Cyclist stops in Washington on cross-country trek

If you think traveling across the United States makes for a long car ride, try doing it on your bike. Then try doing it twice. That is essentially what Levi Ammundsen of British Columbia has set out to do. Ammundsen, 20, is cycling across the country from the West Coast to the East Coast, and then back west across Canada. Ammundsen made a pit stop in Washington, Iowa, Wednesday night to rest for a while and restock his water supply.

?As I was coming into town, I thought, ?You guys name way too many things Washington,?? he said. ?Almost every town I?ve been in has a street named Washington.?

Ammundsen began his journey in his hometown of Prince George, British Columbia, which is the western most province in Canada. Ammundsen left home on April 15, traveling south through Washington State and Oregon before turning east and biking through Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska and now Iowa. He plans to visit Boston and then head north for Montreal, Quebec. He will bike across Canada and hopes to arrive home in early September. His whole journey will be about 6,800 miles.

Ammundsen said he chose to leave April 15 because that was when the snow was beginning to melt from the roads. Prince George is about 300 miles from the Pacific Coast and about 400 miles north of the American border, so it can get a bit nippy in the winter.

?Our temperatures can get into the minus 40s at times,? he said.

The first few weeks of his trip were cold and wet. Ammundsen packed a sleeping bag and a tarp to stay dry but slept in the open air with no tent. While traveling through British Columbia, he sometimes awoke to find frost on his sleeping bag. He wore a hooded sweatshirt and thick gloves as he pedaled south on the Caribou Highway from British Columbia into America. He told a border guard about his cross-country trip and the guard told him he was nuts.

?The border guard was afraid I was going to die in the U.S. because it was a crazy undertaking,? he said. ?But I finally talked him into letting me in. I crossed into the U.S. in pouring rain, and I admit I looked pretty bedraggled at the border.?

The 20-year-old cyclist was able to stay with a few friends in British Columbia and a few more scattered through America, but most of his nights are spent sleeping in camp grounds or at quiet places along the side of the road. He drinks a gallon of water per day to stay hydrated. He tries to cover about 60 miles per day, although how far he goes depends on the weather and especially the wind. In Wyoming, he frequently had tailwinds and was able to travel 100 miles per day with ease. He fought through a strong headwind coming into Washington, Iowa, which required him to be on the road for 10 hours that day to meet his daily goal.

Ammundsen biked along the interstate from British Columbia until Nebraska.

?One of the routes through Idaho would have taken me through a National Guard shooting range with Apache helicopters flying over,? he said. ?I?d rather risk the freeway.?

Nebraska state law forced Ammundsen off the freeway. Cycling on the interstate is illegal in Iowa, too, and in most of the states on the remainder of his journey, so he will take minor highways the rest of the way.

Ammundsen suffered through a few 90-degree days and limited cell phone service in Nebraska. He has a Twitter account which he updates a few times each day to let his friends know his progress and to keep his parents from worrying.

?Both my parents were adventurous people,? he said. ?My dad grew up in Africa. They?re pretty OK with what I?m doing. I check in with them regularly through text messages. They check my Twitter feed and yell at me if I don?t update it.?

The trip has not gotten any easier for Ammundsen since he crossed the Rocky Mountains. In fact, he said Iowa?s countryside has been even harder on him.

?The hills are more disheartening than the mountains,? he said. ?In the mountains, you go up and you get a nice long glide down the other side. With these rolling hills, you know there?s another hill waiting for you at the base of that valley.?

The British Columbian native said he?s not worried about the upcoming Appalachian Mountains. He?s already biked up one of the most foreboding summits in the country at Cabbage Hill in Oregon.

?That was a 2,800-foot vertical climb that I did in one day,? he said. ?The hill got its name from the semi trucks that crashed going down it and spilling all their cabbage.?

Ammundsen has heard a lot about RAGBRAI from the people he?s met in Iowa, but even that ride pales in comparison to what he?s doing. Before disembarking April 15, the farthest bike ride Ammundsen had gone on was 60 miles, which was the distance of a round trip from his parents? farm to a friend?s house in Prince George.

His inspiration to ride across two countries came from stories he read about people who have biked and walked across America. Ammundsen is also taking the opportunity to tell people about an organization he supports called ?Liberty in North Korea? (LiNK) which aids refugees from that country and raises awareness about the living conditions there.

Ammundsen has run into a few hiccups on his journey. He burnt out his brakes going through the coastal mountains in the Pacific Northwest. A few tires have gone flat, too, but luckily he packed replacement tubes. A solar panel straddles his back tire, which he uses to charge his cell phone. Some of his electronic equipment was ruined in a recent thunderstorm, although he has since replaced the damaged parts.

?When I tell people what I?m doing, they usually say, ?You?re crazy! Start with something smaller,?? he said. ?It?s true that some days are horribly aggravating, but some days are loads of fun, so it all balances out.?