Across America Trekkers Churned Out 75 Miles of Montana Roadway Like Buttermilk Beneath Their Bikes.

Posted Teen TreksLeave a commentPosted in 2023

(July 9)

The high high heat of Lolo was a balm to our joints and a boon to our spirits. Despite a late start, we made good time and churned out 75 miles of Montana roadway like buttermilk beneath our bikes.

Stirrups jangling, we stopped in tidy Missoula to see the Adventure Cycling HQ (closed) and a sprawling strip mall replete with Trek bicycle shop, where gear was purchased with gusto.

Our chains squeaked like a battalion of rodents rowing our wheeled vessels through seas of grain and gravel. Straps and bungies blow in the wind like hairless tails. Cheese and peanut butter drives us onward. Mileage increases exponentially like an unchecked mice population.

Scurrying into Sinclair’s gas station at sunset, we cooked hot dogs and mac before camping at Clearwater Creek. Another great day.

(July 8)

Upping anchor in Knife Edge, we carved out blunt 15 mile chunks of Idaho roadway in searing heat. Sunscreen sizzled on the asphalt griddle as we sweated a breadcrumb trail up through the Lolo Pass. A brief respite of rain steamed our panniers before we punched up and through the Montana border. Careening 10k downhill at breakneck speed, we pulled into Lolo Hot Springs for the night, soaking our bones in the sulfuric pools after a burger night, then picking the local’s brains like fiddler crabs for camping tips. Our charms loosed plenty of beneficent detritus from the generous townfolk, and in exchange we left them with bulging eyeballs from the thought of our mileage, willpower, and appetitive prowess.

Soon we’ll pass through Missoula on our way to Great Falls, where we’ll recharge in comfort with an octopus garden of bike gear strewn about our hotel rooms.

Amsterdam-Paris Trekkers Bike Along the Beautiful Canals to Ghent

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“(in a New York accent) FRENCH FRIES AND WAFFLES FRENCH FRIES AND WAFFLES, ITS ALL FRENCH FRIES AND WAFFLES. EVERYTHING HERE IS JUST FRENCH FRIES WAFFLES AND BEER. FRENCH FRIES AND WAFFLES!!!1!!1!!”

Today we packed everything up, and left our hostel in Bruges and biked along a scenic canal bike trail to Ghent. It was pretty easy biking, but ridiculously hot. Everyone was glad when we made it to the hostel, but unfortunately they don’t have air conditioning (or if they do it’s really bad). We had a delicious dinner and then went for a walk. Most stores were closed, so we just looked around. We walked through a pretty famous street where every surface, from the walls to the ground, is covered in graffiti. We met a guy named Nigel who was painting, he said he had been there for four days!! Can you imagine spending four days in an alleyway making a mural. He was really, like REALLY good, so respect I guess. After that we made our way to the canal and sat on the edge for a bit. This brings us back to the beginning. While we were watching the ducks, a woman with a very strong New York accent walked by, and was shouting into her phone about all the French fries and waffles and french fries and beer in Belgium. Apparently there’s a lot. Personally I’ve seen far more chocolate than french fries or waffles (btw it is not nearly as good as everyone says). That’s all for today. Or actually yesterday when I’m writing this

    – Henry

NY-Montreal Trekkers Have a Relaxing Day in Albany, NY

Posted Teen TreksLeave a commentPosted in 2023

For the first time in a few days we were up after the sun. We were treated to an extravagant buffet breakfast at the hotel featuring some especially delicious lemon pound cake. After filling our stomachs a few trekkers rushed upstairs for some Saturday morning cartoons. Looney Toons were the cartoon of choice. After some well earned relaxation we ventured out to a laundromat and deli. We then ventured to Washington Park to eat our food and get some Italian ice. A few of us also had lots of fun playing frisbee. Next we went to the New York State Museum to ride the 120-year-old merry-go-round and see some old bikes. We also saw a very informative exhibit about 9/11 and the NYC World Trade Center. We went back to the laundromat to pick up our clean clothes and then went back to the hotel. Shannon picked up four pizza pies and carried them all back to the hotel on her bike at the same time. After some good pizza and Oceans Eleven, we went to sleep.

Trekker Josh 

Cape Cod/NES Trekkers Leave Martha’s Vineyard and Bike to Sandwich, MA

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We woke up in a hostel in Martha’s Vineyard and then we biked 5 miles to the ferry with some bike difficulty. Despite our best efforts, we missed the first ferry and we ended up having to go on the 12 pm ferry. With the extra time before the ferry, we all went shopping in Martha’s Vineyard.  We had sandwiches for lunch and boarded the ferry soon after. On the boat, some people got pretzels, snacks, and other goodies. Once we got off the boat we found out Tessa’s bike was having issues. We tried fixing it but then it sadly broke more. We ended up biking after an hour with Juliet taking Tessa’s broken bike to a shop while the rest of us biked. We biked in 80 degree weather for about half an hour and then got ice cream. We then continued on for about 45 minutes till Jason’s tire was deflated and was irreparable. Rabeka tried to blow up a replacement tube which wasn’t the right size. Her efforts were sadly futile. The rest of us then sat there on someone’s lawn for an hour. During this time, many nice people asked us if we needed help with medical assistance, etc. At one point a very nice man in a truck came and offered to transport us with our bikes a short distance to our campground. We accepted this and we loaded our bikes onto the truck. We all piled into the truck, having to sit on each other, but it was better than biking uphill in 80 degree heat. We ended our night with some ramen noodles and banana bread slices.  

– Written by Dylan

Fun Times in Martha’s Vineyard for Cape Cod/NES Trekkers

Posted Teen TreksLeave a commentPosted in 2023

We eventually woke up after our long, much needed rest in the hostel. We had a slow morning. We then ate plenty of food for breakfast which mostly consisted of bagels and some even added the extraordinary creation of peanut butter and fluff on a slice of bread.  We all hung out in the hostel playing an intense game of Uno and a very short game of Monopoly which ended after 5 min when we all faked our sudden deaths and forfeited. Later we got dressed and set out to the bus stop which would eventually bring us to the Jaws bridge which you can jump off of. Once we arrived we quickly got our bathing suits on eager to leap off the bridge. First Max jumped, then Tessa bravely jumped off after him, following with Lena, Juliet, and Dylan. We all tried to look our bests in the air while Rabeka took videos of us. We later did not peer pressure Ben to jump in, he willingly took a leap of faith after 45 min of debating wether he should or not (We were all so proud that he overcame his fear of heights). We then decided we were done jumping off bridges so we moved towards just calmly swimming in the water. This was a great bonding event for Tessa, she made many new friends at that beach we were very fascinated by her impeccable social skills. Then we dried off and got on the bus again and set out to go to town where we were hoping to go to the “First Friday festival” in Vineyard Haven on Martha’s Vineyard. We then arrived but we decided that none of the food trucks arched our level of hunger so we went into town to look for some other restaurants. After looking at a few different restaurants we decided on an Asian food place where we all ordered food. Then there was the incident at the ice cream shop. Now you must be wondering what could’ve gone wrong in an ice cream shop with a bunch of tired kids. But us curious kids read a tiny sign saying “say OINK to order” we then told Dylan who was eager to order that he must say oink because we thought it was an overall rule for ordering. He then said “OINK” and all the workers got excited, one then rang a huge bell they started screaming and singing they then brought out a huge bowl and asked him to pick a dozen different flavors to add to the bowl. He got all excited till they told him it will cost him a total of $50 dollars. I almost died it was absolutely hilarious seeing Dylan’s face. We ended the night with many laughters and we headed home calmly.

– By Tessa

Canal Boat Tours and Waffles as AP Trekkers Take Day Off in Brugge

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Today, we woke up at our hostel in Bruges to a fantastic change in the weather. Finally with our hoodies off we could tour the beautiful city starting off with a stereotypical breakfast of Belgian waffles. Without wasting any time we hopped straight on a canal boat and toured the city from a different perspective. Because of the five days of non stop biking, we got a much needed rest and wrapped the day up with some Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner.

Trekker Rahul

Visit to State Capitol, Dinner Out and Comfy Beds as NYM Makes it to Albany

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Today we woke up to a beautiful morning on the Hudson River by a historic ice house, and learned how ice was once harvested from the frozen water and transported for daily life. We took off of some quiet country roads before rejoining the Empire State Trail, a great bike path that took us all the way to Albany. Before arriving in the capitol city we got some delicious late morning ice cream cones. Two flat tires slowed us down, but we kept our spirits high! Albany greeted us with refreshing light showers after the day’s heat and humidity. We toured the State Capitol building, a massive and beautiful building with intricate stone carvings and loaded with interesting history. We got a tasty dinner at a local restaurant before heading to our hotel for the night, excited for comfortable beds and a chance to sleep in after lots of early starts and big mileage days!

Across America Trekkers Bike 82 Miles Across Idaho

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A groggy start from Lenore campground gave way to humpy hills covered in matchstick trees. We covered 82 miles and met with kindness from strangers — Judy — a shop owner who gifted us $60 worth of smoked salmon, and Michelle, a veteran bike packer cross crossing the country. We also learned that Idahoan drivers are keen to encourage cyclists to get off of the road. Nevertheless, we carved up the pavement like a pasture raised rump roast with a side of mash and cruised all the way to Knife Edge State Park, where a stranger fetched us the water we needed and warned us about bears, much to Arthur’s chagrin. Onward we trek.

Amsterdam-Paris Trekkers Reach Belgium and the Beautiful City of Bruges

Posted Teen TreksLeave a commentPosted in 2023

Yesterday we arrived in Bruges in Belgium. The first half of the day was mostly biking, with only one stop to look in a museum in a very old hospital. Well the building was originally a hospital, then it was a church, and finally a convent before it became a museum. Inside were exhibits made by 7 random citizens ranging from 8 years old to 80. My favorite was a table, covered in origami paper, with 3 levels of difficulty, from a little paper cup to a massive paper dragon. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to finish the dragon before we had to leave. After that it was only a short bike to Bruges. When we arrived we unpacked everything, and I immediately took a 2 hour nap. When I was woken up we had dinner. It was simple but tasty, just spaghetti with tomato sauce. After that we went on a tour of Bruges, showing us through the different areas of the city. The historic part of the city is divided into different quarters, where traders from different nations would live. We passed through the Italian quarters, the Spanish quarters, German, Scottish, etc. the tour guide told us all kinds of tall tales about the origins of common sayings. He said the usage of the middle finger originated when invading armies would cut off the middle finger of longbow men to stop them from being able to shoot arrows, so longbow men who still had their middle finger would stick it up to their enemies to show they could still fight. At the end of the tour the guide gave us buy one get one free tickets for beer from a nearby bar. We ended up sharing a few between the six of us (the legal drinking age here is 16), but it was so gross I barely had a sip.

-Trekker Henry

NYM Trekkers Cool Off in Waterfall During 60 Mile Day

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After waking up bright and early, we headed out from Staatsburg well rested and ready to face the day. After cranking out fifteen miles, we stopped in Red Hook to pick up lunch. After recuperating for a hour we headed off through rolling hills until we found a secluded waterfall where we swam for an hour. After the swim we pushed through rolling hills for miles until we arrived in Hudson. After almost fifty miles we made one last stop for dinner before pushing to our final campsite along the river making the day a whopping sixty miles.

-Trekker Caleb