In April of 2022 I set off on a bikepacking adventure following the TransAmerica Bike Trail starting in Virginia and ending in Oregon, here are clips from my travels.
Evidently we were on the Trail at the same time. I left North Carolina on April 11 and rode northwest to catch the TransAm Trail in Troutville, VA. I arrived in Astoria around the first of July and then rode north to my son’s house in Olympia, Washington. My wife flew in to meet me there. We took the train home three weeks later. Thanks for the post.
Hello Emmett, and congratulations on you're becoming a member of an elite group, the Coast to Coast Cyclist. At age 62, pedaled C2C in 2014, from New Hampshire to Oregon. Your video brought back a lot of great memories (and a reminder of a couple of painful times) and I thank you for such a great presentation as you've made. Doing a coast to coast tour is not easy and it takes a certain kind of person with the right kind of attitude. One has to remember it's a tour, not a race. And sometimes stuff happens that you have to adapt to. But every bend in the road brings something unique and special. Many have started and given up but you did it! And life will never be the same for in the middle of winter you'll find yourself staring out the window, and plotting your next voyage. Congrats again. Thanks for the video. Bob
Thanks for the video. I did the original Bikecentennial trip in 1976 when I was 18. We did East to West also. It amazes me that I can remember some of the sights and roads in your video better than I can remember what I did last week. This trip will always be with you....and that is a very good thing!
Another C2Cer here, I also did the Bikecentennial trail, only unlike Kieth I went west to east in 1976 when I was 24. Myself and a small group of Aussies came over for it, it was my first overseas trip. What a grand adventure it was, and one of many more such adventures I did in the following years.
Congrats Emmet on completing the TransAmerican; I completed 3000 miles of it in '21 and the remaining 1000 miles in '22 (I finished in mud-June a few weeks ahead of you). Your video compilation was really well done and brought back a bunch of memories for me. You should be very proud of your accomplishment. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Emmett. I was a week behind you going westbound too! I hope you missed those headwinds in Wyoming and the floods in yellow stone. The trail never ends, keep cycling
I cycled this (tried to...) in 2019. Had to take a detour with a pickup after I hurt my knee in the Appalachians. Seeing the first minutes of your video brought tears to my eyes. Although it was such a painful experience for me (physical) I never felt so free in my life... Thanks for bringing back that feeling. Will definitely watch the complete video later.
Congratulations Emmet on your ride - great video. Good to see the church at Jeffrey City - your comment about headwinds made me smile! We were the only two staying that night - I was heading eastbound, and the following day my ride to Rawlins was the toughest of the whole trip. Blasted by 50 mph winds with nowhere to shelter, just so tough but happy memories. Keep riding and once again, huge congratulations to you.
Wonderful ride! Those open spaces really make you wonder what the heck am I doing! I did Boston-Key West in 2019 and Boston-San Diego in 2021. 65now so am probably finished with such long rides! Tough coming home to a brownstone in downtown Boston after so many nights stealth camping…didn’t leave my home for several days trying to adjust. Have a wonderful life. Andrew
Beautiful. Nice to see a westbound video. Lots of familiar sights and in the correct order. I started in mid-May of 2022 at Yorktown and finished in early August in Astoria. A few random thoughts from the video: 1) Had to laugh when I saw the Four Pines hostel. I did the AT in 2017 and it was known as the Four Smokes; very 420 friendly if that's your thing. 2) I had plenty of dog issues, but yours looked worse. I just stopped in most cases unless I had a full head of steam. 3) That bike path in Pueblo was one of my favorites. 4) I cheated over Hoosier - my sister lives in Colorado and she took my gear over the pass. 5) Spoken Wheel hostess went to HS with my GF. 6) I had one flat the entire trip and in happened in Lander between motels when I had to take a zero due to illness and first motel being sold out second night. Tire liners! 7) Congrats on a monumental ride!
Emmett, nice job with the video. I did the trail in 1987 and I wish I had a video camera back then. Your video brought back so many memories! Some of the places have not changed! I went with a group back then and found that the hardest part was the psychology, not the physical part. Everyone who hasn't done anything like this thinks that it's the physical part that's hard , but it isn't...not really. After a while you get used to it. But the psychological challenge is a killer. I sometimes wanted to just stop and go home. Luckily I was with a group, which made it easier to stick with it. When I see someone do it alone, like you, I see something special. I don't know what it is but you have something -- some kind of mental strength -- that a lot of people don't. Hopefully it will serve you well for the rest of your life. Congratulations!
This is a great word of encouragement... not only to Emmett but also to others. I am 66 years old and planning to... at last... make the journey that I have wanted to do for 50 years. It is hard getting back into condition after being off my bike for over ten years. Some days I want to give up before I even start. But I won't. Your word of encouragement confirms that. Thank you!
The before and after pic is wild. I did the southern tour 17'. Thinking about trying the Northern. Before time runs out or wait next year. Also crossing my mind to HIKE the PCT. 6 month journey/ $1k/month, so they say.
Thanks for the video Emmett! I am planning to make this journey next year. Seeing all the incredible sights makes me want to start tomorrow even though I am totally not prepared physically. Great encouragement to me to keep training and keep preparing even when it is hard and seems impossible.
Good luck on your adventure next year! I wasn't physically prepared when I went either and I'm not sure you can totally mentally prepare for what you'll experience but you will surprise yourself once you get going.
I’m sure there’s ways around it but I think the path laid out by Adventure Cycling only leads to a ferry across the Ohio river. The trail also leads to a bridge over the Mississippi which is narrow, busy and full of potholes. However, you can call the local police to escort you over which made the crossing much more enjoyable and safe.
In my opinion, both have advantages and disadvantages. I found myself, mostly pedaling into the winds going east to west once I hit Kansas. But people going west to east have to start later in the season since many Oregon mountain roads are covered in snow when I was able to started in April. I think terrain should also play part in deciding your direction, east coast has the Appalachian mountains which were a rollercoaster of elevation changes vs the west coast having the Rockies which was a steep but smooth climb. I enjoyed cutting my teeth on the Appalachian's because I knew I could handle the rockies later.
@@squincee thanks... its my dream cycle. I'm hoping to hit the road in May. I'm from Scotland. training starts next month. I seen the difference in your physical appearance, before and after. Hopefully I can pick up a ride buddy.. thanks again....
Hi. Is this route all road? Or is some gravel? Also do you think 700x25 tires are ok for this route? Trying to decide if I can do this on my road bike which won’t hold larger tires .
Hi! The trail is 99% all road work, a couple loose gravels here and there when it's the only option; however, the nice thing is that you can modify your trip however you want. There were times when I wanted to avoid hilly roads and found detours or saved miles but cutting corners. For the tires, I don't pretend to know all about bike specs. I learned a lot about what both my bike and I were capable of doing while out there. I only had 2 shifting gears up front and greatly regretted not having a 3rd for the big hills but that also kind of made it more challenging and fun (in hindsight). I started my ride on cheap blackburn 700x35 tires (which got me at least 10 flats) then I switched to 700x35 schwable tires which were great. Both supported the weight fine and tubes were easy to find spare replacements at Walmarts or bike shops along the way. One thing I found (later than I would've like) was a thorn resistant 700c tubes that could've saved me a few early punctures. All-in-all I would say this is the number 1 area to not cheap out on. Pretty much any bike can handle the trip and your bags just need to not have holes in them but despite being paved roads there's a lot of junk and debris on the sides which can pop a cheap tire or tube which is the worst feeling while out there since it literally stops your trip. Hope this helps and enjoy your ride!!
@@squincee thank you for the explanation. This greatly helps. I have a 2x up front but it’s compact herring. As for here I’m looking at carting 5-8lbs total. So weight should not be an issue. However my bike can only take a 25mm tire so that is worrisome. I have a 1x bike but that limits my gearing which sounds like is much needed.
While I enjoyed your adventure, I only saw one half. What I didn’t see was flat tires, broken spokes, riding in the rain, close calls with traffic, riding on empty to find a place to camp/ hotel, out of water etc. You did show us the aftermath of a dog attack. You may not have experienced all the pitfalls I listed, but know it wasn’t all unicorns and rainbows. This is the problem with these hike/ bike videos. They are too sanitized. It shows an unreal expectation to those who dream of these trips. We need to see ALL of the adventure.
I get it. I got lucky on the Pacific bike route a few months ago and only blew one tube and that's it. Nothing but super rad people the whole way down.
I posted my journey across America on my main channel Jarrrod D Florida to California and back. I posted all 270 gigs of footage 4500 in 40 days . I caught high speed front tire blowout, hit by bus ,hit by truck, 9 flats in one day , simi tire exploding beside me at speed . I posted everything 😊 Going again next year 😅 I added a motor to the bicycle because I found that all the peddling kept ruining my adventures 😮 I also talk in my videos
Real nice video, and music for a change. I still think that is a horrible boring route. No wonder so many get depressed. LOL. Headwinds are FAR worse than any hill climb. Luckily I only had one on the second day of my second tour. But I got it back on the second last day, 27 mph. LOL. That trip I went 3,900 miles in 98 days, thru AB, BC, WA, OR, ID, BC, AB home. I had trouble with flats from goat thorns and a stupid staple cartridge totaled my getting old front tire in Kennewick. But your bike, I HATE those sloped half frame bikes. Sick joke they are. My custom has an awesome Rohloff14 with ZERO problems. Same with my SA XL-FDD dyno drum brake that's done 30,000 miles. I did zero camping on either trip. So I went thru all the big cities. My first trip was going backwards UP Vietnam, then China towards Chengdu.
Evidently we were on the Trail at the same time. I left North Carolina on April 11 and rode northwest to catch the TransAm Trail in Troutville, VA. I arrived in Astoria around the first of July and then rode north to my son’s house in Olympia, Washington. My wife flew in to meet me there. We took the train home three weeks later. Thanks for the post.
Good job! Thanks for taking the time and effort to put that together. It was a pleasure to watch.
I live in Ky and have ridden much of the trail thru Kentucky. This was an Awesome video!! Well done!
I loved your video. Inspirational. I would love to ride the same route, from E to W, one day:)!
Hello Emmett, and congratulations on you're becoming a member of an elite group, the Coast to Coast Cyclist. At age 62, pedaled C2C in 2014, from New Hampshire to Oregon. Your video brought back a lot of great memories (and a reminder of a couple of painful times) and I thank you for such a great presentation as you've made. Doing a coast to coast tour is not easy and it takes a certain kind of person with the right kind of attitude. One has to remember it's a tour, not a race. And sometimes stuff happens that you have to adapt to. But every bend in the road brings something unique and special. Many have started and given up but you did it! And life will never be the same for in the middle of winter you'll find yourself staring out the window, and plotting your next voyage. Congrats again. Thanks for the video. Bob
Thanks for the video. I did the original Bikecentennial trip in 1976 when I was 18. We did East to West also. It amazes me that I can remember some of the sights and roads in your video better than I can remember what I did last week. This trip will always be with you....and that is a very good thing!
Another C2Cer here, I also did the Bikecentennial trail, only unlike Kieth I went west to east in 1976 when I was 24. Myself and a small group of Aussies came over for it, it was my first overseas trip. What a grand adventure it was, and one of many more such adventures I did in the following years.
Love your video Emmett! So happy to see you visited Pueblo Colorado and lovely parts of the western US. Keep cycling and sharing your adventures.
Excellent!
Congrats Emmet on completing the TransAmerican; I completed 3000 miles of it in '21 and the remaining 1000 miles in '22 (I finished in mud-June a few weeks ahead of you). Your video compilation was really well done and brought back a bunch of memories for me. You should be very proud of your accomplishment. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Emmett. I was a week behind you going westbound too! I hope you missed those headwinds in Wyoming and the floods in yellow stone. The trail never ends, keep cycling
I cycled this (tried to...) in 2019. Had to take a detour with a pickup after I hurt my knee in the Appalachians. Seeing the first minutes of your video brought tears to my eyes. Although it was such a painful experience for me (physical) I never felt so free in my life...
Thanks for bringing back that feeling. Will definitely watch the complete video later.
Congratulations Emmet on your ride - great video. Good to see the church at Jeffrey City - your comment about headwinds made me smile! We were the only two staying that night - I was heading eastbound, and the following day my ride to Rawlins was the toughest of the whole trip. Blasted by 50 mph winds with nowhere to shelter, just so tough but happy memories. Keep riding and once again, huge congratulations to you.
Wonderful ride! Those open spaces really make you wonder what the heck am I doing! I did Boston-Key West in 2019 and Boston-San Diego in 2021. 65now so am probably finished with such long rides! Tough coming home to a brownstone in downtown Boston after so many nights stealth camping…didn’t leave my home for several days trying to adjust. Have a wonderful life. Andrew
Beautiful. Nice to see a westbound video. Lots of familiar sights and in the correct order. I started in mid-May of 2022 at Yorktown and finished in early August in Astoria. A few random thoughts from the video: 1) Had to laugh when I saw the Four Pines hostel. I did the AT in 2017 and it was known as the Four Smokes; very 420 friendly if that's your thing. 2) I had plenty of dog issues, but yours looked worse. I just stopped in most cases unless I had a full head of steam. 3) That bike path in Pueblo was one of my favorites. 4) I cheated over Hoosier - my sister lives in Colorado and she took my gear over the pass. 5) Spoken Wheel hostess went to HS with my GF. 6) I had one flat the entire trip and in happened in Lander between motels when I had to take a zero due to illness and first motel being sold out second night. Tire liners! 7) Congrats on a monumental ride!
Emmett, nice job with the video. I did the trail in 1987 and I wish I had a video camera back then. Your video brought back so many memories! Some of the places have not changed! I went with a group back then and found that the hardest part was the psychology, not the physical part. Everyone who hasn't done anything like this thinks that it's the physical part that's hard , but it isn't...not really. After a while you get used to it. But the psychological challenge is a killer. I sometimes wanted to just stop and go home. Luckily I was with a group, which made it easier to stick with it. When I see someone do it alone, like you, I see something special. I don't know what it is but you have something -- some kind of mental strength -- that a lot of people don't. Hopefully it will serve you well for the rest of your life. Congratulations!
This is a great word of encouragement... not only to Emmett but also to others. I am 66 years old and planning to... at last... make the journey that I have wanted to do for 50 years. It is hard getting back into condition after being off my bike for over ten years. Some days I want to give up before I even start. But I won't. Your word of encouragement confirms that. Thank you!
The before and after pic is wild. I did the southern tour 17'. Thinking about trying the Northern. Before time runs out or wait next year.
Also crossing my mind to HIKE the PCT. 6 month journey/ $1k/month, so they say.
Great video. Enjoyed watching it and hope to do this one day.
So awesome. Very inspiring. Thank you for sharing.
Wow!!! Amazing! Congratulations!!!
Respect - a really great journey - impressions for ever - Greetings from Germany
Loved it!!
Cheers i enjoy a good beer also. Great ride.
Seems to be a great journey. Congratulations and best wishes from Germany
Well done mate you looked so happy!
Thanks for the video Emmett! I am planning to make this journey next year. Seeing all the incredible sights makes me want to start tomorrow even though I am totally not prepared physically. Great encouragement to me to keep training and keep preparing even when it is hard and seems impossible.
Good luck on your adventure next year! I wasn't physically prepared when I went either and I'm not sure you can totally mentally prepare for what you'll experience but you will surprise yourself once you get going.
👌💪
Congrats. Great trip and video would love to do it. Well done from Australia
cool video!
👌💪🙌
Better than Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure 😊
Do you have to take the ferry or can you ride around the water?
I’m sure there’s ways around it but I think the path laid out by Adventure Cycling only leads to a ferry across the Ohio river. The trail also leads to a bridge over the Mississippi which is narrow, busy and full of potholes. However, you can call the local police to escort you over which made the crossing much more enjoyable and safe.
well done buddy. I loved your video. is East to west better, winds etc... or West to East?
Thanks again
In my opinion, both have advantages and disadvantages. I found myself, mostly pedaling into the winds going east to west once I hit Kansas. But people going west to east have to start later in the season since many Oregon mountain roads are covered in snow when I was able to started in April. I think terrain should also play part in deciding your direction, east coast has the Appalachian mountains which were a rollercoaster of elevation changes vs the west coast having the Rockies which was a steep but smooth climb. I enjoyed cutting my teeth on the Appalachian's because I knew I could handle the rockies later.
@@squincee thanks... its my dream cycle. I'm hoping to hit the road in May. I'm from Scotland. training starts next month. I seen the difference in your physical appearance, before and after. Hopefully I can pick up a ride buddy..
thanks again....
Congratulations. What an epic journey.
BTW, what bike did you ride and what tires did you choose?
Loved the video!
It was a polygon heist x2, good sturdy bike with a bunch of features but not the bike I’d take if I did it again
Hi. Is this route all road? Or is some gravel? Also do you think 700x25 tires are ok for this route? Trying to decide if I can do this on my road bike which won’t hold larger tires .
Hi! The trail is 99% all road work, a couple loose gravels here and there when it's the only option; however, the nice thing is that you can modify your trip however you want. There were times when I wanted to avoid hilly roads and found detours or saved miles but cutting corners. For the tires, I don't pretend to know all about bike specs. I learned a lot about what both my bike and I were capable of doing while out there. I only had 2 shifting gears up front and greatly regretted not having a 3rd for the big hills but that also kind of made it more challenging and fun (in hindsight). I started my ride on cheap blackburn 700x35 tires (which got me at least 10 flats) then I switched to 700x35 schwable tires which were great. Both supported the weight fine and tubes were easy to find spare replacements at Walmarts or bike shops along the way. One thing I found (later than I would've like) was a thorn resistant 700c tubes that could've saved me a few early punctures. All-in-all I would say this is the number 1 area to not cheap out on. Pretty much any bike can handle the trip and your bags just need to not have holes in them but despite being paved roads there's a lot of junk and debris on the sides which can pop a cheap tire or tube which is the worst feeling while out there since it literally stops your trip. Hope this helps and enjoy your ride!!
@@squincee thank you for the explanation. This greatly helps. I have a 2x up front but it’s compact herring. As for here I’m looking at carting 5-8lbs total. So weight should not be an issue.
However my bike can only take a 25mm tire so that is worrisome. I have a 1x bike but that limits my gearing which sounds like is much needed.
What are you doing this year? 2024?
While I enjoyed your adventure, I only saw one half. What I didn’t see was flat tires, broken spokes, riding in the rain, close calls with traffic, riding on empty to find a place to camp/ hotel, out of water etc. You did show us the aftermath of a dog attack. You may not have experienced all the pitfalls I listed, but know it wasn’t all unicorns and rainbows. This is the problem with these hike/ bike videos. They are too sanitized. It shows an unreal expectation to those who dream of these trips. We need to see ALL of the adventure.
I get it.
I got lucky on the Pacific bike route a few months ago and only blew one tube and that's it.
Nothing but super rad people the whole way down.
I posted my journey across America on my main channel Jarrrod D Florida to California and back. I posted all 270 gigs of footage 4500 in 40 days .
I caught high speed front tire blowout, hit by bus ,hit by truck, 9 flats in one day , simi tire exploding beside me at speed . I posted everything 😊
Going again next year 😅
I added a motor to the bicycle because I found that all the peddling kept ruining my adventures 😮
I also talk in my videos
Real nice video, and music for a change. I still think that is a horrible boring route. No wonder so many get depressed. LOL. Headwinds are FAR worse than any hill climb. Luckily I only had one on the second day of my second tour. But I got it back on the second last day, 27 mph. LOL.
That trip I went 3,900 miles in 98 days, thru AB, BC, WA, OR, ID, BC, AB home. I had trouble with flats from goat thorns and a stupid staple cartridge totaled my getting old front tire in Kennewick.
But your bike, I HATE those sloped half frame bikes. Sick joke they are. My custom has an awesome Rohloff14 with ZERO problems. Same with my SA XL-FDD dyno drum brake that's done 30,000 miles. I did zero camping on either trip. So I went thru all the big cities. My first trip was going backwards UP Vietnam, then China towards Chengdu.