36 Days Biking Across America (start to finish)

This is the full story of how we rode all the way across the United States of America on this three seater bike. The 3,000 mile route we've chosen to follow starts at the Pacific Ocean in Oceanside, California, and ends at the Atlantic Ocean in Annapolis, Maryland.

We're breaking the speed limit.

Our team for this adventure consists of me and Nate, Nate's brother Dusty and his wife Sarah. Our friends Rick and Beck, and their two awesome kids, Evie and Frankie. We all have vans that we'll be living out of for the whole journey and we'll be alternating between riding the bike and driving the vans all the way across the country. So it's kind of like a relay. Over the last three years, we've accidentally created the tradition of doing an epic bike ride with this crew. In 2020, we spent two weeks mountain biking across Colorado on the Colorado Trail. In 2021, we rode tandems across Iowa in an event called Ragbrai. Trust me, it's way more fun than it sounds. And last year, we spent the week gravel biking across Tuscany. This year's ride is six times longer than any other ride we've ever attempted, making it by far our most ambitious challenge yet.

We're stuck on the side of the road.

To make it even more challenging, we've done no training. Ready.

You can tell we're serious cyclists by the gear we have. It's just top of the line stuff.

We only have a little over a month to complete this journey, meaning we need need to average 100 miles a day for the next 30 days. Spoiler alert. That didn't happen. Like any great adventure, this one has no shortage of highs and lows.

It's hard.

Our journey is full of breakdowns, both mentally and physically. No apparent signs of blood from up here.

This is so fun. I love biking across America.

The next month definitely isn't going to be easy. But nothing gets us more excited than working towards a crazy goal with people we love. And hopefully we'll come out the other side better people than we were before. So buckle up and join us as we ride through the steep hills of California, the deserts of Arizona and Utah, and over the mountains of Colorado, through winds in Kansas.

I am so terrified for everyone on the bike right now.

Roadkill in Missouri. Oh, I can taste it. Peak fall in Illinois and Indiana and the rain in Ohio. We're showering up the car wash. And finally, as our bike is full falling apart.

This is what our brains sound like going downhill. Oh, my gosh.

Our mad dash through the freezing cold weather in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland to the finish line.

We're going to do this even if I have to walk all the way to Annapolis.

It's going to be a miracle we make it.

Well, this might be the end.

My only pair of socks. Sorry. All right, we've got the whole team back together. We are about to dip the back tire of the trandom in the Pacific Ocean. And hopefully 30 days from now, we'll be dipping the front tire in the Atlantic.

Whoo.

Let the bike trip begin.

Where did that wave come from? What happened? Matt did. This is our mascot for the trip. This is Mav.

Let's.

It felt lame to only dip the bike. Oh, I got soaked. My sandies are. All right, let's do it. Let's do it.

We got it.

Dusty.

Sarah, let's do it.

Okay, now let the bike trip officially begin. Don't mind me. Just walking through a parking lot, talking to myself on the camera in my underwear. It is 9:05am the first morning of the trip. Probably the most concerning thing is that we're not on the bikes yet.

We haven't even started, and we're already behind schedule.

I just need to press this red button. I think it's on. Oh, it is?

Are you sure?

Yeah, it says. Oh.

Okay.

Are you ready, Frankie?

Let's. For once, I'm gonna fall asleep.

Honestly, I have done so little research on this trip that I don't even know what to be worried about. So I'm just going into this with ignorant bliss.

All right, today begins the big journey across the country on the bike.

I wouldn't want to be doing anything else over the next month.

I'm excited to just share this with the family.

I'm excited to see how the true, proper team dynamic works. I think it's going to be fun and enjoyable.

Basically, this whole trip is just an excuse to spend one month living out of vans with our best friends. It can't go that wrong. I didn't do my hair. My makings are all messed up. All right, we just met Doug. He's on a one wheel, and he's going to lead us out. He's only 75 years old. Do you think we'll make it? You can do anything you want.

How do we start?

All right, Rick. Try to see you with my life here. 1, 2, 3.

Let's go.

Bye.

Get out of the parking lot. All right. All right, Scoot. Start.

Here we go. So I'm used to to being enormously underprepared, but this feels a little different. Because this is going to be a month, like 35 days straight.

I think we're basically just going to get in shape as we travel across the country.

That's my plan to prepare for this journey. We have not done a lot.

What do we do to pack? Because so we mean training wise, do we do much training? No, Nothing. We did nothing.

All right, we're officially off. We met Doug in the parking lot. He just rode up on his one wheel. Curious about the three seater bike. So the route that we're riding is called the Ram route. Stands for Race Across America. We're gonna follow that route all the way to D.C. and this is my view for the next 30 days of my life. We're riding across America. You think we're gonna make it?

Yeah. She's having triplets. You're on a tug.

There we go. This bike attracts so much attention. We've already made so many friends.

Here we go. I just have way too much energy to be driving right now. Like, I need to get on that bicycle.

What's happening with these gears? I am not lying when I say this is the first time I have been on a bike all year outside of a beach cruiser in Bora Bora. Oh, what have I gotten myself into?

So in the van we have a 42 minute drive until we get to our first, first meetup spot. I think it will take them a lot longer on the bike. So we're probably going to get some groceries. Cuz none of us are very prepared. I'm having a little bit of a hard time accepting the fact that this is the last day for the next month that my body is going to feel normal. Like after today I'm going to be in some kind of pain. Whether it's my butt, my legs, my back, my neck usually starts hurting pretty bad by the end of these trips. Like this is the beginning of struggle in a lot of ways.

But it's also the beginning of one of my life's greatest adventures. It's just such a weird feeling, like balancing all of these emotions and I'm just alone in the car. Like, what a buzz kill. I can't wait to get on that bike.

Doug's decided to go down the super steep, windy part. As if I've ever done anything like this on the trend before. I don't even know if we can do.

I am actually terrified right now.

Hey, we made it.

Nice work, Rick.

Thanks guys.

I was so glad that I'm on the back and I could just slide off when something goes wrong. See You, Doug. Nice to meet you. Keep the rubber side down. Wise words. All right, we've left Doug behind. We are officially on our own.

I feel like Doug is the first of many interesting people we are going to meet on this journey.

It feels real now that we're on the shoulder of a highway.

I got to be honest, I don't love the cars. The tricky thing about being on a tandem is that everybody's feet have to work together. All these pedals are connected. So if Rick and Dusty are pedaling, I have to be pedaling the same speed. They stop pedaling, I have to stop pedaling.

All right, the girls have made it to our meeting spot well before the boys, obviously, so we're gonna go stock up the vans with some food.

We've ended up in an elementary school parking lot.

I mean, we don't look like creepers at all on a triple bike.

Just a bunch of girl men riding a bike together.

Honestly, one of the things I'm most excited about on this trip is the unlimited eating. Zesty may have over shopped just a tad.

Turns out the route's a little harder to navigate than we anticipated. We came from there. It feels like we should be going that way, but the GPS is telling us to go this way.

Now's for the fun part where I get to put all this away in our tiny van. Challenge accepted, y'. All. Let me just show you what I'm working with here. This cabinet is food. This cabinet is food. Actually just got these new little baskets. They still have the tags on them. Obviously, the fridge is full of food. I have also been storing food in the shower. So, yeah, there's not a lot of extra room, but I'm going to do my best.

All right, we might be back on the right track. Also, when I'm really hunched over cranking, this is my view all day.

Chain's fixed. Back on the road.

I don't know why I bought so many of these.

All right.

This is our first big climb of the trip. The road's taking us up there.

Turns out we may should have trained for a ride across America.

This cabinet is like my overflow storage. There. All done.

All right. We have lost the back chain for a second time.

All right. Pedaling a three seater bike up a steep hill is pretty challenging. It just came from down there all the way. We're almost to the top.

I'm following Nate's location on my phone, and their last four miles have been so slow. I'm not sure if they're on a Hill or if they've had technical difficulties. We're just patiently waiting. They'll be here any minute.

All right, our first big downhill. We'll see if the brakes work.

Sounds like they're catching on fire.

There they are.

Just questioning my life choices. And then I saw you guys.

Oh, no. The first leg is finished.

Turns out biking across the US Is going to be hard.

Oh, no.

We'll be lucky if we don't get hit by a car.

One in every ten.

Just come like an inch.

You feel the bike do this?

I'm sorry. It was scary. You're very sweaty.

Yeah, it was hard. It was hard.

That we had this morning. Are gone.

Yeah. They parted just in time for us to climb that hill. Chain fell off three times. We got lost. We ate all our snacks, drank all our water, and we're 1% of the.

Way across the U.S.

There you go, darling.

Thanks.

What are you gonna make me when I get back?

Peanut butter bread.

Stay in that for a couple hours.

Oh, no.

Like, the hill that we climbed is so. No, like the elevation and 100. Today we're gonna do a hill three times. Oh, my God.

Oh, no.

I mean tomorrow. No.

Are we gonna make it?

Not at this pace.

Oh, man.

Yeah, so we're a little bit past this blue line. Just like mile 32, maybe right here. That was about a thousand foot climb and it was really steep. This one is going to be about 2,000ft, and the top of that's another 2,000ft.

This black shirt is way too hot. But I've come prepared this time. I bought this for a joke, but it's turned into one of my favorite shirts.

Also, I figure a little more color might just save us from getting hit by a car. I'm gonna be honest, my body feels like it's ridden 100 miles.

Love you.

Thanks for biking again for us. Good luck.

We'll do our best.

If you don't see us, we're at the casino. One, two, three.

And they're off.

Bye.

Bang, bang. All right. Bang, bang.

All right. Lunch took quite a bit longer than expected. Continue on Lilac Road for one and a half miles. All right, we're heading to the next meetup spot, which just happens to be a casino. It's only in nine miles, but these nine miles are supposedly straight up. We decided that the guys were gonna keep riding this next leg because this road is scary. So as much as I'm ready to get on the bike, get some of this nervous energy out, I'm actually very thankful to be Driving. Hopefully this is just a rough start and it'll be smooth sailing from here. Right. How hard could it be?

This is epic. Unless the brakes give out.

Oh, my gosh. We are driving down a mountain right now. Look at these bears.

Oh, gosh. The shoulder is like a foot wide.

Next we have to climb that.

Just got to the casino and the guys have already passed it. I guess that means they survived that crazy hill and hopefully we see them soon and they didn't fall off the cliff.

That's the road right there. We're slowing down to a crawl. It knew we were coming.

Oh, gosh. I'm just a little worked up right now because I pulled into the casino parking lot to wait for them, and a guy literally tried to open my door asking for a ride. He was not well, and I'm just so thankful that the door was locked. I cannot believe that just happened. Like, I almost had a crazy person in my car.

Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.

This hill is so easy in a car, but so hard looking on a bike. Holy cow. Keep up the good work, guys.

It's not even hot right now, and I'm soaked from head to toe.

This is brutal. I know. Zero shoulder and so steep and curvy. It's only day one and I'm already nervous eating.

How you feeling? It's tiring.

It's. It's a lot of work to balance all the weight of three people. That's definitely something I hadn't really thought about, but, yeah, my shoulders are kind of on fire.

Would you say maybe we should have trained a little bit?

Yeah. I think I could have just done, like, lap pools for four months or even a day would have been more than what we did.

It's looking like we're gonna be riding in the dark all night. One. I'm not complaining. No. I signed up for this, and I'm so happy to be doing it. But the reality is it's hard.

This is a little bit more of a dramatic day one than I was expecting. How beautiful is this view, though? Come on, boys. You can do it. I hear their voices. There they are.

How did you do that? Are you okay?

Oh, my goodness. That was so hard.

There's a campground in 1.4 miles. You want to go all the way? Yeah.

I feel like I'll just wear. I'll just wear both of the flashy things, like a big light up X on my back.

Okay.

You want to make an X?

Yeah, let's do it.

Let's put a light.

Oh, there we Go.

The sun technically sets in 15 minutes. This is the most visible we've been all day. I've got three flashers on.

Look like you work at an airport.

This way, this way, this way.

I am so happy I got those on Amazon the night before we left. And I'm so happy you didn't get hit by a car.

Oh, it's sketch. I'm like, literally completely soaked.

That was a mountain you just climbed with no shoulder. How many times did you almost get hit?

I mean, it's just like once a minute. It's amazing how many strangers have to make the right choice and not hit us for us to make it across America.

Looking good.

Wow.

They were in great spirits. I was definitely panicking more than they were, but, you know, I feel like that was a good lesson. I need to not worry so much about what I can't control. They wanted to keep going, so we're gonna keep going.

Somehow in the dark, I feel the most visible response all day.

I'm so happy right now. The guys lights are so bright.

We're calling it for the day. We're 50 miles in. We're gonna put the bike in the van and then drive it by somewhere to camp. That van is like Mary Poppins bag. I cannot believe that bike fits in it.

Bed slash laundromat. I know it's only day one, but it's an instant ramen kind of night. It doesn't mean I can't make it a little fancy, though. Gotta add my cilantro and green onion. Onions and hot sauce.

M.

Hot.

Here you go, darling.

Thank you.

Dinner of champions.

Good morning. We camped at this incredible viewpoint last night. I'm not sure that you're actually supposed to sleep here, but no one knocked on our door and we got to wake up to this beautiful view, so I'd call that a win. Unfortunately, I think it's raining a little bit this morning. Guess who is not getting hit by a car today.

Watch out, world. I didn't really think through my tank with my crop top. It should be opposite.

But these are my brightest colors.

Good morning, Rick.

Good morning.

How you feel?

I actually feel really good this morning.

That's what I was thinking. I'll say. My knees feel a little jello y and my butt is sore to the touch. But besides that, I'm feeling a bit pretty good. Jesse, how you feel? Like I feel better than expected, but feels a little worse than expected.

Okay, we are heading back to the gas station where we got off the bike last night. So we can restart in the exact same spot.

We aren't cheaters. This crew.

This morning, it's the girls turn to.

Get on the bike, and it's freezing. Why didn't I get to just ride in the beautiful Oceanside sunshine?

I can't believe it's only been a day. It feels like a lifetime ago that we jumped in the Pacific Ocean.

That is correct. Yesterday was long.

Where are y' all riding that thing to? Washington, D.C. no way. We started in Oceanside yesterday. It is so fun how much people love the bike. We're just bringing smiles to people all across America. What's your confidence level, Rick?

I'm just thinking, like, if there was only one of us to raise the children, which one would be better at it long term? And it's like, I feel like Beck is probably the one that we can't afford to lose the most, and I'm sending her off on a trand and that she's just learned to ride in the parking lot before she does an entire day on it. My confidence level, she's pretty good at most things. Call it a six or seven out of ten.

I call it a nine out of ten.

If Rick is saying a six or seven, that means it's really, like, a three.

I can see a lot of shift. Shift.

I won't scream. I promise. I can't promise that.

Do you know what to do if the chain falls off?

Put it back on. Well, it's like we're in the zoo. Oh, I already just screamed. Okay, I won't do it again.

Good luck, girls.

Oh, my God. Oh, shoot. Oh.

Let's go.

They're doing it.

Honestly, I think they started out smoother than we did. And you can definitely see them better than you can see us.

Stop.

No problem.

Honestly, riding a trandom is way trickier than it looks. I did not realize that this would be part of the challenge. I knew that, like, it's harder than a regular bike, but I thought in a lot of ways it would be easier on a tr, but, like, just doing a circle around the gas station was a little tricky. That's all I'm saying. Let's go, girls.

Love you. Have fun.

I got you. Love.

It just started raining.

Woohoo. All right, the girls are cruising. We're going slightly uphill. We've been passed by several cars, and it's not so bad. So far, so good. This road is 100 times less scary than I had envisioned. I'm very proud of us. As long as the cars keep going around. Thank you.

We've only been riding for 45 minutes up a hill, and we've already gone seven miles. And I'd say the girls are crushing it, trying to make eye contact with every driver, smile at them, and wave in hopes that they go around. Hello.

Thank you. This is amazing. It's like all of my nervous anticipation is just coming out in my leg muscles right now.

It feels so good to finally be doing this. We're biking across America. Look at this beautiful lake.

All right, time to go catch up with the girls and see how they're doing. Rick was the one steering the bike yesterday, and I think he's the only one that actually knows how hard it is. And he was pretty concerned for Beck being in the front, which makes me a little nervous since Kara's life is now in Beck's hands. But they were looking good and Beck didn't seem to be too worried.

So there they are.

Wow, they look great.

Here they come.

That was so fast. Yeah. 11 miles. We'll see you in D.C. i'd say we're naturals. How was Was perfect. Like, it was so good. I'm not even tired because all you.

Do is ride down here.

How long have we gone? Like 50 miles.

Yeah.

Reflexes. I pick half. I would say, like five minute. Crowds are men.

12 pieces is serving size. There's 62.

I just feel like we're actually doing it now that I'm on the bike and my skirt. How is this angle?

Bye, girls.

Bye. All right, back on the road, the.

Girls must be feeling good because they've agreed to do another 27 miles. They're doing a 16 mile climb, which should be interesting, and then the biggest descent of the trip so far, which I believe is a 4,000 foot descent over 11 miles. That actually sounds pretty fun.

Oh, my gosh.

I was just about to get on here and celebrate that we were on this wide open, beautiful road. Felt like everybody could see us, we could see them, and all of a sudden, we were going over a bridge and there were two trucks coming towards us. One was overtaking the other and literally was a foot away from hitting us, going like 70 miles per hour. As soon as it passed, our whole bike, like, wobbled from the wind. Thankfully, no one panicked.

Oh, man. One roller coaster.

Oh, man. All right, let's go, girls.

Whoa. This is going to be a massive downhill for them.

We've made it to the top of the hill. Now we get to go down. Wow. Check out the view. Clouds are clearing. We crushed that climb.

We just stopped at a Pull off halfway down the mountain. We're taking in the views and wondering if the girls are going to be okay in this wind.

Check out what we're about to do. Go down this hill and around.

And around some more.

Down, down, down, down, down, down. Somewhere over there.

The only reason I'm not losing this hat right now is because I have my hoodie tied. This is crazy. It feels like I can almost lean into it.

This wind is nuts.

My confidence level, call it a 6 or 7 out of 10.

At one point, Beck wasn't even breaking and the wind was literally slowing us down and almost pushing us over. I don't even know if you can hear me right now. I think it's always like this in this valley because there was a sign at the top that said, caution, win.

We have made it to Borrego Springs. This is where we're going to be waiting on the girls. It's a really funky looking little town. And I might have found the world's largest tennis ball. It's bigger than the van.

We officially made it off the mountain to the town of Borrego Springs. Oh. Our first pedaling in a very long time. Now we're just looking for the boys and they better have lunch ready. This girl is starving.

I just got caught in a mini dust storm and that actually hurts. This is such a funky little town. These metal dinosaur sculptures are giving me Major Route 66 vibes. This is exactly the type of funky stuff that I was hoping to encounter on a bike ride across America.

No way.

How are your hands?

There's muscles that I didn't know I had. That is sore. It was so good.

You got here way faster.

Really? Look at this mountain. That was cuz we stopped like every three minutes just so I could like do this with my hands.

You did it. And you didn't get hit by a car.

I know.

I bet y' all as three girls in spandex got a lot of waves.

Honestly, not as many as I was expecting. I think I was doing most of the waving.

I was about to start online and then they got here 40 minutes sooner than we expected them. But look, I've already got your tofu and avocado wraps laid out. Big time role reversals here.

This is so fun.

All right. I just put all the good stuff on two taco shells.

Frankie Newbie brought back ice cream sandwiches.

We've just been here cooking, cleaning, taking care of the children.

Care.

Cheers.

Cheers.

Yeah. I was like, it's gonna be another hour. At least you're like, we're here.

Could she possibly mean here?

You ready for this?

I'm looking forward to getting back on the bike, but I've been dreading this exact moment all day.

Yeah, something about that second day you can do.

All right.

Okay. That's not.

Not terrible.

Ah.

Bye.

Oh, that hurts. Oh, it's not that bad.

All right, the boys are off. We're going to hang out here for just a little bit longer before driving to the next.

Ow.

Before driving to the next stop. And I'm about to make my favorite cookies because I. Sorry, this is not going well. I'm about to make my favorite cookies because I have been thinking about them for the last two hours on the bike. Wow.

We are cruising. The girls did 40 miles this morning. We're gonna attempt to knock out 60 before the sun set. Rick, what's our speed? 31. 31.

This is crazy fast.

Four ingredients. Number one, ripe bananas. The more rotten, the better. Oats, peanut butter, and most importantly.

Chocolate chips. That's it. That's seriously it. I know it's hard to believe. Also, I can't really ever keep things simple, so I typically add.

Ground flaxseed and hemp seeds because it just takes the health to the next level, and I always over complicate cooking.

I just tucked in back here behind Dusty. We have a strong tailwind. We're going slightly downhill, and the bike is just cruising at 40 miles an hour without any of us pedaling. It's been five minutes since we've turned our feet. This is literally the exact opposite of how we spent yesterday afternoon.

So you don't even measure. You just put everything in a bowl and mush it together until it feels consistent. Cookie dough. And then usually you bake them, but I don't have an oven, so I just put them in the frying pan and add some oats, mix those in.

Then just a few scoops of peanut butter. Mix that in. Finally, as many chocolate chips as you can possibly get. And if you're complicated like me, add in the flax and hemp seeds, add a little bit of sesame oil in a pan, and then I literally don't even put them into dough balls. I just scoop them right onto the pan. That looks so good. I know. This is the tricky part.

We just passed the Republic of Slow Jamistan, whatever that is. That's it. The Republic of Slojamistan. Looks a bit desolate. It is your sultan coming to you live from the consulate of Sloyamastan.

Feels good to be driving the van again. Not gonna lie, my booty is a little bit sore. But wow, today was amazing. I could do today over and over again for the next month. We have an hour drive in the the car to the next meetup spot which is at a Walmart in Brawley.

Why is this. This is just the best. Like this feeling of accomplishment that I have that we crushed our ride this morning. We had a great time all hanging out and then we swapped places. It's just everything I was hoping it would be, but probably better. Okay, that's all I'm going to listen to. Taylor slip now.

We're going through a little bit of a dust storm now.

Check out this layer of sand. Oh, I feel so bad that the guys have to ride through this.

The good news about being on the back of the bike is I can just shut my eyes. I am crunching some sand in between my teeth though.

The guys are absolutely flying. I don't know if it was the tailwind or what. They're literally almost to town. So we gotta hurry and find camp and meet them there.

We have made it to the town of Brawley. This is where we thought we'd probably be stopping for the night. We are 58 miles in, which is further than we went all of yesterday. And we were able to do this in less than three hours. But we still have about an hour until the sun sets. I think we're gonna try to squeeze in 20 more miles after downing some unhealthy snacks.

All right. We have just driven to the desert and the dad should be here any minute. It is still so windy and so sandy. I hope they're okay.

Surfer safety man saves the day again.

What a day.

Nice work team.

80 miles, 120 for the day.

Aside from my butt got sore about 10 miles back and I was like, Dusty, you gotta. Oh dude, I cannot feel my butt.

The hardest I laughed all day was when Dusty first got on the front of the bike. It was so unstable. Rick had his legs out to catch himself. I couldn't breathe. I was laughing so hard, but I was too scared to pick up the camera. We were taking up like it was a two lane road and we were taking up the whole thing.

We were zigzagging across the entire interstate.

And I was just, I was like.

I can't believe he's not crashing. Is that what we did today?

120, 120.

Heck yeah. Wow, that's a good day too.

Wow, we're so good at this safety, man.

Disengage.

Disengage.

I don't know how these works. Disengage cookies.

I have so much sand in my eyes. Wow, that's a lot of cookies. Cookies.

That was crazy.

They're so good.

You love them.

Oh, good.

80 miles in a sandstorm is a long way. What a crazy two days. This is what the first two days are like. I cannot imagine how many memories we're gonna have by the end of this trip.

Ours feels like a lifetime.

What do you want for dinner?

Cookies.

Perfect. What I love so much about this crew is that just over two months ago, one of us had the crazy idea to ride a three seater bicycle across the US and we're doing it. Stay tuned for part two. Like and subscribe this video Part two.

Of who knows how many.

There were supposed to be four. There may be 10. Nice. Gross.

Got it. Good night.

There's so much sand in this bed.

What's yours?

I think I'm 18 and a half. We're all taking measurements of our thigh on the morning of day three. See how big they grow by the end.

Do you mind?

Eighteen and a quarter.

A quarter smaller than me.

I've always had.

And calves.

Last night we camped on the side of the road in the middle of the desert. And today should be a very exciting day if everything goes to plan. Because today we are going to be crossing our first state line from California to Arizona. All right, desert bathroom tour. We do have one in the van, but this is what some of the public toilets look like in the desert. I found this guy crawling underneath my foot.

Oh yeah. I was thinking I could get the Trandom tattoo on my butt since my butt will never be the same. 3, 2, 1, go. Go mommy. Oh yeah.

Uh oh. Uh oh. They're off. What happened?

All right. Day three.

This is the first time it feels like we have a little bit of a routine. The first day was us getting the hang of it. The second day was the girls getting the hang of it. This time we just sent the girls out on their own. They're supposed to be doing about 50 miles and then we're just gonna wait at the halfway point, have some lunch, then we'll get on the bike.

My butt and my legs feel shockingly okay after our 40 mile day yesterday. It's a beautiful morning. We're riding through these epic sand dunes. Who knew there were sand dunes like this in California?

Well, we made it a grand total of 10 minutes down the road before we had to stop and play in the sand dunes.

Go, go.

17 miles in. Feeling strong now it's Snack time. I have no idea how long this southwest snack mix has been in my backpack, but very happy to have it today.

So this could be interesting. We're coming up on a border checkpoint that we didn't know existed.

Well, just passed a border patrol sign. Not sure what that means. So none of us have our IDs.

Our wives are on a a three seater bike a couple miles back, but I don't think they have any idea or anything. Is that.

Oh, Kate. Have a good day. Have a good one. Easy peasy.

We just crushed out another 10 miles. Taking a little water break. And I was just admiring the stickers on my water bottle. All from Ragbrai. If you'd have told me at Ragbrai the first time I had ever rode a bike longer than a couple of miles that in two years we would be on this trip across the country on this trandom. I don't know if I would have believed it. Actually, I probably would have because I'm married to Nap Buchanan.

This stuff just seems to happen.

Man, life is good. Just hanging out in the van, eating a taco, waiting on the girls. I cannot believe we get to do this for the next 27 days.

We made it to lunch.

You crushed it. Just when I thought I was about to sit down and get to enjoy myself for a little while.

I know, right? Aw, you even have the bug net up. Look at you. I see you didn't throw away the trash.

I forgot, but.

Yum. It kind of just looks like mush with chips on top.

But my favorite, and for some reason.

You have two knives. Thank you. It's kind of fun switching roles.

Oh, it's so fun.

I feel a lot of pressure cooking Cara meals. It's not that she's picky. She just. It's like the more the merrier, the more flavors you could possibly put on something whether they go together or not. And the stronger those flavors are, the better. I love food.

Go, girls. I love Evie and Frankie. They have been begging to have their turn on the tandem, and they're finally getting to do it. The girls did the first 45 miles today. Now Rick and Evie and Frankie are biking the next 10 miles to the next town of Ripley. And then the guys are gonna finish out the day. Those kids are the best.

This is our first time getting to ride together in the car since the start of the trip.

So fun. It is a bit lonely in here, isn't it?

It's kind of nice to myself, Honestly, I. I thought you were gonna get mad at me. These girls. Nice work.

I think.

Carol, we've been here for 20 minutes.

I think their power to weight ratio is just so good. They don't weigh anything and I feel like just have little pistons back there.

See ya.

All right. We have got five hours to the sun sets and 60 miles to get to a casino that has free overnight parking. If we can knock that out. We've done 115 miles a day and we are getting dangerously close to 100 mile per day average.

Man, did I need one of these.

We're about to have our first border crossing of the whole bike trip.

Yeah.

Halfway. Just sitting on solid road.

California. California. California. Arizona.

Wow. That was sad. By myself. Welcome to Arizona. Thank you. Not really a good place to pull over for those Arizona signs. Oh. I really wanted to do a handstand in between California and Arizona.

She totally hit me.

Sent me flying down the ditch.

Didn't even stop or anything to make sure I was alright.

So Rick is actually the only one in the group who has done a cross country bike ride. And he's just now telling us that he got hit by a car last time he did this. I was just starting to get comfortable with 10 near death experiences per day and now I'm back on edge.

Oh, man. We just drove to another road on the Colorado river hoping to get a picture with the sign and I don't think they have one. We are on the border though.

All right. This is a big moment. This river right here is the border between California and Arizona. So this is the first of, we think 12 state line crossings in California.

California.

California.

California. Colorado, Arizona.

I think I threw a Colorado in there. I almost said Arkansas. My brain's not getting enough oxygen.

One, two, three. Arizona.

We made it to the casino. There was no sign. But the river is the border and we just had to get out and celebrate.

Wow. It's cooler in Arizona.

It really is. Well, that was still fun. We did lose the girls though. I guess we'll just wait for them to show back up. I'm gonna get another snap.

Boo. Where's the other little one? I don't know. You don't know? No, she's not in here. For real?

Yeah.

Okay, I'm gonna. Did you know she was here? Yeah. That was way too believable, Frankie. It's actually a little alarming.

All right. We are racing the dark clouds behind us. 10 miles to town. They're blowing towards us. But that's also a good thing because it's pushing the bike in the right direction.

Wow.

And we have made it to blue water resort and casino. RV dry camping, parking, make a U turn, then your destination will be on the right. No, I'm here.

Well, this is exciting. Behind the casino, there is a beach. A beach. Oh, this is perfect because we stink. Do you stink as much as I do? I don't know. Probably not, but I still stink.

Go, go. This is my shower for the year. For the year.

Just outran our first dog.

A shower in the Colorado river is just what I needed. That was amazing. Welcome back.

We made it. The first day we finished before the sunset.

Nice work.

Thanks. I will say, this is the first day we fished, and I've been like.

It felt like we were close.

My legs are feeling it. Oh, no. What a day.

What a day.

What a sight of the way across the country.

No.

Five miles short, but we'll round up.

I don't want to already be a third.

I'm not ready on the bike. We were literally already like, what's next?

This is where we've ended up tonight, nestled between the casino and the Colorado river where we swam earlier. And it's just stunning. Our campsites just keep getting better. I love it. The best part about van life is you just kind of put them all in a circle and open your doors to each other. It doesn't really matter where you are.

For dinner tonight, I am cooking a pasta recipe that I completely made up. Stay tuned. Mushrooms and garlic, cashew cream, plant milk. So much nooch pasta water is the key. Mamma mia. Look at the pasta. You ready for the best pasta of your life?

So ready. Never been more ready. Is this like a Nate trust food segment? Yep.