Lewis, Clark, and Transamerica a/k/a "Mom's Fiftieth Birthday I-don't-want-to-grow-up Bicycle Ride Across America"
by Paula, Ric, and Hannah

Welcome to our bike trip log for a trip that mostly follows the Lewis and Clark bicycle from Oregon to St. Louis and from there to Virginia on the Transamerica Bicycle Trail.

The Route

I've had a lot of requests for the bike route since starting the page, so I finally sat down and organized the maps, in order.

From Adventure Cycling, we start on Lewis and Clark Section 7 for Portland to Astoria section. You can check the Lewis and Clark section details from here:

At Astoria, we switch to the TransAmerica Route, Section 1 from Astoria to Eugene. You can check the TransAmerica Route details here:

Onto TransAmerica, Section 2, with a quick side trip from Sisters, Oregon, to Bend to see Ric's brother and his wife. If we're lucky (we weren't), we'll make the quilt show in Sisters on July 12! If not, there are a few quilt stores here I'll check out anyway!

UPDATE! Doug showed us a MUCH better route from Bend to Prineville, over a newly paved road, and through a river canyon downhill all the way to Prineville. Sounds a LOT better than the Route 20 truck route stuff. So, we'll take his route from Bend and get back on the TransAmerica there.

TransAmerica, Section 3 to Missoula, Montana

TransAmerica, Section 4 to Yellowstone (This got changed - we rented a car in Missoula, drove to Yellowstone and back, then followed the Lewis & Clark route to Great Falls.)

After touring some of Yellowstone, we'll go off route to head due North to Great Falls on Route 89, through White Sulphur Springs and Neihart (elevation 7381, the highest on the trip - but it actually saves some climbing using other routes!)

Back to Lewis and Clark map, Section 4 to Williston, ND, which is the northern fork of two options.

Lewis and Clark map, Section 3 to Pierre, SD

Lewis and Clark, Section 2 to Council Bluffs, IA

Lewis and Clark, Section 1 to Hartford, IL, with a side trip to St. Louis.

TransAmerica, Section 10 to Berea, KY

TransAmerica, Section 11 to Christianburg, VA

TransAmerica, Section 12 to Yorktown, VA

UPDATE - I can't believe I forgot this. . . since Hannah isn't going the full length, I'm going to change the route. I leave the Lewis and Clark trail tomorrow, (September 4?) for Fargo, ND, and then pick up the Adventure Cycling's Northern route across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Start cleaning, Beth!

I'll put the rest of the updates on my own page, link below - Paula


The links below take you to parts of the journal of our trip. Lewis & Clark kept a much more detailed journal, but President Jefferson insisted upon it. Late flash - pictures are in progress! They take time even with Unix scripts and tools like xv and ImageMagick - the pages with the Adventure Cycling map thumbnails don't have pictures yet.

The trip to Portland, then bicycling to Astoria and down the coast.
From Neskowin across the coastal mountains, the Willamette valley, the Cascade Mountains to Bend.
The hot, high desert of Central and Eastern Oregon.
Working across rivers and ridges in Idaho and nearby.
The Yellowstone side trip.
Missoula to the end of Montana.
Paula has been describing the rest of the tour on her page.


Not everything about a trip is best sorted by time - here are some pages with a different theme.

Some of the wildlife we encountered along the way.
Various curiosities that don't fit well elsewhere.
Yin & yang. Wildlife & roadkill.


Most of the above are "just the facts," but as Ric saw them. The following will give you other perspectives and commentary.

Paula's page and more:

Hannah's log, updated on the web during the trip.

Hannah's personal journal, updated privately each night.

Ric's mini-essays.