16 trips in 7 years
It’s been seven(!) years since I launched this Instagram account to document my TransAmerica bike trip across the USA.
So much life has happened since 2019. I got a big-girl job. The pandemic hit, and then my oldest sister Gina died. I met Nathan, we moved in together, and we got married. I got an even-bigger-girl job. I turned 40. I lost my younger brother, Tom, and I continue caregiving for my youngest brother, Phil, as his disability intensifies.
Through all the highs and lows, travel by bicycle has remained a constant for me — my most direct route to solace, adventure, and joy.
This year, I find myself at a career crossroads, with the gift of time to organize my Golden 150 Cross-Colorado bike ride in August. Am I qualified for this ambitious project? I’ll answer that with a “resume” of my bike travel experience since 2019.
Length: 75 days, 67 riding days
Distance: 4,400 miles, +208,061
Surface: paved
Style: solo, self-supported
Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR), 2020
Walden to Steamboat to Salida
Length: 6 days
Distance: 282 miles, +19,080 ft
Surface: gravel
Style: solo, self-supported
Length: 3 days
Distance: 155 miles, +10,033 ft
Surface: paved and gravel
Style: hut-supported
GDMBR (Salida to Penitente), 2021
Length: 2 days
Distance: 139 miles, +9,143 ft
Surface: gravel
Style: self-supported
Length: 4 days
Distance: 185 miles, +1,657 ft
Surface: mostly paved
Style: lodging and luggage support
Waunita Bikepacking Loop, 2022
Length: 2 days
Distance: 63 miles, +5,689 ft
Surface: gravel
Style: self-supported
Colorado-Wyoming Weekender, 2022
Length: 2 days
Distance: 82 miles, +6,998 ft
Surface: gravel
Style: self-routed (by Nathan) and self-supported
Length: 6 days
Distance: 170 miles, +4,803 ft
Surface: paved
Style: lodging and luggage support
Length: 2 days
Distance: 76 miles, +4,607 ft
Surface: gravel, sand
Style: self-supported
Portugal’s Algarve Coast, 2024
Length: 6 days
Distance: 244 miles, +13,386 ft
Surface: paved
Style: lodging and luggage support
Cross-Colorado Honeymoon Bike Trip, 2024
Length: 5 days
Distance: 221 miles, +14,054 ft
Surface: paved
Style: self-routed (by Nathan), with hotel lodging
Catalonia’s Region of Empordà, 2025
Length: 6 days
Distance: 138 miles, +5,810 ft
Surface: paved and gravel
Style: lodging and luggage support
Phantom Canyon & Shelf Road Loop, 2025
Length: 2 days
Distance: 64 miles, +5,125 ft
Surface: gravel
Style: lodge-supported
Length: 3 days
Distance: 158 miles, +8,785 ft
Surface: paved and gravel
Style: hut-supported
Highlands of Northern Vietnam, 2026
Length: 7 days
Distance: 192 miles, +19,784’
Surface: mixed
Style: fully supported guided group tour
Length: 3 days
Distance: 97 miles, +7,293’
Surface: gravel and some MTB
Style: vehicle-supported, camping
I’d consider myself a well-rounded bicycle traveler. I’ve sampled a little bit of everything from paved road to rough gravel. I’ve gone solo, partnered, with small groups of friends, and big tour groups. I’ve followed classic routes and I’ve self-routed. I’ve traveled with a guide and hotels and support vehicles, I’ve gone fully self-supported, and everything in between. I’ve done weekend overnighters, weeklong bicycle vacations, and a months-long epic ride. I’ve ridden bikes owned, rented, and borrowed.
The TransAmerica was my first solo and self-supported bike tour in 2019. Before that, I acquired a taste for bike touring through three different weeklong Colorado rides my friends organized, which we named BABRAC (Beer and Bike Ride Across Colorado). The routes were designed to include a mountain pass each day and a brewery each night, and we alternated driving the SAG vehicle to each night’s campground.
At this point, I’ve crossed Colorado by bicycle six times in six different ways, mostly on paved roads. It never bores me or ceases to surprise me. There’s still so much to explore, especially on gravel, and I can’t wait to share my abiding love for the Centennial State with whoever chooses to drop in this August!
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