The Foreign Service Journal, October 2014

56 OCTOBER 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS FSO Richard Boly retired in August 2013, after 19 years in the Foreign Service. The very next day, he started a new job at theWorld Bank. But he was itching to have the “big chunks of time” that retire- ment can aord—something rare in the workaday world. So when his World Bank contract came to an end, he decided to do something he always wanted to do: Ride his bike across the country. Boly kept a blog on Tumblr about his adventure called “Pedal Quicker, Time Is Catch- ing Up!” (www.bikingboly -richard.tumblr.com/). In his first post, dated April 27, 2014, he outlines the 10 reasons he embarked on the trip. They ranged from nostal- gic (“My mother was born in rural Kansas, my father in rural Missouri. I would like to have a glimpse into the coun- try and people they came from”) and reflective (“Short of becoming a monk, I can’t think of a better way to plumb your depths”) to quixotic (“I am a volcano of ideas, but not a dreamer.... Until I dip my front tire in San Francisco Bay, I am just another Don Quixote”). Boly rode about 75 miles a day, primarily on back roads, through Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California. He encountered two tornadoes along the way and persevered through crosswinds and headwinds in the Plains. “You can have a headwind all day long,” Boly says. “That doesn’t mean you are going to get a tailwind the next day.” Boly’s cross-country trek ended 65 days after he started out from his home in Bethesda, Md., when he dipped his bike’s front tire into San Francisco Bay on July 6. The ride completed, Boly is now back in Bethesda, Md. Richard Boly retired as director of the Oce of eDiplomacy. He also served in Italy, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Paraguay. Before joining the Foreign Service he did a variety of things, including establishing and running a shrimp hatchery in coastal Ecuador and help- ACT I VE AFTER ACT I VE DUTY FSO Bikes Across the United States to Celebrate Retirement ing to launch the first Apple Macintosh computer. Now he has embarked on what he calls a “portfo- lio” career, one that allows him to combine his creative talents with his technical and diplomatic skills. He is working with the U.S. Institute of Peace on a new initiative called the Peace Tech Lab, which Boly describes as an “accelerator for innovation in peace.” He is also active in the Mind the Bridge Founda- tion, an organization he got involved with while posted in Italy that serves to help grow the “entrepreneurial ecosystem.” And he is in the process of launching an enterprise he calls “Bethesda Visual Cre- atives,” an outlet for creative talent to meet and share ideas and work together. This is the kind of venture that, he says, his cross-country bike trip prepared him for in a way. He had been thinking about doing BVC for a long time. Like his bike ride, Boly says, “Sometimes you just have to say you’re going to do it.” He recalls the familiar saying that 90 percent of life is just showing up. “Well, 90 percent of biking across the country is just getting up early and getting on your bike.” n –Debra Blome, Associate Editor Richard Boly reached San Francisco Bay after 65 days on the road. Left: Boly’s route took him through the Ozark Mountains. Right: He entered Colorado in early June. RICHARDBOLY RICHARDBOLY RICHARDBOLY