circuited.

No one has a cure.

Gotta find a cure for Ridge

and hundreds of thousands of others.

- It's the young people's disease.

It strikes between ages of 16 and 50.

And you could be perfectly fit today, go to bed tonight,

and wake up in the morning with paralysis in half your body.

And it's a frightening and terrible disorder.

["I Can't Go for That" by Hall & Oates plays]

What I think I'll recall

is we were sittin' in the office one day,

and a young man named Chuck Williford

walked in to present a proposal.

- "Let me invite you to participate

"in one of the most exciting projects

"that you'll hear of in 1982,

"the Coast to Coast Freedom Ride

"for the benefit of Multiple Sclerosis Society.

"Having made this trip before,

"I'm very excited about having this opportunity

"to lead this prestigious group of young men and women

"and share with them the adventures and misadventures

"that a project like this can provide."

- He saw a trip like this as a way

to do some good, get some publicity,

and propel perhaps himself

into creating a bicycle touring company.

Chuck and his energy and his passion

and the way he orchestrated it and thought it through,

we just took it and ran with it to see where it could go.

I was an afternoon paper boy.

["Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash plays]

There's an article in the paper, "U.S. by Bike."

- My mom saw a thing in the paper about, "Hey,

"do you wanna ride your bike across the country?

"We're lookin' for kids that wanna do that."

And I was like, "Yeah."

Seemed like couldn't be real

to be able to do somethin' like that.

What an accomplishment it would be

to take somethin' like that on.

- I said, "Mom, I would like to do this."

She said, "Okay, ask your dad."

I've always wanted to be out

and see and travel and do things.

You know, it just suddenly became a dream.

I was ready.

It was that quick.

Anything to get in trouble.

- We had a family friend who had multiple sclerosis.

I was game.

You know, why not? Do somethin' wild.

And I loved wild and different.

- I remember on the front cover was Zack Lyon.

And I was like, "I wanna do that," you know?

I remember seeing Zack in school,

and I wanted to be like Zack.

- Wow, that sounds like a fantastic trip.

- First of all, how many people can say

they've ridden a bicycle across the United States?

And then how many 14-year-olds have done that?

- We've always been a pretty adventurous family,

you know, backpack and go all over Europe.

And everyone was just talkin'

about graduating high school

and going, hanging out at the beach.

And I thought, "Oh my gosh, that's so boring."

Like, I just...

And they couldn't understand me.

They was like, "What are you gonna do?

"You're gonna ride across the country?

"Why would you do that?" You know?

And I'm like, "Well, why wouldn't I?"

- Went to my parents first time, second time,

my father and mother kinda laughed it off.

Third time, my dad yelled at me.

I went to my siblings.

They talked my parents into it.

Fortunately I was raised with parents

who, albeit they had a limited education,

would not limit their children.

Dad, just turn to me.

"If you really wanna do this, you have our blessing.

"We'll make it happen."

- My dad and I got into the typical,

"What the heck are you gonna do this summer, kid?"

And there was an article.

Said, "I could do something like that."

He says, "Okay, you do it.

"Every dollar you make for the trip,

"I will match your donors,

"'cause that's gonna be the hard part."

I said, "Fine, I'll do that."

And that's exactly how it happened.

He was very good at that.

Very good.

And he was convincing.

I mean, you know, can you imagine sittin' down

with parents and their 14-year-old

and sayin' to the parents, "Trust me,

"this is gonna be an experience of a lifetime

"for your little boy or little girl.

"And I'm gonna be sure they get through it."

I mean...

And the parents going, "You know what?

"I do trust you."

Which was amazing.

- And that's exactly how it happened.

Our parents needed to be sold.

- The first time I met Chuck Williford,

kind of thought he was crazy.

Who wants to take 31 teenagers