9/20-9/26 Riggins, ID-> Mitchell, OR 🌲 🏔️ 😊

9/20 Riggins to McCall
We set out from Riggins intending to have a big day of riding along the Salmon River. However, our plans quickly fell apart when Hogan got a flat (second of the tour) just 5 miles into the ride. He replaced the tube, but couldn’t get the tire to properly re-inflate. He could still ride on it, so we went another 15 miles, but then the issue compounded with stressful traffic and midday heat and we called in the support vehicle to drive to a bike shop in McCall. By the time Hogan got new tires, we were losing steam and decided to stay in McCall to start fresh tomorrow. We hung out at the city park, grabbed Mexican food, and found a cheap “sad Millenial” motel for the night. We thoroughly enjoyed McCall and glad we got to see it even if it was due to bike troubles 🙂

Hogan being a badass

Trying to find a shortcut in McCall

9/21 McCall to Cambridge
We celebrated the first day of fall with a slow morning and pumpkin spice lattes in downtown McCall. Well fueled, we rolled out of town around 11 and found ourselves back on busy roads with small shoulders. Would NOT recommend Idaho Highway 95 for biking. Fortunately, we spotted the Weiser River Trail nearby, which we heard parallels this section of the TransAm. We hopped on that to much relief, going from dodging 18-wheelers to beautiful farms and woods. The gravel was rocky though, which eventually gave Grace her first flat of the trip! For the last 15 miles, we had to choose between the rocky trail or Highway 95 and decided the trail was worth it to avoid rush hour traffic. This last section was very rural and quiet, great river views but also poorly maintained. We struggled with the last few bumpy miles in the waning daylight, but made it to Cambridge before sundown. After showers and dinner, we swung by the Office Bar, known for the resident dog “Buck” that takes cash tips (a very effective way to encourage tips!).

Last subway of trip (little did we know!)

The tire of shame. How dare it.

Trail cow

Tip dog 🐕

9/22 Cambridge, ID to Halfway, OR
We got up to discover another flat tire on Grace’s bike caused by yesterday’s gravel… At leas …

9/13->9/19
Wisdom, MT->Riggins, ID
🌼 ✨ 🌲

9/13 Wisdom to Darby
It was another cold morning in the tent, so cold that we watched an episode of Brooklyn 99 to wait for the sun to do its thing. We got breakfast at the diner in town, then rolled out. We stopped to learn about the Battle of Big Hole at the visitors center and then rolled out into the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest where we weaved our way up the sketchy road to Chief Joseph Pass. We had a huge downhill as a reward which was great, from 7200 to 4000 ft elevation!!!! In Darby, we stayed with a well-known warmshowers host Curtis, who has been taking in cyclists for more than 10 years. We enjoyed learning from him especially about the local area and his own adventures.

US Highway 93 S

9/14 Darby to Missoula
Started off the day right with breakfast at Studmuffins Bakery in Darby. It was hoppin! Well fueled, we took Curtis’ recommendation to detour on Old Darby Road to Hamilton. A bit bumpy (dirt) but quiet and beautiful. In Hamilton, we got on the Bitterroot Trail, which took us all the way to downtown Missoula! It closely followed the highway, so while the views were beautiful, there was constant car noise. We pushed through tired legs and pulled into the hotel around 5pm, showered and went back out to celebrate Mary’s birthday at Western Cider 🍎

Bridge on Old Darby Road (Grace really enjoyed this section!!)

Grace smilin on said rd

9/15 Missoula to Lolo Hot Springs
Took the morning off to explore Missoula, home of the Adventure Cycling Association that created the TransAmerica Trail! We swung by ACA headquarters to see memorabilia from the original TransAmerica Trail ride, known as Bikecentennial. We finally got rolling outta town around 1pm. The ride terrain was easy, first on a bike path back to Lolo, then a gradual incline up to the hot springs. Very scenic and little traffic. Everyone enjoyed dinner at the Jack’s Saloon, a long-standing bar/restaurant with much local memorabilia. 🧚🏻

Lolo Hot Springs Campground
Look at dat rock!!🪨 🎸🤘

9/16 Lolo Hot Springs to Wilderness Gateway campground

WELCOME TO IDAHO!! We rode entirely through USFS land, a real treat! The restauran …

9/6-9/12 Lander WY-> Wisdom, MT 💖

9/6 Lander to Dubois, WY

We started the day feeling weary from two long and windy riding days. It didn’t help that we had a hilly road ahead. At least the scenery was more interesting, colorful canyons and roving rivers. This is the heart of Wyoming’s bighorn sheep territory, but we couldn’t find one 😔 Dubois has a simple church hostel that provided respite from a rainy night. 

Crowheart, WY 🐦‍⬛ ❤️ 🫀

On the road to Dubois (pronounced the American way lol)

The church!

9/7 Dubois to Colter Bay Village (Grand Teton NP)
A cold and windy start, the hardest first 20 miles we’ve had all summer. We kept our heads down and just kept spinning. Eventually we started up Togwotee Pass, a 10 mile climb up to almost 10,000 ft above sea level (second highest peak on the trail). At the top, there wasn’t much of a view, but a nice pond where we found Curt fishing. The sharp peaks of the Tetons came into view on the long descent. We went through a small valley, then into Grand Teton National Park. The campground was busy even though it was past peak season, we were lucky to get a good site. 

Bike crew proving on road support for some muddy cleats that were blocking the clip in system. He’ll be available for hire next summer.

🧚🏻

😮‍💨😮🫨😍

9/8 Colter Bay Village to Madison Campground (Yellowstone NP)
It dipped below freezing overnight 🥶  it was hard to get out of our sleeping bags in the morning. The camp restaurant breakfast buffet saved the day 😁 We didn’t have wind to battle like yesterday, but lots of climbing plus unrelenting tourist traffic. We saw a lone bison as we rode by Old Faithful, didn’t stop for the geyser as we were losing daylight. Another late finish, we were lucky to have Curt chef up his famous Top Ramen to refuel before another cold night camping. 

9/9 Rest day in Yellowstone
Took an off day to see the sites – Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic, and countless other springs and geysers. 

To many wonderful photos from Yosemite to choose from so here’s one of hogan looking badass.

Us eating our grub

9/10 Yellowstone (WY) to Cameron, MT
Biking out of the park and into a new state (Montana!), we were glad to …

8/31-9/5 Alma, CO-> Lander, WY✨

8/31 Fairplay to Kremmling
We resumed our mountain traverse by repeating the stretch from Fairplay to Alma. Much easier the second time because we knew the conditions and Monday traffic much lighter. After Alma, we climbed up to Hoosiers Pass, the highest elevation on the TransAm. After pics at the top, we descended into Breckenridge, which wasn’t so fun for Hogan- freezing cold, busy traffic, rough road. Grace had fun though! The next 20 miles after Breckenridge were on bike paths. Very pretty area, we’ll definitely be back. In Silverthorne, we ran into a bikepacker going from Vancouver to Argentina! On the way, we rode around the Green Mountain Reservoir which was beautiful!

Dillon Reservoir Recreation Area
Aka bike path galore

Practicing the art of fly fishing. No fish were caught or harmed.
(Blue River outside of Silverthorne)

Heeney Rd on Green Mountain Reservoir
(We got to bike over a damn!)

9/1 Kremmling to Walden
Another big riding day going north through the Rockies. This is a quieter area of Colorado, much less stressful than South Park but still beautiful. We stopped at a convenience store (the only one on the day’s route) for food. The cashier, Amber, completed the TransAm three years ago and then came back to Colorado because she fell in love with a local! The bulk of the ride was through Arapahoe National Forest, west of Rocky Mountain National Park. It was slow going, with frequent stops to put rain gear on or take it off. Once over Willow Creek Pass, we entered North Park and enjoyed gradual downhill plus tailwinds for a brisk finish. Walden is a small isolated town, a mix of local ranchers and visiting fishermen and motorcyclers.

Byers Canyon
-Colorado River (around the corner from
Hot Sulphur Springs)

Curt fishing on Willow Creek in the Rabbit Ears Range. We spotted him along our bike route!

Another continental divide. Which trail are we on? Haha

Biking through Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge

9/2 Walden, CO to Saratoga, WY
With the wind at our backs, we booked it out of Colorado and quickly crossed into Wyoming. Immediately, the road quality improved (yay!) but the wind became fierce (boo …

8/23-8/29. Leoti, Kansas->Alma, COLORADO!! Wooohooo!!🥳

8/23 Leoti, KS to Eads, CO
Another 80 miler with fickle wind, making it a tad more difficult than the previous day 🙂 We woke up at 4:30am to thunderstorms, no bueno in wide open Kansas. We waited out the storm at the town gas station and chatted with its very nice employees. This was one of the most desolate stretches of the route. Millet and wheat fields, wind farms, grain elevators as far as the eye could see. As we entered Colorado we ran into more eastbounders and exchanged tips. We then saw a derailed train alongside the road, that was cool as we read about it in the news when it happened in 2025. Eads itself was very small, but we got a nice hotel and had solid Mexican food for dinner. 
🥘

8/24 Eads to Ordway
We only biked 62 miles today, so we “slept in” til 5:30! The ride started with slight headwind and incline, but then both the wind and the slope changed and we cruised the last 40 miles easy peasy. The scenery was even more desolate than yesterday. No convenience stores, no restaurants, hardly even farms. Just lots of open land with occasional cows. 🐮 Fortunately we had our support car to drive post-ride to pizza in Rocky Ford for dinner. 
🍽️

8/25 Ordway to Pueblo
Fewer miles but the hilliest it’s been since Missouri! Just like the previous day, the wind started against us but eventually switched in our favor! However, the roads were bumpy and busy. 🙄  In Pueblo, we navigated to a creek with a nice multi-use trail, which we rode a few miles north to the hotel. We spent the afternoon exploring downtown with Curt and Mary, including the historic train station and the local drum circle 🥁 🪘 Pueblo is a cool city! 

8/26 Pueblo to Cañon City
Started the day with some urban riding, very unusual for the TransAm. We saw cool houses and parks, then got out of the city and immediately started climbing the foothills of the Rockies. Weirdly, we went up up up, then down down down into Cañon City. Waved hello to El Chapo as we went by ADX Florence. We checked out downtown Cañon City which has cool historic buildings, jail, and businesses. 

8/27 Cañon City to Guffey
Highway 50 out of Cañon City w …

8/19-8/22 Newton -> Leoti, Kansas!!!

8/19 Newton to Hutchinson🧚🏽‍♂️

Took an easier day and rode 32 miles to Hutchinson. Hutchinson is not technically on the TransAm, but it’s a popular detour because it has a great church-run hostel that’s been around over 40 years! Good thing there’s a bike shop too because three miles into the ride, Hogan’s shifter cable snapped so he couldn’t change gears and had to ride like that. Hogan was having a great bike day because then 25 miles in, he got a flat rear tire (first of the trip!). In keeping with the theme, we tried to go to the salt museum in Hutchinson and arrived just minutes after they closed admissions. We still had fun playing games at the local bird-themed brewery!

😮‍💨😬

😱

😍

😇

8/20 Hutchinson to Great Bend 🦒
Our first foggy morning 🌫️ In the first town outside of Hutch, there was a B&B with exotic animals (camels, buffalo, giraffes, and more). Then we went through the Quivara Wildlife Refuge with salt marshes and lots of cool birds. Great Bend was another good size town with good food and a very nice Super 8.

😄

🐂🦒

🚲

🪧

🙏

😊

8/21 Great Bend to Ness City
Started on a good note with a filling hotel breakfast even though we were 30 minutes early. Somewhat slow start as we adjusted bikes in Great Bend, but once we got on Route 96, we were cruising at 15+ mph. Even over the Flint Hills, we kept pace and felt good. We stopped at a convenience store in the middle of nowhere for lunch and met friendly locals. We found a cheap airbnb in Ness City, an entire house with five bedrooms! Enjoyed an afternoon at the county museum and mead distillery.

🤔

8/22 Ness City to Leoti 🌻
80 miles with a tailwind! It was a breeze until the heat kicked in around noon. Rode on Route 96 all day, which got busy sometimes but mostly had a shoulder. Ate quick lunches at gas stations so we could maximize time on the bike while the wind was strong. We originally planned 53 miles to Scott City, but decided to go further because of the tailwind. We ran into two eastbounders with good vibes despite the headwind. Finished the day feeling good and excited to reach Colorado the next day. Thank you Kansas!

🚲

🌼

🚌

Ma …

8/14-8/18! Springfield, MO->Newton, KANSAS!!!!

Forgot to post the maps—whoops! Check our highlight reals for da map of this segment!

8/14 – Springfield to Ash Grove

Started our first ride back on the Frisco Highline Trail out of Springfield. It’s technically not part of the TransAm, but we needed to get on route from Springfield and it was perfect for that. Many cobwebs🕸️ but no cars! From the trail, we got back onto rural Missouri roads. Short mileage day to ease back into our saddles. It was also 100 degrees. 🥵 To beat the heat we met up with Grace’s parents in the afternoon and went to see the new Spiderman movie. We checked out Springfield’s downtown after!! Did you know Springfield has its own version of cashew chicken?? Grace thought it was just okay.

Mama Loca’s Cafe and Cantina in Ash Grove, MO
We ran into the phenomenal @smith5.brakingcycles here!

Cool art

Accommodations in Ash Grove. Thank you to the town!

8/15 Ash Grove, MO to Pittsburg, KS

Our final day in Missouri was flat and uneventful. The fields of corn, soy, and cows were getting bigger and bigger as we approached Kansas. Then we crossed the border and found ourselves in a city of 20,000 – not what we expected! Surprisingly good Chinese food out here.

Cooky’s Cafe in Golden City, MO

Hogan’s fashion malfunction. Adorable!!

Kansas.

Kansas camel! 🐪

8/16 Pittsburg to Chanute KS
Another hot hot day, so we started early and got to the motel by noon. The scenery was again farms, farms, farms, with the addition of small oil pumpjacks. Chanute is named after Octave Chanute, a mentor to the Wright brothers.

Great yard for goats. Huge potential here.

Girard, KS

8/17 Chanute to Eureka
Longest day yet – 72 miles! Not too hard thanks to flat roads, little traffic, and clouds to keep us cool. In Eureka, we met some Eastbound cyclists in the park (@spoke_n_mirrors ) and got milkshakes at the local drive-in restaurant.

Kansas field.

Kansas down hill

Family made an appearance

8/18 Eureka to Newton
Hogan got confused by the maps today and thought we’d be riding 60 miles; turned out to be our longest yet at 77 😬 We still had a great day! The landscape changed from more lush, g …

7/28-7/30 Farmington, MO->Hartville, MO 🌸🌳🏞️

Map

7/28 – Farmington to Ellington
Day 3 of a heatwave!!! Lucky for us we had cloud cover for most of the day. Muggy, but bikeable! One of our highest mileage days at 66 miles. It was hilly but had some great flat parts which helped us make good time 😊

Leaving Farmington, we ran into an eastbound rider, Tim!

After pedaling our hearts out through long but FUN hills, we met up with Grace’s Dad and got an early dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Ellington!

Us being strong.

Bald eagle flew overhead for a good 2 minutes!

Favorite snack

A road in the ozarks

7/29 – Ellington to Summersville

Very hilly, very pretty. 10/10 would go back. We crossed into the heart of the Ozarks, through the town of Eminence, and past a few springs that the area is known for. Alley Springs looked like a scene from a Disney movie!

Overall, we enjoyed biking through the Mark Twain National Forest and the Ozark’s National Scenic Riverway!

We completed our day and rolled into Summersville, set up at the Rusty Gate Inn, and went for a swim at North Fork River which was beautiful!!!! Grace and her Dad then closed out the night with an episode of the new little house on the prairie (hogan has still not seen the original 😮!)

Hogan was very happy.

This is Alley Spring!

Nice road

North fork river!

Gas station foodz

Dog

7/30 – Summersville to Hartville
61 mile day, but flatter than the past days. The middle of the ride was through the Ozark Plateau, where the hills are smaller. 
Worst day yet in terms of drivers. We got coal rolled several times between Summersville and Houston😑. A positive however, was the Corner Cafe in Houston. Great açaí bowls!

The views were surreal, mostly quiet roads, lots of pasture.

Cafe

Inside of cafe

Look at that DOWNHILL!

7/31 – Rest Day! Springfield->Kansas City->Seattle ✈️

All packed and ready for our 2 week break for Charissa’s wedding!!! We stored our bikes at a local Springfield bike shop and they conveniently got a full check up in our absence! …

7/21-7/27!!!! Utica, KY to Farmington, MO
feat. Peanut butter as our cover model

Our route 🙂

7/21 – Utica to Clay
After another lovely meal with Mary, we set out for the city of Clay, located in the Ohio River Valley. Just 1 mile in, we ran into Dale from Oregon, our first east-bound trans am rider! 🚲 We rode rolling hills to Sebree, KY and took an extended lunch at Subway (sponsor us?) to escape the sun. We were blessed with an early afternoon thunderstorm, which cooled things down for a couple hours.

But cooler temps didn’t last and we spent the brutal final hour in a hot sea of corn with full sun. Shoutout to the First Baptist Church in downtown Clay who graciously allowed us to stay in their air conditioned rec hall WITH SHOWERS!!

This is the rec hall 🥰😍

7/22 – Clay, KY to Cave in Rock, IL
This was one of our longest days at 62 miles, the terrain was forgiving thankfully! We got an early start and ran into our second eastbound cyclist Jessica @americas_roadbed around 10 miles in. Making good time, we ate at a splendid gas station in Sturgis before crossing the Ohio River into Illinois. Due to unpredictable gravel trucks on Rt.1 (thank you for the heads up jessica!) we grew weary and detoured off-route onto a rough and hilly gravel road. Proud of ourselves, we pulled into the state park around 4pm, set up camp, took spicket showers, and then ate great grub at the parks restaurant and took a quick walk to see THE cave in rock! 

7/23 – Cave in Rock to Eddyville
We originally planned to take a zero day today (0 miles), but with the nice weather and hilly terrain in southern IL, we figured it was better to bike shorter mileage for a couple days. We allowed ourselves to sleep in until 7 (!) AND got breakfast at the park restaurant. A couple hours in, we stopped in Elizabethtown for ice cream since several people have mentioned it.

By noon, the sun was intense so we took frequent and longer breaks. On the biggest hill of the day, a dog with no collar started running with us and followed for nearly a mile. Grace named him Peanut Butter and was ready to claim him as ours, but he eventually disappeared. Eddyville was another small town with one resta …

7/13-7/20 🙂
Kentucky!!
Wheelwright->Utica

(Swipe for more details if interested!!!! We’re having a blast)

7/13-Wheelwright to Hazard
Recovery night at a motel in Pikeville in celebration of handling the storm with grace. It was nice to dry everything out 🙂 our support vehicle man Craig dropped us off back on the trail the next morning. Thank you Craig! We kept on trucking through hilly steep terrain through Kentucky coal country—fortunately few coal trucks on the road for us. After lunch, a retired school bus driver tried to recruit us to drive buses for the local school district, or at least come to their potluck in October! 🙂 It seems we always like to arrive at our destination during rush hour? Making it a more spicy experience. 🌶️ Craig picked us up for showers and then dinner at a Chinese buffet (not as great as NJ Chinese buffets per Craig but still🔥). Appreciated the secluded campsite at the county park in Hazard.

7/14-Hazard to Booneville to Berea
“Dog days of summer”
We started another hilly day testing the local dog packs’ fear of our air horns. Got through unscathed but Hogan wished he also brought pepper spray as a backup. Around noon, we ran into a church volunteer group building a house and exchanged stories for snacks! The hills tested our legs, but we were rewarded with cool rocks along the roads and some overlooks as well. Unfortunately, our original destination for the night (a Methodist church) was undergoing renovations that hurt our respiratory systems and our eyes, so we hitched a ride to Berea with Craig and joined him at the American Elite Motel (a gem!)

7/15- Berea rest day 
After 9 days of riding, pwe decided it was time for a rest day. We hopped in Craig’s car and drove down to hike Dog Slaughter Falls Trail in the Daniel Boone National Forest. We all loved lunch in Corbin at the birth place of KFC (also a great museum!) We then explored Berea and the college in the evening which was delightful.

7/16- Berea to Harrodsburg
The mountains finally turned to hills this morning! We came across an unexpected food truck in the middle of farmland and dined on a second breakfast to grace’s delight! However, it turned out to be anothe …

7/6-7/12 -> Roanoke to Wheelwright ✨

What a crazy week! On the 6th we started off with the Catawba Gap, which was our biggest climb at that point. We ended our day in Blacksburg and checked out Virginia Tech’s campus. Saw some cool thunder!

(Side note: Trying out the new Instagram feature with multiple captions. Swipe for more details about each day ✨😋)

➡️🚴🏼‍♂️✨🐢

The 7th was our longest day yet. It was hot. It was hilly. Hogan underestimated the mileage. However, the breakfast that morning slapped, we ate lunch outside a Methodist church and chatted with some very nice locals, saved a turtle🐢, were brave as the road traffic grew exponentially, and then closed out the day with dinner in Wytheville with hogans parents in a log cabin built in 1776!

➡️🚴🏼‍♂️✨

7/8 – Wytheville to Damascus
We got to bike through Mount Roger’s National Recreation Area and it was stunning! Beautiful forests with rhododendrons everywhere. Lots of hills—but what goes up MUST come down. It was glorious!

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7/9 – Damascus to Abingdon
Hogan called it a rest day but Grace called it her destiny. We started the day with 10 miles downhill, then shopped for bike gear, and then RODE the 2014 Rail Trail HALL OF FAME Virginia Creeper Trail basically straight to our hotel. It was one of graces highlights!

➡️🚴🏼‍♂️✨

➡️🚴🏼‍♂️✨

7/10 – Abingdon to Honaker
This was the day Hogans dear parents left to return home. We missed them terribly! We took our fully fully loaded bikes to Hayters Gap where we saw cool cliffs and tacked the gap. The weather was hot but rainy! There was some drama getting into Honaker—the road was extremely busy, no shoulder, and a big big hill. We decided to take a long detour and ended up on a beautiful winding riverside road and were able to complete the same elevation climb WITHOUT putting our lives on the line. We then ate some good grub at The Food Dude, with a chatty bunch of locals keeping us company. It was so good (and one of the only places) that we had to go back for breakfast.

➡️🚴🏼‍♂️✨

➡️🚴🏼‍♂️✨

7/11 – Honaker to Breaks
Breakfast was great—our waitress was the kindest and swore she met us before. Perhaps in anothe …

7/1-7/5- Charlottesville to Roanoke!

Heat waves, repurposed train tunnel in Afton, scenic scenery. 10/10 still recommend. This has been a fantastic part of the Trans America biking trail :,)

Hogans highlights:
•the blue ridge parkway
•impressed by the repurposed mill in Waynesboro”
•Roanoke had great bike lanes and a cool bike store (great bike culture!!)
Graces highlights:
•waking up before the sunrise to beat the heat!
•exploring Roanoke (she could live there!)
•having a rest day and being able to watch a TV show all by herself …

6/28-6/30: Charles City to Charlottesville!

Great first few days riding on the costal plains and then up to more hilly territory. Nice people, great farms, incredible vibes ✨ 10/10 recommend riding bikes in VA.

graces takes: “I am going to get goats one day”
hogans takes: “I liked the coleslaw we had on day two” …

Yesterday was DAY ONE🌟 50 miles, a little bit of cloud cover, and many excellent views 🙂 Most of this ride was done on the Virginia Capital Trail and we highly recommend! Lots of history, lots of plaques, lots of sunblock ✨
📍 Yorktown->Charles City, VA

Grace is tech challenged and doesn’t know how that song got added to this post. Please disregard haha! …

Quick 10 miler on our busy Tuesday this week!
Shoutout to the palace diner for the fuel⚡️ …

gr8 40 miler down in mass post snail mail concert 🐌

10/10 recommend biking this route! Silly little coincidence—it was patriots day weekend 🙂 …

Matchy Matchy! The view is so good we threw in another angle💚 ☺️

Swipe to see our fun rides we got in this week. …