{"id":721816,"date":"2026-06-23T20:11:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T20:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/721816\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T20:11:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T20:11:25","slug":"what-the-transamerica-trail-taught-this-student-about-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/721816\/","title":{"rendered":"What the TransAmerica Trail Taught This Student About America"},"content":{"rendered":"

The headwinds blasted at an unrelenting 20 miles per hour. And still, Tim Milich rode on.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u2019s degree and graduated. For him, it was a goal years in the making.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been in the back of my mind for a while,\u201d Milich told Northeastern Global News. \u201cI just realized\u2026I might never have a couple of months off again until I retire.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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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: \u201cwhere are you headed?\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u201cluxurious basement to stay in for the night.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve met so many people, people who I never would have met, places I never would have been to if it hadn\u2019t been for this trip,\u201d Milich shared as he sat in a library in Chester, Illinois, three weeks into his journey. \u201cPeople are awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\nWith the support of his family and friends, Northeastern University student Tim Milich took on the 4,200-mile challenge on bike and was met with a culture of kindness along the route. Courtesy of Tim Milich<\/p>\n

What a 4,200-mile bike trek across U.S. taught this NU student\"\"\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Completing the trail had been on Milich\u2019s 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<\/a> to commemorate the country\u2019s bicentennial. His interest in cycling grew during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to spend time outside. One day, he thought, \u201cWouldn\u2019t it be crazy to bike across the country?\u201d<\/p>\n

As it turns out, it wasn\u2019t such an outlandish idea. His research uncovered a trove of tips and personal stories from thousands of cyclists who rode the trail before him.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you know Tim, you know that he wants to put his all into something. As soon as he sets his mind to it, he\u2019s going to do it,\u201d 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\u2019s club running team together.<\/p>\n

Milich didn\u2019t train for the trail, as he felt \u201caerobically pretty fit\u201d 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 \u201ctrail legs.\u201d Exhaustion often lingers.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cbring a little comfort.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Presti and Bednarcik said they were impressed by Milich\u2019s preparation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that he started by himself and had to figure out a lot by himself is a hard thing to do,\u201d Presti said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Milich has documented his journey since April 28 on Strava and Instagram under the username @tim_bikes_usa<\/a>, using captions as a stream-of-consciousness journal where he shares everything about his experience. He\u2019s 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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

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\nNortheastern University student Tim Milich was able to explore parts of the U.S. he wouldn\u2019t ever think to go before. Courtesy of Tim Milich<\/p>\n

What a 4,200-mile bike trek across U.S. taught this NU student\"\"\"\"\/<\/p>\n

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<\/a> to find people offering hospitality. He dodged the infamous Kentucky dogs while on \u201crollercoaster hills\u201d and created meals with his camp stove (He\u2019s particularly proud of his recipe for ramen with canned chicken, tomatoes and chilis).\u00a0<\/p>\n

A friend joined Milich in Colorado for the second half of the trek. He\u2019s expecting to complete the journey on July 2.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople say doing this, you learn more about the United States in two months than most people do in their lifetime. It\u2019s been a wonderful experience so far,\u201d Milich said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cCoach.\u201d A woman and her son in Colorado drove by and asked if he wanted bananas on Day 33. And they\u2019ve been countless others, offering inspiration.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople often say that a ride across the country will renew their faith in humanity because of how much kindness they experience,\u201d said Jessica Zephyr, the association\u2019s vice president of marketing and communications. \u201cOnce you\u2019re on the route, you\u2019re a member of an experience like none other and few others can understand it quite like another rider.\u201d<\/p>\n

While strength and endurance are a necessary part to completing this trail, according to Presti. Milich\u2019s personality is also suited for the challenges that come about<\/p>\n

\u201cTim is someone who is willing and able to express what he needs and talk with other people openly,\u201d Presti said. \u201cTo have that at the start \u2013 to work with other people, listen to other people as Tim does \u2013 is definitely a quality that makes it so much better.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019re able to adapt and problem solve in the moment without losing your head. And Milich has had his fair share of tests \u2013 from flat tires to closed hotels.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was what Milich described as the \u201cmost physically challenging day,\u201d but one that reinforced his passion for cycling.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the best experiences that I\u2019ve had were the ones I wasn\u2019t expecting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hannah Morse is a news reporter at Northeastern Global News.<\/p>\n