He'll cross country for fun and charity

Dr. Ollie Scheideman charted a cross-country bicycle trip years ago on a map on his dental office wall in Yuba City.

Twenty-five years later and retired about two years, he is now fulfilling his lifelong dream, bicycling from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

At the same time he is raising money for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Butte County.

"I am so excited," Scheideman said a few days before leaving for Yorktown, Va. "How many people are retired and can still do this?"

A dentist for 40 years in Yuba City, he has lived in Chico for the past seven years.

The 67-year-old called friends and relatives in Colorado, Oregon and throughout California to accompany him but didn't find any takers.

"For me, two weeks is long enough," said Pam Scheideman, 56, his wife of seven years.

"I wished him really good weather, lots of memorable moments, many new friends and bring home lots of great stories."

Ollie Scheideman plans to ride 4,260 miles in 82 days through several states — Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho before ending Aug. 5 at Florence, Ore.

Ollie Scheideman, on his Felt Speed 30 bike, is one of about 10 riders on the trip coordinated by Adventure Cycling Association, a North American bicycle travel organization.

"I've been a follower of these rides since it was Bikecentennial back in 1976," he said.

The group is being accompanied by a support van carrying its luggage, though the riders are camping along the way.

Scheideman is carrying a small trunk with essentials on his bike, a tire repair kit and his laptop to post photos and diary on a blog.

The riders will average about 60 miles a day, though Scheideman expects to stop often.

"I want to see everything," he said, "garage sales, flea markets. I want to see the country."

And he might decide to pull out his credit card sometime and stay overnight at a hotel, he said.

His only concern is severe weather.

"I don't worry about hills," he said. "There's always a descent on the other side. But wind in your face is the worry."

In addition, Scheideman's goal is to raise $10,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Butte County, a part of the national organization that matches children ages 6 to 17 years old with adult role models.

Donations can be mailed to the chapter office at P.O. Box 7222, Chico, CA 95927.

None of the money donated will go toward paying for his trip expenses.

Ollie and Pam Scheideman mentor a 17-year-old youth, Jesse, with Pam working with the young man for the past 10 years.

The couple have always been supportive of the organization, said Kathy Barrett, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Butte County.

The chapter covers Butte County only. There is no Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter in Yuba, Sutter or Colusa counties.

People in Butte County have raised money for the organization before, but it has "never had anyone ride their bike across the country," she said. He shouldn't have a problem meeting his goal by the end of the summer, Barrett added, with about half already raised.

Scheideman, born in Lodi and growing up in Auburn, began his dental practice in 1967 in Yuba City. He retired soon after turning 65 years and 8 months, he said.

He rode bicycles from elementary school through dental school but didn't become serious until longtime friend Dr. Ken Skyberg introduced him to mountain biking in 1987.

Scheideman and his wife have been avid bicyclists for years, tandem riding through the Netherlands and in several states in the U.S., most recently along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal route, a 184.5-mile ride from Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, Md., as well as tandem mountain biking.

He mountain biked in Guatemala in the early 1990s with his son, Jake Scheideman, now 41; mountain bikes with Pam's sons, Mark Geyer, 30, and Adam Geyer, 31; and competes in cross-country mountain bike racing with Jessie, along with restoring old bicycles.

He rode 200 miles a week for a month preparing for this trip.

Skyberg, 48, of Yuba City, still bikes about 100 miles a week, but couldn't take off three months from his dental practice in Gridley for the cross-country trip.

He said, "I just hope that in 12 years, when I'm 60, Ollie's 79-year-old body will be up for one last ride across America."

Contact Appeal reporter Leticia Gutierrez at 749-4722 or lgutierrez@appealdemocrat.com