To the Editor,

Polly Andersen was wearing her Ride with Ian T-shirt for the Wannigan Regional Park ribbon cutting and open house on June 27. Her picture on the front page on July 2 Frazee-Vergas Forum shows the front of the shirt. I thought “Ride with Ian” should have an explanation.

Ian Andersen is Mark and Polly’s son and an avid bicycle rider.  So much that about six years ago he took sixteen months to ride from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to the southern tip of South America. Last year, he rode from Cape Town, South Africa to Cairo, Egypt. He is presently riding from Perth Australia to Sidney. 

He self-funds his journeys, carries everything he needs on his bicycle including a tent for sleeping, food and water, and a cooking pan. In Africa, natives advised him not to sleep on the ground as he would be eaten. So there he often stayed in hotels which also had an eating establishment on site. Ian would negotiate a price where he would eat supper and breakfast at the hotel if he stayed there, paying for the room but not the food. The price varied from $4 to $8.

Ride with Ian can be followed on YouTube (@ridewithian). For a $50 YouTube subscription, you will receive an email every Monday with pictures and videos about his travels, experiences and the people he meets along the way.

His goal is to bike all seven continents including Antarctica which has been tried but the furthermost attempt quit after 100 miles. I suggested he leave this to the last as he will be older and maybe reconsider that one. 

Ian is an Architect, worked as one for a short time, and then moved to Boise, Idaho, where he has been a construction project manager for several years for construction companies.   

Ian raised $20,000 on his first trip for a Spinal Foundation which sponsors research on spinal reconstruction. His funds were in honor of a college friend who now is in a wheelchair as a result of an accident where a drunk driver collided with a car she was in. If you donated, you received a Ride with Ian T-shirt from him.

Editor’s Note: Other links: ridewithian.substack.com; venmo.com/u/Ian_Andersen; instagram.com/ridewithian; tiktok.com/@ridewithian

Delta Daggett, 

Frazee