From sea to shining sea: Quincy native tackling TransAmerica Bicycle Trail

QUINCY — Michael Longo kept searching for an edge he couldn’t find.

Having played soccer the majority of his life — the former Quincy High School all-stater enjoyed a stellar collegiate career at Lewis & Clark Community College and Millikin University — he found himself missing the drive it provided.

About the time he was turning 26 years old, having spent four years living and working in Colorado, he decided he needed a new outlet.

“I was in between jobs and I wanted to do something for myself,” Longo said. “I was looking to fulfill something. I’ve been missing that competitive nature ever since college soccer ended to push me mentally and physically.”

Inspiration rolled up on a bike.

“Last summer, I saw people biking through Breckenridge (Colo.) with all these bags on their bikes and stuff like that,” Longo said. “I stopped and talked with one of them and they told me they were doing the TransAmerica Bike Trail. So I looked into it. I thought, ‘That’s something I could do. It’ll be hard, but I could do that.’

“I started doing research, and next thing I know, the next summer I’m on a bike doing it.”

On June 20, Longo’s journey began.

He began pedaling from Astoria, Ore., saying so long to the Pacific Ocean as he rode away with the goal of seeing the Atlantic Ocean in three months. The route his is following — the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail — is a 4,215-mile trek from coast-to-coast that takes cyclists through 10 states.

It ends in Yorktown, Va., where Longo hopes to be in mid to late September.

“It’s pretty breathtaking to see the United States going 10 to 15 miles per hour,” Longo said. “You really get to soak in the landscape.”

He’s testing himself at the same time.

“It’s been way harder than I thought, but it’s been a journey,” Longo said.

And he’s only halfway there.

‘My home is my bike’

In June, Longo boarded a train in Chicago with his bicycle broken down into pieces to fit Amtrak’s luggage regulations and all of his gear loaded into a couple of small bags.

He couldn’t take too much because he hauls everything everywhere.

“Everything that I need — clothes, camping gear, everything — is on my bike,” Longo said. “My home is my bike.”

He landed in Portland, where a friend gave him a 50-mile ride to Astoria, the launching point of this journey. The first leg of the journey took him south along the Oregon coast along the Pacific Ocean through some of the most scenic country he has experienced to date.

“The most beautiful landscape I’ve seen so far is the coast of Oregon. It’s the ocean and the deep forest out there,” Longo said. “I really believe Oregon is the most diverse landscape we have in this country with the ocean, the forest, the mountains.”

What he didn’t realize is there is a high desert in eastern Oregon.

It is located east of the Cascade Range and south of the Blue Mountains, in the central and eastern parts of the state. Divided into a southern region and a northern region, the desert covers most of five Oregon counties and averages 4,000 feet above sea level.

“It’s no joke out there,” Longo said. “It’s flat and hot.”

It’s tough terrain.

“That kind of kicked my butt,” Longo said. “Those were early morning rides.”

From there, the route takes riders through Idaho, Montana and Wyoming before dropping down into Colorado, where Longo stopped to rest, visit friends and celebrate his 27th birthday, which happened to be Wednesday.

“It’s been a nice little break to reset and get the mind right,” Longo said.

Now it’s back to business.

He averages roughly 62 miles per day and knows there will be some long, flat stretches ahead, especially riding through Kansas.

“My mileage all depends on the elevation gain, and the wind plays a lot of factors, too,” Longo said. “If the elevation gain is going downhill, I can put a little bit more mileage on. If I have to do a little bit more climbing, I take the miles down.”

He’s pleased with his pace so far.

“It’s not about how long it takes,” Longo said. “When I get to Yorktown, I get there.”

‘It has just blown me away’

According to the Adventure Cycling Association, the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail was created in 1973 as an ambitious way to celebrate the United States’ bicentennial in 1976. By the celebratory year, the maps and guidebooks were complete, and nearly 4,000 cyclists showed up for the initial ride.

Today, the route leans heavily on modern technology to assist cyclists in their journey.

Cyclists register on an app on their smartphone and it provides a list of camping sites, restaurants and service stops along the route. It helps track a cyclist’s progress and gives store owners and campsite directors an idea of how many people could be stopping.

There are no reservations along the way.

“You show up and hope there’s a spot there for you,” Longo said. “If not, you go to the next one.”

Longo also joined the bicycling community at WarmShowers.org, which is a non-profit worldwide exchange for cycling tourists. Host families provide free lodging in an AirBnB-style setting.

“People cook you home-cooked dinners,” Longo said. “They’ll fix your bike for you. They just talk with you, which is pretty cool.”

Often, Longo said, you meet interesting people. He stayed with a gentleman who has attended the past five World Cups and plans to go to Qatar for the World Cup in November.

“We talked soccer from right when I got there until I went to bed,” Longo said.

He’s found help along the way, too. His bike broke down in Colorado, about 25 miles from Breckenridge, and was able to get a ride from a friend to a bike shop.

“My tire wasn’t holding air. My chains broke. My derailleur came off. It happened all at one time,” Longo said. “But we got it fixed.”

What these little snapshots have done is increased his faith in humanity.

“It has just blown me away how nice and how helpful people are,” Longo said. “I know people can get caught up in how bad this world is, but it’s incredible how people put their hand out to help you. I’ve had people pull over and give me water. I’ve had people buy me lunch when I told them what I was doing.”

It’s made him want to give back, too.

Longo is collecting funds along the way for Street Soccer USA, which is a non-profit program designed to develop in-school, after school, community based club, and adult programs that improve the future of youth and young adults.

According to its website, “Street Soccer introduces and builds the grassroots capacity of soccer in urban areas with the goal of transferring life skills and creating a social safety net in the community for our participants.”

Such an endeavor tugs at Longo’s heart.

“The life lessons I learned from soccer still apply today,” Longo said. “Having that aspect of having a safe place to play soccer for these youth and young adults is pretty important to me.”

So he created a Venmo account — BikeWithMike-2022 — to accept donations. He already has reached his goal of $1,000, but he wants to see it grow.

“From here on out, it will be raising more money and as much money as possible for them,” he said.

‘The backroads of the United States’

Longo has stuck to the TransAmerica Route for the most part, but he has diverted some. That’s given possible inspiration for his next move.

“The bottom of Idaho, especially around Boise, oh my gosh, that’s beautiful,” Longo said. “That might be the next move after this bike ride. The people in Boise were so nice. They welcomed me with open arms. The landscape was unexpected.”

But the most surreal moment to date came when he reached Colorado.

“I remember thinking before the trip how cool it was going to be to ride through Colorado in the place I used to live by going through the mountains,” Longo said. “Whenever I got to the state line, I got chills because I was like, ‘This is something I was looking forward to and something I had been thinking about.’ To see it come to life was pretty cool.

“I’ve always driven through the mountains. To get to ride through the mountains on a bike was pretty amazing just to see the landscape.”

It’s been a breathtaking ride.

“The cool thing about this route is that it doesn’t take you through the main suburban areas of the country,” Longo said. “You’re really seeing the backroads of the United States.”

And more scenic rides await.

As he makes his way through the Midwest and heads toward the southeast portion of his ride, Longo knows a trip through the Smoky Mountains awaits. That will be another challenging but beautiful stretch.

Eventually, he will reach the Atlantic Ocean and the journey of a lifetime will be complete.

“I don’t think I’ll ever chase anything like this ever again,” Longo said. “To say I biked from one side of the country to another is crazy to think about and I’ll forever be grateful for it.”