DEXTER — Don Canning of Dexter will always remember Aug. 19, 1990, as the day he realized a dream. On that day, Canning, 21, a senior at the University of Maine, completed a solo trip across the country, logging more than 3,000 miles on his 21-speed Bianchi bicycle.

On June 1, Canning left Dexter and began the long ride bicycling across the country. Even with spending a month in Montana, he was able to complete the journey to the West Coast by Aug. 19.

Planning and saving money for the trip took nearly two years. Much of his money was spent on the bicycle, related tools and camping equipment.

Questions on whether he would complete the trip began in Quebec, he said, when his knees started bothering him. He took it easy that day, he said, and his patience was rewarded by being able to get back on his bicycle and continue.

Canning camped out at night along the way, except for time he spent visiting relatives and friends in Billings and Bozeman, Mont.

One difficult night was spent in North Dakota, where Canning had to stay up most of the night to hold his tent together because of the high winds accompanying an intense thunderstorm.

It was a long night because Canning had traveled 120 miles on his bicycle that day and had another 90 miles to go the next day.

But Canning continued, with the knowledge that he soon would be in Montana and could take a well-deserved rest.

Canning never doubted his goal. “I never really said to myself `What am I doing?”‘ he said. “I just sometimes felt `Boy, I wish this was easier.”‘

Canning said that finally reaching the Pacific Ocean was a moment he never will forget. The expanse of this country and Canada was truly amazing, he said, and seeing it from his bicycle gave him the time to contemplate how big this country is and how varied its landscape can be.

Canning’s drive to continue his trip was fueled by several factors, he said.

On the last leg of the journey, Canning said, he was motivated by the fact that he had to meet a train that would take him back to the East Coast and home.

Canning said that at the beginning of his trip, he spent nights camped in the woods off the road, rather than pay for a night at a campground.

During the final days of his trip, Canning chose to splurge on a night’s stay at a campground that had a hot shower. He said this proved to be a great motivator to keep him pedaling during the day.

Canning credits his local Mayberry scholarship to the University of Maine as one of the major reasons he could make the trip at all. If he did not have the scholarship, he probably would have had to work full time during the summer to earn his tuition money, he said.

A goal ahead of Canning is a return trip to Oregon. He says he was struck by the beauty of that part of the country and one day he hopes to return there, perhaps not riding a bicycle, although he hasn’t ruled out that possibility.