This 4,200-mile cycling trail across the US is paved with kindness
Northeastern student Tim Milich headed out on the open road with just his bike. Thanks to the culture of the cross-country TransAmerica Trail, he didn’t have to go the journey alone.
The headwinds blasted at an unrelenting 20 miles per hour. And still, Tim Milich rode on.
He was more than 400 miles into a 4,200-mile bike trek across the continental U.S., mounting his Salsa Journeyer gravel bicycle from Yorktown, Virginia to Astoria, Oregon, called the TransAmerica Trail.
This seventh-day segment between two towns in Virginia, Dublin and Rural Retreat, led him on state roads of different names: East Lee Highway, Max Meadows Road, Peppers Ferry Road. He reached 50 miles and planned to ride another 20 miles to finish out the day, but then he heard the sound of a pickup truck followed by some honks.
The 22-year-old Northeastern University bioengineering major had just completed his fourth year and concluded that he may not get another extended stretch of time to accomplish this journey before he continued his studies for a master’s degree and graduated. For him, it was a goal years in the making.
“It’s been in the back of my mind for a while,” Milich told Northeastern Global News. “I just realized…I might never have a couple of months off again until I retire.”
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The driver pulled over ahead of him. Familiar with the hazards cyclists face while sharing the road with vehicles, Milich thought he was at least about to get yelled at. Instead, he received a friendly inquiry: “where are you headed?”
The driver, Chris, shared he had completed the same cycling trail two decades earlier and invited Milich to stay at his home 10 miles up the road. Milich, who was planning to stop over at a campground, accepted. The evening led to interesting conversations and a “luxurious basement to stay in for the night.”
Milich set out on the TransAmerica Trail alone with just his bicycle and the open road ahead. But he would soon discover the culture of warmth, curiosity and hospitality that has blossomed along the route in the 50 years of its existence.
“I’ve met so many people, people who I never would have met, places I never would have been to if it hadn’t been for this trip,” Milich shared as he sat in a library in Chester, Illinois, three weeks into his journey. “People are awesome.”
Completing the trail had been on Milich’s mind since sophomore year of high school. Billed as the first cross-country bike route in the U.S., the TransAmerica Trail was established in 1976 by the nonprofit organization known as Adventure Cycling Association to commemorate the country’s bicentennial. His interest in cycling grew during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to spend time outside. One day, he thought, “Wouldn’t it be crazy to bike across the country?”
As it turns out, it wasn’t such an outlandish idea. His research uncovered a trove of tips and personal stories from thousands of cyclists who rode the trail before him.
Acting on this idea would take a few years, however. But he decided that the time between spring and summer semesters was as good a time as any.
“If you know Tim, you know that he wants to put his all into something. As soon as he sets his mind to it, he’s going to do it,” said Andrew Presti, a friend and Northeastern graduate who rode part of the trail with fellow graduate Johnathon Bednarcik in 2024. Presti and Milich were on Northeastern’s club running team together.
Milich didn’t train for the trail, as he felt “aerobically pretty fit” with his existing running background. Before this, the longest bikepacking trip that the Pennsylvania native had accomplished was seven days to Shenandoah National Park. He thought his body would adapt to this journey, similar to how thru-hikers get “trail legs.” Exhaustion often lingers.
For the journey, Milich equipped his bike with pannier bags for his clothes, toiletries, food and tools, including an air horn to deter particularly aggressive domestic dogs known to chase cyclists in parts of the Kentucky trail. He also brought with him a stove, tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad and an inflatable pillow.
That last item was a suggestion from Presti, who said Milich was originally planning to use a rolled up sweatshirt as a pillow before he told him to “bring a little comfort.”
Both Presti and Bednarcik said they were impressed by Milich’s preparation.
“The fact that he started by himself and had to figure out a lot by himself is a hard thing to do,” Presti said.
Milich has documented his journey since April 28 on Strava and Instagram under the username @tim_bikes_usa, using captions as a stream-of-consciousness journal where he shares everything about his experience. He’s fueled with at least 84 Pop Tarts, with a goal to reach 100; at least five jars of peanut butter, usually Skippy Creamy; and so many tortillas he has lost count. He has toiled with headwinds or weather he wasn’t expecting, like snow in June at the top of Hoosier Pass in Colorado. He remarked about the animals he comes across, like salamanders (or maybe newts, he said) in Kentucky, pronghorns and prairie dogs in Colorado, marmots and a too-close moose in Wyoming.
He has traveled anywhere between 25 miles to over 100 miles each day, slept in town parks and churches, and often relied on a network that cross-country cyclists use called Warmshowers to find people offering hospitality. He dodged the infamous Kentucky dogs while on “rollercoaster hills” and created meals with his camp stove (He’s particularly proud of his recipe for ramen with canned chicken, tomatoes and chilis).
A friend joined Milich in Colorado for the second half of the trek. He’s expecting to complete the journey on July 2.
“People say doing this, you learn more about the United States in two months than most people do in their lifetime. It’s been a wonderful experience so far,” Milich said.
What has stood out the most about the trail is the people he has met along the way. Milich said the trail has also taught him to trust strangers, to a degree.
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Dirk and Chrissy were a couple in Lexington, Virginia who let Milich sleep in their camper, fed him breakfast and dinner and baked him cookies on Day 4. Then there was a German man named Arne, who was cycling from New York to Oregon. Milich met him at a convenience store in Kentucky on Day 18 and they rode together for a few days. On Day 24, he met a man in Missouri who had been cycling across the U.S. for three years for the Wounded Warrior Project and called himself “Coach.” A woman and her son in Colorado drove by and asked if he wanted bananas on Day 33. And they’ve been countless others, offering inspiration.
“People often say that a ride across the country will renew their faith in humanity because of how much kindness they experience,” said Jessica Zephyr, the association’s vice president of marketing and communications. “Once you’re on the route, you’re a member of an experience like none other and few others can understand it quite like another rider.”
While strength and endurance are a necessary part to completing this trail, according to Presti. Milich’s personality is also suited for the challenges that come about
“Tim is someone who is willing and able to express what he needs and talk with other people openly,” Presti said. “To have that at the start – to work with other people, listen to other people as Tim does – is definitely a quality that makes it so much better.”
The trail will test you, no matter how prepared you think you are, Bednarcik said, speaking from his own experience. Being successful on the trail is all about how you’re able to adapt and problem solve in the moment without losing your head. And Milich has had his fair share of tests – from flat tires to closed hotels.
The flat roads of Kansas were a distant memory, when Milich could crack 80 miles in under six hours. Montana brought headwinds and two climbs over 1,000 feet, which had Milich and his friend riding for over nine hours to conquer 68 miles around the south of Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. The pair rotated their mini peloton to share breaks from the gusts, getting by with a power nap in a ditch and high-energy soundtrack of the Mario Kart video game. They stopped for water and beer after dark, but as the winds had quieted, they decided to push on another 20 miles.
It was what Milich described as the “most physically challenging day,” but one that reinforced his passion for cycling.
“Some of the best experiences that I’ve had were the ones I wasn’t expecting,” he said.
