Experiential Learning on a Bicycle
Have you ever felt like the best way to learn history isn’t by reading about it, but by living it? That’s the idea behind experiential learning—and when it happens on a bicycle, history comes alive in motion. Instead of memorizing names, dates, and military movements, you discover meaning through the physical experience of riding. The landscape, the effort, and even the weather become part of how you understand the past.
This article explores what it means to learn history by bike, with a special focus on the Gettysburg battlefield.
In the section “Expressions of Meaning,” we connect the words of Colonel Joshua Chamberlain—a hero of Little Round Top—to the thoughts and emotions of today’s bicycling visitors.
In “What is Experiential Learning at Gettysburg,” you’ll find detailed examples of how riding through Gettysburg National Military Park deepens our understanding of Civil War history.
Expressions of Meaning
“On great fields, something stays…”
Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, who led the 20th Maine at Little Round Top, once said:
In great deeds something abides. On great fields something stays. Forms change and pass; bodies disappear, but spirits linger, to consecrate ground for the vision-place of souls. And reverent men and women from afar, and generations that know us not and that we know not of, heart-drawn to see where and by whom great things were suffered and done for them, shall come to this deathless field to ponder and dream; and lo! the shadow of a mighty presence shall wrap them in its bosom, and the power of the vision pass into their souls.
~ Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, 1889, at the dedication of the Maine monuments in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
“… come to this deathless field to ponder and dream”
These poetic words describe the deep pull that many visitors feel at Gettysburg. We may not be able to explain it right away, but the sense of something sacred is real. Millions of people have visited Gettysburg to ponder, to dream, and to reflect on what the place means—not just for the nation, but for ourselves.
On this battlefield in south-central Pennsylvania, more than 51,000 men were killed, wounded, or missing.
What brings us to this deathless field to wonder about the meaning of the death and carnage?
More Than a Ride—A Journey Through Freedom
At Gettysburg, cyclists let the landscape speak through motion and sensation—the sweat of effort, the pull of gravity on a hill, the stillness beneath old oaks. Here, learning is not confined to pages or lecture halls. It’s felt through your body, in the rhythm of your breath and the terrain beneath your tires. The battlefield becomes a living classroom, where history is not only observed but physically experienced.
This is more than a tour or a workout. It’s a personal encounter with the past—an invitation to search for meaning on the very ground where freedom was tested. With every climb and coast, cyclists retrace the contours of sacrifice and resilience. They engage with the echoes of struggle, not just to understand history, but to feel its gravity.
For many, riding through Gettysburg is a quiet form of patriotic expression. It honors the past through presence—choosing to move through it slowly, attentively, and with reverence. Whether you’re gliding down Seminary Ridge or powering through Rose Woods, you’re not just passing landmarks; you’re stepping into the footsteps of history.
There is a particular joy in that freedom—the freedom to choose your path, to pause and reflect, to let the landscape shape your thoughts. The ride becomes a conversation between the present and the past. And in that dialogue, experiential learning takes hold—not only in the mind, but in the heart and body as well.
What is Experiential Learning at Gettysburg?
The concept of experiential learning, or learning through experience, might be as old as human history itself. Around 350 BCE, Aristotle commented that knowledge gained through action was more meaningful than rote memorization. Apprenticeships have been commonplace in work settings for many hundreds of years. John Dewey advocated for hands-on-learning in the United States educational system, and in the 1980’s David Kolb popularized his “experiential learning theory.”
I did not know anything about experiential learning on a bicycle until I rode through Gettysburg National Military Park. It was a thrilling experience. My mind was opened to how accessible history can become when you explore a battlefield site. On my Gettysburg rides, I started to notice the contour of the land and how physical structures like roads and barns helped me to stay oriented on the battlefield. For me, that was the key to understanding the Battle of Gettysburg, a three-day event in 1863 that had always confounded me.
Experiential learning includes learning by doing, planning, and reminiscing. In the following sections, I offer a bicyclist’s perspective on this topic, with particular emphasis on my experience bicycling Gettysburg many dozens of times since 2012.
1. We Learn By Doing
For adults, experiential learning is a hands-on, self-directed way to explore the world. It prioritizes active engagement over passive listening. A bicycle or walking tour immerses you in the landscape in ways a car or bus never could. You aren’t just observing history—you’re stepping into it. As the ride unfolds, you shape your own experience and, in doing so, become part of the story.
Take Gettysburg’s Devil’s Den, for example. Walking among its 200-million-year-old boulders, you might pull out a park map and notice Sickles Avenue looping around the area. Suddenly, Maj. Gen. Daniel Sickles becomes more than a name—you begin to see the battlefield through his movements and decisions on July 2, 1863.
Outdoor Classrooms
U.S. national military parks are rich outdoor classrooms, offering bicyclists the chance to learn by exploring monuments and preserved terrain. Struggling up the incline of Sykes Avenue toward Little Round Top, you physically grasp what it means to scale the hill that the Union Fifth Corps defended. The brief climb—just 0.2 miles but a 150-foot ascent—teaches more through exertion than pages in a book ever could. In this example, the bicyclist learns through participation the geography of the Gettysburg battlefield and the direction of Maj. Gen. George Sykes’ Fifth Corp line.
Empathy
Experiential learning on a bike connects physical movement with memory, emotion, and place. Riders naturally absorb information from signs, monuments, and maps—but they also develop empathy. Imagine cycling past the open, sun-drenched fields of Pickett’s Charge on a hot July day. You know it’s 87 degrees, and you have water and rest stops. But those young soldiers didn’t. If you walk east from Seminary Ridge and into the field, you can feel the land’s rise. Imagine cresting the rise and suddenly seeing the Union line come into view. At that moment, you will feel a fraction of the fear and awe that Confederate troops might have experienced.
Freedom
For adult learners, this approach is especially powerful. Free from the rigid routines of formal schooling, adults can decide what matters to them, how they want to learn it, and when. Even if your early education made history feel like a jumble of disconnected facts, historical tourism on a bicycle offers a fresh, meaningful way to learn—one that blends freedom, curiosity, and the joy of discovery.
2. We Learn by Planning
Experiential learning begins before the ride—even before your first pedal stroke. It starts with planning, a process that sharpens your focus and transforms curiosity into purpose. For adults, this self-directed preparation is part of the learning itself, requiring initiative and intentional goal-setting.
As you prepare for a historical bike tour, you might come across the idea of “witness trees”—living trees that stood during the Battle of Gettysburg. Intrigued, you dig deeper and decide to locate the Pender, Sickles, and Lincoln Witness Trees. In researching who these figures were and why the trees matter, you’ve already begun your learning journey—before arriving at the park.
Student and Teacher
In this way, the cyclist becomes both student and teacher. As the teacher, you define your own objectives—perhaps to locate every state monument using GPS or to capture specific landmarks in a set of photos. To some, this might seem overly structured, but in reality, it’s a practical strategy for staying focused and making the most of your time. It ensures your ride has meaning, and that you return with both memories and insights.
As the student, you experience the joy of discovery—cruising down quiet park roads, eyes alert for historical markers or topographical features you’ve researched. Your learning is fueled by curiosity and sustained by the physical act of riding. You explore with intention, connecting what you see with what you’ve read, and what you feel with what others may have experienced long ago.
Experiential learning on a bicycle is a dynamic, immersive, and deeply personal way to learn.
3. We Learn by Reminiscing
Experiential learning does not end when the ride does. After a historical bike tour, reflection deepens the learning by helping cyclists connect what they experienced to what they already know and what they might do differently in the future.
A rider might recall how the tough climb up Culp’s Hill gave them a physical sense of the soldiers’ hardship, or how standing quietly among the monuments deepened their appreciation for the human cost of the battle.
The experience might even inspire civic engagement—for example, when a visitor notices that Plum Run Valley has become a flooded habitat altered by beaver activity, and takes the initiative to ask how the battlefield can be preserved.
The experiential learner may ask: What surprised me? What challenged my assumptions? These reflections turn experience into lasting insight.
Joshua Chamberlain Reminisces…
A professor of rhetoric at Bowdoin College in Maine, Joshua Chamberlain’s oratory skills have moved generations of Americans. His 1889 speech interwove themes from President Lincoln’s (1863) Gettysburg Address and Chamberlain’s own reflections on the battle’s meaning. Specifically, Col. Chamberlain appealed to the patriotic virtues of service, union, freedom, and law:
Having commanded a regiment at a pivotal point of the battle on Little Round Top, some twenty five years before, Chamberlain had returned to the battlefield to reflect upon the enduring meaning of “this deathless field.” In that speech, Chamberlain embraced President Abraham Lincoln’s resolve that “government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” He proclaimed the centrality of “service” in the preservation of “one body, one freedom and one law.”
~ Bicycling Gettysburg National Military Park (Victor, New York: Civil War Cycling, 2019), 20.
Find Your “Why” on the Ride
Your bike becomes a vehicle not just for motion, but for meaning. Chamberlain spoke of souls being wrapped in the “shadow of a mighty presence.” You’ll know what he meant when you pause in a quiet grove or feel your breath quicken on a hard climb. You’re not just observing history; you’re participating in it.
That’s the gift of cycling Gettysburg: it teaches not through lectures, but through experience. And once you’ve felt that connection, you’ll never look at history—or freedom—the same way again.
How to Become a Bicycling Historian
Let’s begin your journey of experiential learning on a bicycle. First, select a large national military park that has smoothly paved park avenues. Gettysburg, Antietam, Chickamauga, Shiloh, or Vicksburg are all good choices. Then get a bike and a good set of maps and some reading material. Plan, ride, reflect, rinse, repeat.
Do you want to try experiential learning on a bicycle?
Visit Civil War Cycling’s Shop for printed guidebooks and downloadable maps.