When Daniel Mohler hiked all 2,176 miles of the Appalachian Trail in 2006, his parents and eight older brothers and sisters kind of hoped he had gotten his wanderlust out of his system.

Not a chance.

Oct. 1, the 24-year-old dipped his bicycle in the Pacific Ocean at San Diego and began pedaling toward the Atlantic Ocean.

Mohler, who grew up on the family homestead near Martic Forge, has always had a love for the outdoors.

But immersing himself in it didn't become a passion until his first trip to the West and Southwest to visit a sister in Utah the summer after he graduated from Penn Manor High School in 2003.

That led to his through-hike on the Appalachian Trail. Challenging himself physically, slowing down his life and sharing a journey with people focused on their own dreams had a profound effect.

Now, two years later, he wanted to downshift again and stumble upon new memories.

In his expansive on-line journal of the journey (www.danielmohler.com/bike), Mohler asked himself the obvious question: Why?

"I have very modest goals of just inspiring a handful of people to be bold and follow their dreams," he wrote. "I want people who have crazy goals that aren't traditional to stop asking themselves if it is possible to accomplish them, but how and when they WILL accomplish them.

"I am not traveling to the moon or even doing the most outrageous bike trip. However, what I can say without a doubt is that I am following my dream.

"How about you?"

When he decided to do the bike trip, Mohler had no biking experience or knowledge about equipment. He had never owned a bike that wasn't purchased at a yard sale or had been plucked from a Dumpster.

He purchased a road bike and had seven weeks to get in bike-ready shape.

Mohler chose a route selected by the Adventure Cycling Association that is the quickest road trip from the Pacific to the Atlantic. It basically follows the best roads that are not highways.

Before he left, Mohler visited the fifth-grade class at Providence Elementary School taught by his sister, Rebecca Gajecki. The class tracked Mohler's progress on his journey. They added up his mileage weekly, monitored his calorie consumption and studied the capitals of the states he pedaled through.

They seemed most impressed that he went 21 days without a shower while hiking the Appalachian Trail. Or that he could eat eight candy bars a day on his upcoming bike trip.

Burning at least 1,700 calories a day, Mohler did consume incredible amounts of food with impunity.

He once ate a 40-ounce steak in, where else, Texas. One dinner he wolfed down four pieces of fried chicken, two quarts of orange juice, an entire peach pie and a half gallon of chocolate milk. Another meal consisted of a dozen tuna fish and cheese sandwiches.

Still, the 6-foot-1-inch Mohler lost 11 pounds. Hiking the Appalachian Trail, he lost 30 pounds.

Mohler showed the students his bike, equipment and his traveling companion &tstr; Moleman, a stuffed super hero Mohler purchased on the Internet. He named it Moleman because that was his trail name on the AT, a reference to the way he poked his head each morning from a sleeping bag.

The pedaler had many conversations with the caped crusader, and developed a bond not unlike Tom Hanks with the Wilson volleyball in the movie, "Cast Away."

It is Moleman, not Mohler, who is pictured on the Web site at each state crossing and at scenic spots along the way.

Once, Mohler left Moleman at a campground. He traveled 26 miles round-trip to retrieve his inseparable companion.

On the front of Moleman's cape are the words, "Darin's Dream." Mohler dedicated the trip to Darin Knutsen, a 12-year-old local boy with cystic fibrosis.

Over 53 days, Mohler and Moleman made their way across California, Arizona, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida.

Mohler had never changed a flat tire until he had his first one. He used his iPhone to watch a YouTube video on how to do it. He would repeat the process nine more times on the trip.

He averaged 60 miles per day. One day he pedaled 117 miles. A few days facing sand blasts in the desert or bracing head winds, he only did 30-some miles.

He hated highways with rumble strips. He feared getting "shaken-bike syndrome."

On the 17th day of the trip, he got a flat tire, sat down to change it and got 50 thorns in his butt, rode into a headwind all day and arrived in Kent, Texas, two minutes after the only store in town had closed.

Mohler, Moleman and Brooke — the name Mohler gave his road bike — camped out seven times, once in the yard of an abandoned home. Seven times he stayed at the homes of bicycle touring hosts, a network of people, found online at www.warmshowers.org , who are willing to put up smelly bicyclists.

The remainder of the nights he slept in motels. Some were cheapies for as little as $21 a night. Especially when the Phillies were making their run through the playoffs and World Series, he'd splurge on rooms with large televisions.

He was almost run over several times and at least 30 dogs chased him. One took a chunk out of his gear bag.

Incredibly, he did not encounter rain until 15 miles from his destination on day 53. No matter, for there on the beach of St. Augustine, Fla., 10 family members were there to welcome him.

He had biked 3,076 miles.

In an interview last week at Rockvale Square, where Mohler is a store manager, he was was asked how this trip and the experiences with people along the way affected him most.

"Some days you think the world is a lot smaller," he says. "Other days it seems a lot bigger because there's so much to see in it."

He's already planning his next big adventure: hiking the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. He misses the trail community so.

After that, maybe kayaking the entire East Coast, or a bike trip across Africa.

Dream on.

acrable@lnpnews.com