Edmunds County Tribune -

Two years ago Ipswich native Gary Wietgrefe, at age 65, bicycled 3,000 miles in 40 days from Pierre, South Dakota to North Pole, Alaska and lived to write about it. He averaged 75 miles per day just to find food and lodging.

His new book, Destination North Pole-5,000 km by bicycle was released by his New York distributor worldwide in July as an e-book, hardcover and paperback. A YouTube video has also been produced about his adventure.

Gary graduated from Ipswich High School in 1971. He entered the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War as a communications intercept operator in Italy and Japan. He bicycled the mountains of northern Japan and has enjoyed bicycling ever since.

Wietgrefe finished his successful agriculture career by developing an identity preserved bulk seed handling system in the U.S. and Canada, called TruBulk®- a registered trademark system. Gaining several patents along the way, Wietgrefe's final project was introducing the seed system in Argentina.

After retiring in 2012, he traveled the world with his wife Patricia, a Pierre native. Often they only had backpacks. Last year after returning from Mexico they visited an orphan girl they sponsor in Uganda, Africa before touring southern Europe.

On that trip, one of Gary's highlights was visiting his grandfather's childhood home in the Ukraine north of Odessa. His grandfather emigrated to Akaska, South Dakota in 1911. Gary was the first descendant to return to the small, almost abandon Ukrainian farming village.

Continuing their travels, in 2018 Gary bicycled to North Pole, Alaska to visit his nephew (Wayne's son). It took him forty days. He pedaled his 285 pound loaded bicycle into western Saskatchewan where Patricia met him. After transferring his paniers into their vehicle, Patricia drove ahead each night searching for food and lodging.

"She was great!" Gary commented, "Several days I had to bike over a hundred miles, especially in the Yukon, to find a clean bed and hot food. That was much better than staying grubby getting all stiff sleeping on the ground or in our vehicle." Gary's longest biking day was 166 miles.

Wietgrefe's travels have been limited this year. After returning from Mexico in March, they isolated three months at a friend's Black Hills cabin. A cold spring at 6,500 foot elevation ended Wietgrefe's traveling eight years of continuous summer. Several snows from March into May allowed Gary to finish his latest book, Destination North Pole-5,000 km by bicycle.