Bike 76 VA: The Virginia Bikecentennial Route 76 Podcast

About Bike 76 VA: The Virginia Bikecentennial Route 76 Podcast

The Bike 76 VA podcast explores more than 500 Years of History along more than 500 miles of the Transamerican Bicycle Route 76, connecting episode locations to complex historical narratives. Episodes are written and narrated by Tom Ewing, a professor of history at Virginia Tech. Student assistant Grace Kostrzebski is a contributing writer. Episodes are numbered in ascending order for westbound travelers, descending for eastbound routes. A trailer episode, Share the Road introduces the project. For more detailed route and project information, please visit https://bike76-va.vt.domains/home/

Publisher

Tom Ewing

Category

education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

18 Dec 2024

Latest episode

13 Feb 2026

Latest episodes

31 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   13 Feb 2026

   Share the Road

   Host, Tom Ewing , a Professor of History at Virginia Tech, presents the introductory episode for the Bike 76 VA podcast. As indicated in this episode, Bike 76 VA explores a history of Virginia which is diverse in stories, equitable in thinking about opportunities and challenges, and inclusive of perspectives. Each episode is based on original research using source materials from the era as well as historical analysis from scholars and public historians. The work of local historians provides some of the sources and analysis, thus indicating how these episodes build on the work of community members. Yet this podcast differs from many local histories by situating individuals and families in the broader trajectories of American history over more than five hundred years. This episode, which connects a historic building to a farming community to Indigenous foot paths to a Bikecentennial rider is illustrative of how each episode makes connections between a specific location and broader historical themes. The location for this episode is an intersection in Montgomery County, just over 350 miles from the starting point in Yorktown and 200 miles from Breaks interstate park, where westbound riders enter Kentucky.

2. 

   9 Jan 2025

   30. Breaks

   In the spring of 1976, as Bikecentennial riders began to cross the United States on two wheels, a very different procession began a similar journey from the Pacific Coast to the eastern United States. The Trail of Self-Determination was an attempt by American Indian activists to call attention to more than two hundred years of broken promises by the United States government. The 1976 Trail was inspired by several years of activism by the American Indian Movement, founded in the late 1960s to advocate for the rights of indigenous people. The juxtaposition of these two transcontinental trips in 1976, one a recreational tour celebrating two hundred years of American independence and the other a political campaign calling attention to two hundred years of violence, displacement, and oppression, provides an important perspective on this exploration of Virginia history along Route 76. While the Trail of Self-Determination did not cross Virginia, the issues highlighted by this political movement are particularly relevant to the history of Native Americans in the Appalachian region. Exploring this complicated history is particularly timely as the United States looks ahead to the commemoration of 250 years since the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776. This episode is connected to Breaks Interstate Park, the starting point for eastbound riders in Virginia, and about 550 miles from Yorktown, where westbound riders begin their journey.

3. 

   9 Jan 2025

   29. Davenport

   About two miles north of Davenport, Route 76 crosses Russell Fork, a mountain creek that winds along the side of the road for nearly thirty miles close to the Kentucky border. Or, to be more historically accurate, the road winds along the path of the river, as the waterway existed in this land long before these routes were established by people walking, riding on horseback, traveling in wagons, driving cars, or riding bicycles. Across Virginia, Route 76 is inseparably connected to waterways. Over and over again, cyclists cross rivers and streams on bridges. Even more commonly, as in the case of Russell Fork near Davenport, cyclists spend considerable time riding alongside the river before they actually cross over the water. It may not be obvious to a cyclist in the mountains of southwest Virginia, but every stream is connected to a broader waterway that shapes the contours of the entire country. In fact, Russell Fork near Davenport is part of the same Mississippi drainage system as the entire length of Route 76 across Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, and the eastern part of Colorado. All of the waterways crossed along this route ultimately drain into the Mississippi River and then the Gulf of Mexico. An exploration of how Route 76 is connected to Virginia’s waterways thus provides a basis for thinking about how lands and people are connected by water in ways that can be observed as well as experienced. This episode is connected to the community of Davenport, located just over 530 miles from Yorktown, the starting point for the westbound route, and about twenty miles from the Kentucky border, where eastbound riders enter Virginia.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Spotify

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 18 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

36

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0

Contact Bike 76 VA: The Virginia Bikecentennial Route 76 Podcast

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.