(KAIR)--Williamsburg, Virginia bicycle enthusiast Ken Gross, who describes himself as being 76+ish years-young, is making his way from Maryland to Oregon on a trip he's billed as "Oregon or Bust."

Having begun his estimated 2.6 thousand-mile journey on July 16, Gross, Friday, crossed the Amelia Earhart Memorial Bridge, above the Missouri River, into Atchison where he chose to do his laundry.

While doing so in downtown Atchison, Gross encountered, inside the laundromat, what he describes in an online blog post as an "unsavory guy...toting a trash bag full of clothes."

A short while after the encounter, with the man having gone outside, Gross saw that his bicycle was missing, and notified authorities, with Atchison Police arriving to assist.

Using an attached tracking device, Gross and police were able to track his bicycle, complete with much of his equipment, into Missouri, just east of Atchison, with an officer finding it on the side of a gas station. The suspect, known to Atchison Police, had fled on foot, with the search for his whereabouts continuing.

According to Atchison Police Chief Mike Wilson, the two key officers assisting Gross were Corporal Greg Peterson and Officer Miguel Monteclaro.

Gross, following the Missouri recovery of his bike, as well as other missing equipment then located in Atchison, thanked Atchison Police, in written correspondence, saying he'd "be in dire straights on the journey had [Atchison Police] not acted quickly and decisively."

Gross, in his online journal, wrote that after police helped locate the bicycle, it was longtime cyclist, Atchison resident Gary McGregor, who helped supply inner tubes needed after the recovery of the bicycle.

Although he had planned, during his time in Atchison, to visit the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum, Gross writes that, due to the time lost tracking his bike, that visit will have to wait until a future, return trip to Atchison.

On Saturday, Gross continued his journey, traveling through the local area, biking from Atchison to Seneca, en route to his final destination of Oregon.