By Staff with assistance from Andrea Abbott and Jane Moynihan, parents of the bicycle riders

Sep. 13, 2017:  This summer, Lyric Abbott and Katherine Moynihan, both sixteen and entering their junior year at Bronxville High School, rode their bikes across America from Charleston, SC, to Santa Monica, CA--a journey of 3,200 miles. It took them six weeks.

They rode with Overland Summers, an organization that offers introductory biking, hiking, language, writing, service, and field studies programs domestically and abroad for students in 4th through 12th grade. While both girls had previously ridden with Overland, they had never done so together, nor did either know that the other was doing "The American Challenge," Overland's most rigorous bike ride.

The girls were on different trips, each with twelve students and two leaders. Moynihan's itinerary was slightly more northern and included Kansas and southern Colorado, while Abbott rode through Oklahoma and New Mexico.   

Overland is unequivocal in its expectation that participants train months in advance. Because group cohesion is paramount, those who cannot keep up are sent home. Students surrender their phones and other electronics at the airport. There is no support vehicle; participants carry their own gear and part of the group's supplies--approximately 50 pounds per bike.

The groups averaged 93 miles a day--often enduring extraordinary heat, grueling headwinds, thunderstorms, and brutal terrain. Every part of the country presented unique challenges: the high heat and humidity in the Southeast; the steep climbs of the Ozarks in Arkansas; the wide open and windy plains of Kansas, eastern Colorado, and Oklahoma; and long mountain passes in the Rockies, New Mexico, and the San Gabriel Mountains, just east of Santa Monica.  

Moynihan's hardest day was the stretch through Kansas--the mental fortitude required to ride hundreds of miles on flat roads with an unchanging landscape. While her longest day was 123 miles from Cortez, CO, to Kayenta, AZ, the group had by then acclimated to rising at 4:00 am. On Abbott's worst day--Guymon, OK, to Clayton, NM, headwinds of 25 mph reduced their speed to 5 mph. Covering 106 miles required 13 hours.

The signature and legendary days of "The American Challenge" are those through the Mojave Desert, when students rise at 2:00 am in an attempt to cover many miles before sunrise. Overland supplies a support van for the desert crossing to light the way and to carry emergency medical supplies and extra water. 

While the journey was the most difficult six weeks of their lives, both girls insisted they would do it again in a heartbeat. "I never thought I could survive such mental and physical pain. I also never thought I could have so much fun. Seeing our country by bike will always be one of the best experiences I have ever had," said Abbott.  "Having a shared goal with the group made the challenge bearable because everyone supported each other. People were constantly treating us to food and cheering for us as we rode through their towns," said Moynihan. 

The trip concluded with a triumphant ride onto the Santa Monica Pier, where friends and family celebrated and watched as riders ran into the Pacific with their front wheels to commemorate an epic and unforgettable journey. The girls are already looking forward to their summer 2018 ride: Overland's European Challenge.

Pictured here:  Lyric Abbott (L) and Katherine Moynihan.

Photo by Jane Moynihan