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MIKE HALL: And I like the thrill of the race. It's kind of like being on the run,

it's kind of like being a fugitive, not sticking around in one place

for too long, always thinking there's somebody coming after you and,

uh, that's... That's exciting. That... That's kind of like living in

a little bit of a... A story.

It's almost like a double life.

There's something about that... That's quite a lot of fun.

I think I got into racing through the 24-hour racing and so,

um, I decided that,

you know, one day, I want to design my own things, my own products,

perhaps even my own bikes.

But, first, I wanted to get into the bike scene

and I wanted to sort of develop, yeah, some contacts

and get my name known a bit and have a good... Maybe have a good couple of years

racing just so that I've got some pedigree, and a bit of knowledge about that.

And to put in to the designs.

And then, it kind of got a hand, really.

JULIANA BUHRING: Uh, I've only really been cycling about two and a half years.

I started bicycling the world having never ridden a bike before

that and did like a brief...

Some months of training to cycle the world and that's when I learned how to

ride a bike.

Having grown up in, uh, like this extremist cult that I grew up in, right,

I pretty much had a pretty stunted childhood.

It was like being a bird in a cage

and seeing the world from behind high walls and wanting to be in it

and just wanting the freedom, to experience the freedom, of being myself

and discovering the world and...

I fell in to really deep depression

and I... I lost many friends.

I lost my sister to suicide.

So I guess I just sunk into this really dark place,

uh, and so I decided to cycle the world to get out of that.

Um, it was a supposed drastic move on my part as I...

I wanted to escape from the world,

but, at the same time, I wanted to discover it

or discover my place in it. So, that's why I set off in the first place

and, honestly, left thinking that it was okay if I didn't come back. I...

I was perfectly okay to... To just, yeah...

To just go out there and, you know,

if I came back all right, but I wasn't...

I didn't make a plan like a contingency plan... I...

The entire journey really did give me a passion for life,

I rediscovered a purpose

for existence and my place in the world and, not only that, I discovered cycling.

I discovered that I could cycle.

HALL: So, after that, yeah, after the 24-hour races, there was The Tour Divide

the first time and that changed things

and changed my view of the races I wanted to do.

And, so then I went to do the "Around the world" race, that was successful.

I wanted to go then go back and do The Tour Divide and do better than I did

and I went and I won it. And then, the August of that year,

we put on a race called The Transcontinental which was designed to be

a little bit like a race across America in Europe

but with no support

BUHRING: Self-supported, ultra endurance racing is to me, probably like the X Games

of endurance cycling, so it's taking it to the next level and a level

that the majority of people, even racers who might do the,

you know, professional racers who do the Giro d'Italia, who do the Tour de France

uh, who do the RAAM, um, might not actually ever participate in

because they are so used to a controlled environment,

going back at the end of the day to a nice hotel,

getting a massage, having the perfect diet,

having the drinks handed to them,

food handed to them, everything is five-star cycling

whereas this is just for the crazies.

NARRATOR: This is the Trans-Am Bike Race.

4,233 miles across 10 states.

There are no support teams, no stages, and no stopping at check points.

The race starts in Astoria, Oregon, then follows the infamous Trans-America

bike route over the Rocky Mountains, across the Great Plains,

and through the Appalachians, then finally finishes in Yorktown, Virginia.

This is the story of those inspired to dream big

and discover not only what's on the other side but what we are truly capable of.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

NATHAN JONES: All right, good morning, folks.

I'm Nathan Jones and I want to thank all of y'all.

Forty five of you for taking part in the first ever Trans-Am Bike Race.

Pay attention to the alternate routes.

There's few which may be faster all of which are in play.

Make sure all of your spot GPS tracking units are functional.

Make sure your batteries are good in 'em.

Finally, I can't say how grateful I am for y'all to come out here.

Did not sleep last night.

I was tossing and turning all night.

MAN 1: Well, I said good-bye to my girlfriend so I'm definitely going now.

(LAUGHING) JONES: Off we go!

(CHEERING)

MAN 2: Are we going to have fun?

MAN 1: Yeah! It's gonna be a blast!

A little toasty out here, right now.

I think we need a little rain just to cool up a little bit.

I'm getting a little overheated.

It's a, it's a bit chilly out here.

There's a coffee shop around here somewhere.

EDDIE CLARK: This is Mike Hall.

He is starting late to stay out of the limelight

and now, he's riding through the field.

Probably a good tactic to keep people from following his wheel

'cause now, they're strung out,

they're into it, probably already pegged themselves right off the bat.

He's just going to ride through them and do his thing, I think.

Oh, and then Mike passed me.

It's easy to get caught up in that, like, mental game of

like getting passed by the fast guys

and trying to push and trying to do all that,

and I'm just like it's not my thing, it's not like, what are you doing?

It's like debilitating when you're like making a climb and you're like,

I'm already day-dreaming about the food I'm gonna have,

and then, you hear like a... (WHOOSHING)

Coming up behind you, and he's like, "Yeah, missed a turn, mate."

MAN: Where are you riding to?

Virginia.

Virginia, are you serious? Oh wow, that's a long way!

MAN: She's, uh, not going in the right direction.

We can't take the 101?

I'll take the next left and go on to the coast.

MAN: Is that really an option?

People are going to see it on the maps,

everyone's looking at the blue dots. Everyone's watching her.

It's parallels, it's not cutting mileage, it's the same mileage.

There's a bunch of alternate routes to the Trans-America trail

and when I set up the rules, I posted any alternate is legitimate.

It's part of the official routes so they're all... Anybody who did it is not

a disqualified or anything.

Hey! Hello!

Boy, these guys are just unbelievable.

But, you know, last year, for my 62nd birthday,

I rode from Fort Bragg to San Luis Obispo.

For me, it was just a grueling test of physical and mental being, you know.

I'm a Vietnam veteran, disabled and I am just so grateful, you know,

I've been to prison, drug addict, alcoholic, blah, blah, blah.

You know, I went through it all, and now I have a lot of spirituality.

'Cause one thing about riding your bike, you can only focus on one thing.

That's riding your bike.

I rode 11 hours yesterday and only went about 43 miles, but I pushed my bike a whole

bunch 'cause it's just too... Way too big to push up the hill, you know.

So...

(CRYING) This is for all the guys that can't be out there, there's a lot of 'em.

I'm a real emotional guy when it comes to that.

Thank you, God bless you, guys.

MAN: You guys are freaking animals. You rocked it today, you know.

I feel like one.

Yeah? I was keeping up with this guy behind me here.

I don't know if I'll make it over. I'll start in, you know.

I want to ride at least till 11.

For me, it's going to depend on how cold it gets.

I get really cold at night.

So, I'm not going to risk sleeping high if it's really cold out there. So, I'll...

I'm going to start it and if it gets cold, I'll push over.

MAN: So, Ed and Jessie, they just busted up about two minutes ago.

Oh, really? Um, did you tell him how far I was behind?

Talk to you later. Cheers.

We drove up ahead after just chatting with those guys at the bottom there.

We were sleeping on the road, I heard a gear shift and, uh... And a British accent,

"Hey guys", Mike Hall whizzed by like, uh... Like he was 10 miles into

the beginning of a ride and he's well over 300 miles and he just blew by this gate.

Mike is super human. (LAUGHING)

That guy can pass so fast.

It was like we were just sitting there. Crazy.

MAN: So, did you get that text?

No, what text?

So, Juliana... I just got a text, two words, "Bad crash."

And, we see her up, ah... Going up on the pass on the other side,

two hours away from here.

I am going to try to call her.

Yeah.

And merge... Merge this call.

Are you okay... Are you okay?

Let it play out 30, 45 minutes 'cause two things will happen.

The shaken up part wears off

and allows her...

Whoever's with her to first access is she really hurt bad.

You know, concussion sort of thing or just scared, you know, shocked,

freaked out a little bit 'cause you crashed and that's scary when that happens.

And then also, obviously if there's any other, like,

injuries, flesh wounds,

possible fractures, anything like that,

then, flesh wounds you can patch up.

Fractures, that's probably end of the race.

I've got so much more living to do.

Where is everybody? Did you hear what happened to Juliana?

She went over her handle bars, bruised her sternum bad. I cleaned up her knee,

and then, I called... The guy that brought her into his pickup called the paramedics.

I'm doped up on ibuprofen.

MAN: Really? Yeah.

So sorry, I mean, that sucks that you had a crash, huh?

It's kind of my fault. Well, the sun was just rising, it got right in my eyes

and I didn't have my glasses on, so I didn't see this

giant rock on the road. Basically, just went right into it.

Boom, the bike went flying.

Oh, that's... Fortunately, A guy in a truck saw me and I literally

saw stars, and then, I was like basically fainted and he got me... He got me

in his car and took me to a restaurant just around the corner and called a medic,

I guess he was a medic.

I was a bit in shock, so I just waited till I calmed enough to go again.

It's more of a big bruise, really.

Yeah! Road rash.

(CHUCKLES)

Do you see a big lump? I have had this before because I have ridden

on cracked rib before.

In the next three, four days will be the worst, the pain will only get worse.

I don't feel like I'm doing some incredible riding yet.

Usually takes me about five days

to warm up and then, I can just go and go, go.

So, at the moment I am in kind of a jam. My body is kind of acclimatizing.

So, I'm hoping once it's acclimatized, I can get up to like

260 a day, at least.

HALL: This is hard work.

Yeah, Jason's about half an hour ahead

and, I don't think he slept last night.

Um,

so,

yeah, it's been pretty intense. He finished RAAM in nine days or something.

So, that's a quick ride.

So, I think he's going for no sleep at the moment,

he's got all of his powder on him and he just has a liquid diet but

he's going to struggle in the hills.

It's quite easy to ride up to him but he's not stopping.

Every time I stop, I need a good advantage there.

MAN: Mike Hall, back in number one position.

I always think he's like 40 miles up the road and all of a sudden,

we're on a climb and he kind of scoots up beside me again.

I haven't slept yet, the original plan was to till 1:00 this morning,

like tonight but, normally, I've got a van like that, sitting right there,

handing me water bottles but

this a little bit different. I just couldn't afford to do RAAM again,

so I was a little bit... I don't have to pay for a crew this way, right?

I, actually, was ahead of Mike Hall for one point of the race.

I'd like the record to very clearly show that.

Like, that's my strategy, like I'm not the fastest guy out here

but I can out camp him.

And take him at night when they're not expecting it.

They wake up in the morning and they're like, "What?"

People at the front are riding way too fast, it's insane.

I think Mike Hall just hit the 500 mile mark

and it's been... See, it's 2:00 now...

Seven, nine... That's 33 hours, 500 miles, like,

kind of, hurts my brain.

(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)

We're done with Trans-Am but we're going to do it a little longer.

(ALL CHUCKLING) That's okay.

I don't know, I guess I had expected they'll be at an average somewhere

in the 100 to 125 miles a day, so that's why I was really shocked to see those guys

are this far, this early.

I retired a little over a year ago. I found at the end of each day,

I had accomplished nothing.

So, um,

my friend that lives in Oregon and I live in Richmond, Virginia, decided that we do

a little tour, like, together this summer, so, we had no set agenda,

we are riding Trans-Am, and,

ah, the reason being, it lends itself to the route that we want plus the history

associated with this.

We're just having fun, riding our bikes.

End of story.

FRANZISKA HOLLENDER: And, I got into cycling only, almost a year ago, last August.

I had never cycled before, like, and I failed at a lot of things in my past,

so I decided to do something very different.

It's kind of fun to not be failing at this right now.

MAN: Okay. HOLLENDER: Feeling strong.

PETA MCSHARRY: I am ecstatic, just loving the scenery,

loving chatting to people, in a way,

I... I am super competitive.

Obviously, need to go and check and see where Juliana is.

'Cause, I'm going to have to get some sneaky, little strategy going,

I think, um, just to try and catch her.

I can't, I can't let her go.

I got about five and a half hours of sleep

and then, uh, I went through Baker City pretty early, so there wasn't much open

and then pushed on and had breakfast about 30 something miles back.

So, feeling the energy kicking in now,

had some pancakes and hash browns, that was good.

Try and make sure I don't pass them, post office 'cause I'm picking something up here,

I ain't turning around.

This is going to turn into like a 24-hour post office sprints unfortunately,

so I can continue drinking my food.

It's better than Christmas.

I found in the past, as soon as I started eating

real food, it makes you tired, it makes you sleepy tired and it makes you kind of slow.

It's kind of heavy.

It's not really a bike pack in ideal situation.

Did you, by any chance, see another rider?

I've got... I'm pretty loaded, I'm by myself, so I've got everything that I need.

My name is Joanna Abernethy and I am from Australia and I am doing this because

I want to do a tribute ride to Martin Luther King, that's the reason I am doing

this ride 'cause it was his 50 year anniversary

of the "I Have a Dream" speech last year and that's when I decided to do it.

There hasn't been a single person who has had anything negative to say,

they might say negative things about Barack Obama or the government but not...

Everybody, even the most surprising people, said Martin Luther King was a good man.

HALL: That was a long, long stretch.

I've just been to the lodge there, it's not open, but it's...

I just got brushed and what have you.

So I slept in the... In one of the camp ground toilets

for an hour and a half last night.

And I thought I was going to sort of play him at his own game and try

and stay ahead and stretch the lead out

and so I can get maybe a bit of a longer break.

Yeah, 72 hours in, um, three and a half,

four and a half hours of sleep, maybe.

I haven't seen my feet since... My bare feet, since Astoria.

Um, I'd probably have to check those out sometime later today.

Oh, I'm... I'm in Idaho.

I couldn't believe it.

It's a stepping stone to Montana, then Wyoming, and so, I want to get

through these and like just survive for four days,

heal on the back side of the Rocky's, and then, um,

see what's left.

I just like kind of a challenge of, you know, pretty soon I'm going to be...

I'm going to be gone and I'm gonna be a memory for my kids.

And, uh,

my father, who passed away recently said...

You know, um, I don't want to get choked up.

He always said, "Son, don't settle for a triple

"when you should've run all of the bases."

MAN: Mmm-hmm.

WILLIAMS: You know, go for it, hit a home run.

I spoiled myself. I had, um, a half a box of Milk Duds,

frozen so you can savor them,

you know, for a long time

and then, I finished off a day-old Subway sandwich.

Oh man, I'll tell you what, I think the shelf life on those

is at least two days. Is anything hurting?

A better way to question is "What isn't hurting?"

That's a better question.

'Cause everything is hurting.

I think my saddle sores have saddle sores at this point.

MAN: Don't tire yourself out for us.

(GROANING) Nah! (MAN CHUCKLES)

It'll be my one point two seconds of fame.

Brian Steele. What's Brian saying?

"Due to technical difficulties,

"I'm canceling my chicken fried steak

"taste-testing across the US.

"Oh, it's going to be a long

"cheek clenching day on the bike."

(LAUGHING)

Well, just let me tell you,

that right there was better than finding a trail angel

with a bottle of, with a bottle of water,

cool water in the middle of a desert.

All right, that's all I'm talking about.

Yee-haw!

Mike Hall has, uh, tipped over 1000 miles.

And we're sitting at

581 so, he's nearly doubled us.

So, we're the Clydesdale group.

STEELE: That's right. I don't think there is anybody...

So, we're handicapped, we get like, we get,

I heard we get seven days.

I heard we get seven days.

Seven days. (CHUCKLES)

VAUGHN: It's like a golf handicap.

My secret weapon, M&Ms, a little chocolate, a little peanut,

easy, doesn't melt very often.

Good all day long. (CHUCKLES)

I am thankful for a a lounge chair, padded...

I'm thankful for nothing. I am thankful to not be on that seat...

Little thicker than that... Yeah.

(CHUCKLES)

One of the things about going faster is

that it needs... You need more calories.

Hey, hey! Surprise, surprise! MAN: Hey!

We are without the water now. Stop!

(SPEAKING ITALIAN)

Water. Impossible.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(LAUGHING)

It's Grizzly bear time, Yay!

Food reserves in my teeth.

It's like the first sign of going feral.

(ALL LAUGHING)

The second is the leg hair.

Should I go on?

MAN: Did you get to ride with your fellow

Italians or did you pass them up?

I, I passed them twice yesterday,

I think they're destroyed. Yeah.

They, they, they didn't look too good, you know.

I wonder if one of them had heat stroke

'cause I passed one at the descent

when it was like 85 out

and he was wearing a jacket and going slow,

I was like, "That's not good."

Yeah, yeah, I saw him sitting out there he looked really rough,

he called me over and I was like, "Hey, you all right?"

He was like he's like

"How many hours do you pedal every day?"

I was like, "About, I don't know like...

"Depends on the day, maybe between 14 to 16 hours."

And he's like, "You're strong."

When I woke up this morning, I got up at 6:00,

um, I checked and Jason is still in Wisdom.

So, um, I think my margin's still safe.

So, I'm, I'm happy that I'm rested and ready to do more.

I was pretty much ruined by last night.

Ran out of caffeine and things like that, so it's, uh...

Yeah, I couldn't have, I couldn't have gone

much longer on that kind of regime.

It's, it's getting a bit silly.

(CHUCKLES)

Oh, yeah!

It's okay, it'll be all right.

I couldn't have been happier with the way that today was going.

I was easily going to get another 150 miles in,

um, like, no problem.

As soon as I get to the bottom, I start peddling,

there's this horrible noise. I peddle again, it does it again,

I get off the bike and this, the bottom bracket is cracked all the way through.

I'm having my mountain bike

sent here and it'll be here at 4:30 tomorrow.

I'm going to take everything off of the the bike that I'm on,

and put it on the yo-yo bike

and I'm going to chase them down on a mountain bike.

Everybody from, uh,

from Mike, all the way to the Lanterne Rouge

is giving 110%

to stay in this thing,

whatever their 110% is.

I even messaged Mike Hall.

I was like "Dude, do not let this RAAM guy get up there."

(LAUGHING)

MAN: Day six, Mike Hall, day six! Yeah!

I don't know where Jason is, but,

he could be on me by now, I don't know.

Did you guys catch up with him last night?

MAN: No! All right!

MAN: We're going there right now.

A little brisk this morning, huh?

LANE: I'll just keep riding at the same pace as I can.

I can't really go any faster, so,

if that catches him then that's great.

It's tougher mileage than you think,

like for everybody.

When I... I was like, yeah,

kind of the 285,

290 a day, maybe, 300 on good days,

and then, you kind of...

You just realize how much extra time looking after yourself takes.

Getting water, food,

making sure your bike's okay,

that all adds up. Then you get tired.

And that just adds minutes to everything.

I only slept for an hour last night,

mostly because it was so cold,

woke up shivering

so I just started biking again.

You guys lost? MAN: Yeah.

Where are we?

Where did, where did the Italian boys go?

GOLDBERG: Giorgio is 61.

The, the other guy, Paolo, is 37

and leads randonne trips.

He was telling me all kinds of stories back there, he's cool.

I got them eating bean burritos now, they're in trouble.

Did you guys see the Italians behind us today? Yeah.

They are desperate. They've been behind us all day trying to keep up.

Were they, were they drafting?

No really, the Italian men were not laying off.

That's why I've got these two Italians on my tail.

They are desperate not to go home like,

having been whipped by me

because, seriously, Italian men are the worst.

They'll chase you.

When I rode around the world, I, only wore one pair of shoes,

the same ones, all the way around the world.

I pedaled 144 days.

Um, but, like the total time

including flights and stuff was 152 days.

Which for, for not having cycled ever, wasn't bad.

Come in if you like. Yeah.

I might even buy you one.

The guy that fathered me,

he died

77 years old.

And he drank, he smoked.

I'm smoking and I'm drinking and...

Hi, Mom!

(CHUCKLES)

And I ain't gonna change my ways for nobody.

It's my life.

Be honest.

Be honest, honest with yourself.

Don't get no better than that

and look for gold.

(CHUCKLES)

BUHRING: That really, really, really tired me out.

(SIGHS) Did not sleep well.

(DEVICE BEEPING) I hate chirpy morning people,

takes me like two hours usually to wake up.

Set up my bivvy, and literally a minute after

I put my sleeping bag in, a bird shits on it.

I'm like, "Are you kidding me?" (LAUGHING)

I'm like it must be the ghosts around here.

I had a ghost dream last night.

I don't remember much but it was a ghost walking by me

and he was disturbing my sleeping bag.

It was not a good day for me.

And, what else next?

Couple of beers and bagels would be all right.

(LAUGHING)

My fiancee now is...

I have to send it to her because

we always joke about when we go on road trips, (CELL PHONE CHIMES)

We always get... Well, I always get an oatmeal cream pie

and she makes of it.

(SPEAKING ITALIAN)

STAUFFER: I just wanted to cross the country on my bike

riding bike's okay but racing? Better, yeah.

Yeah, I wanted to do "Race Across America" actually.

It's where I kind of got into this

and that didn't work out so this came up

and I was like, "Yeah, I'm doing this."

Getting chilly now.

MAN: A little bit, huh?

Yeah, it was all right when I was climbing, but...

Where are you from?

Pennsylvania. MAN: Cool.

Central Pennsylvania, so we've got, uh, some mountains but nothing like this.

Oregon was tough.

Montana was better.

Wyoming is better, yeah. (CHUCKLES)

STAUFFER: Yeah! MAN: Big deal. Getting better and better.

STAUFFER: Oh, yeah! Getting better all the time.

BILLY RICE: I don't think I made the best sleep deprived decision

that I've ever made.

It's slow.

Hopefully, I'll, uh, I'll be back on the road bike,

maybe, tomorrow or the next day.

It's okay.

You know, an added degree of difficulty,

you don't want this to be too easy,

you know, anybody could do it.

My biggest issue, last couple of days, has been some serious saddle sores.

I, actually, looked down like two days ago

I had blood running down my thighs. MAN: Wow.

It's not a pretty, pretty picture at all.

PICKUP: Other than that, it's been beautiful.

(LAUGHING)

RICE: It's so good, it's so good.

It's good times out here.

BUHRING: Italians have rolled in.

MAN: Can't shake them.

Cannot shake them. They don't sleep.

Pedaled all night to keep up with them.

Between you and me, I think they are taking something.

I'm doing my best to like keep

to the spirit of race, and I think the spirit of the race is to

be out there, slogging it, you know.

I knew the moment I would get in the top 10...

(STAMMERS) The focus would go on like

my, my every single move.

It's fine but, like, everyone else around me,

there's no focus on them, like, come on.

How is it fair?

There's always that kind of people in the world.

There's the watchers, there's the doers,

and the watchers always criticize the doers

because the watchers never would do anything themselves.

Ultimately, I'm in it for the ride, so,

I don't really care what people say.

Still going to ride it.

I, I took the tracker off my, off my phone,

it makes you obsessive compulsive

and I'm not obsessive, compulsive at all, man.

You know that.

I just like to ride.

I got to get that out of my head.

Every one of these races, some dude gets in my head and it just bugs me

and then I have to, like meditate on my...

I put a little mantra on here.

My glove blew off on the pass.

MAN: Oh, no. (CHUCKLES) That's okay, I have backups.

GOLDBERG: Oh, today's mantra?

"Everyone suffers, it's just a matter of degree.

"Just like love and happiness."

BUHRING: My upbringing

or my life up until a certain point was,

well, not, not the easiest, certainly not idealic,

um, environment for a child to grow up in

and so I did learn a lot of mental toughness

and independence, um...

And although it was a pretty rough childhood,

I can honestly say at this point that I am

grateful for it because it's turned me into who I am,

which I know I can count on myself in the tough times

and it has given me a certain level of mental fortitude.

HALL: And, I just think that it's more about

settling in and getting comfortable and then just

letting your brain wander off elsewhere and

you're not going that fast,

you're not going that lactate threshold type pain.

It's not muscles burning and teeth clenched and

smashing down the walls of human,

you know, adversity and things.

It's riding your bike and then,

riding a bit more and then, some more.

(EXHALES) This is quite tough, actually.

(SHIVERS)

Leave it to sea level to alert me.

The air around here as well starts to get to my throat after a while.

(COUGHS)

When you get to Kansas, you'll be able to see where everybody else is

just look behind you.

WOMAN: So, um,

you know, today is Father's Day.

I... (CHUCKLES)

I was going to say that to you,

because you were... (CHUCKLES)

That's so awesome!

So, congratulations!

So, you ready to be a dad?

So, Happy Father's Day!

I need to call my dad, speaking of which.

(CHUCKLES)

GUSKE: I should probably get on the road.

Get going so you can get back to me.

LANE: I, uh,

I had a plan to stop in Florence last night

so, regardless of

where I was, early or late, I was stopping

at the Super 8 in Florence

I had mailed some stuff there ahead of time. MAN: Gotcha.

So, my half way is... I had a chain if I needed a chain, tires.

I like Kansas. MAN: Yeah.

I'm like one of the few.

Every year I ran, well, the last two years,

we get there and I loved Kansas.

Like, you get a lot of crosswind,

'cause you typically get a crosswind

from the... Usually from the north and then, it switches to the south.

(WIND WHOOSHING)

WOMAN: We were spoiled with no wind for a few days

now, we get to learn all over again.

That bicyclist coming through here,

usually by the time we see him, it's

30, 40 days into their trip from coast to coast. Yeah.

This gentlemen's following your group that left

Oregon eight days ago.

They're averaging 300 miles a day on the bicycles.

Oh, crap! (LAUGHING)

I think that's something you ought to try

before harvest, next year. Nope!

MAN: Mike's in about a 120 miles ahead

of the next guy. WOMAN: Oh, my goodness!

At times, it's had a little bit of a tail to it. (WIND WHOOSHING)

That winds been nice on the way in but

now, it's a 90 degree turn straight into it.

MAN: Yeah.

We're looking for nearly 10 miles an hour.

This is an average day. (WIND WHOOSING)

Windy is when it gets up above 90 miles an hour

and I have to bend over to come out the door.

I don't envy the bikers at all in this wind.

They're already fighting it, then there's no wind and then you

get sucked in with the truck.

It's gets pretty nasty.

The Italians are really pursuing me today.

MAN: Yeah? They got on your tail again.

They're hauling ass. They've been cycling since 11:00 last night.

That's how desperate they are not to let me get ahead.

But, it's fine I, only, slept for three hours last night.

I want to get over and finished with the mountains so I can

speed along tomorrow.

My bike's screw's broken,

so my seat has been going down and lower and lower,

so, now my knees are killing me.

Damn Italians have arrived.

I must run.

Seriously, when are the guys gonna sleep?

LANE: Started looking at the maps and like

I don't have enough stuff to drink.

Started rationing on the way down here to...

Every mile I was allowed one little gulp of water

just in case there's nothing here, I mean, I was going to start to find

somebody's house which got a water spigot on the outside or something

but there's this thing here which I assume is okay to drink.

MAN: Yeah. LANE: I tell you, if I was going to do this again...

MAN: Yeah.

...I will probably rethink my Spiz diet.

All of that is Spiz right now.

MAN: Whoa. So, you take...

And it's heavy. So, you take this and this out... MAN: Yep.

You don't need anything upfront,

and there's another thing of Spiz in my backpack

and without the Spiz that means that the water bottles

aren't full of Spiz, they're full of water.

BUHRING: Is that it?

Make it harder.

(CHUCKLES) (MAN CHUCKLES)

(EXHALES)

Why do we climb mountains? Downhill!

Best downhill ever.

MAN: (SHOUTING) Come on, Mike.

We've got chocolate milk.

You're here.

You have no special favors.

All 43 of you are going to get food when they get here,

and whatever you need. This is cool.

Here, you don't expect bike shops to do

amazing things like this, do you?

We're not a normal bike shop though, we never have been.

We didn't start that way and we won't finish that way, so...

No, this is a very cool set up.

That head wind was a side wind

and there were just big trucks like that.

They were all just getting really close

and they had horns on them and stuff like that and I'm...

I was about 45 degrees, trying to keep straight.

It was ridiculous.

Got another 2100 and some change to go!

Thank you! Thank you, man and have a safe trip.

Yup. Cheers! I'll be back I'm sure.

BUHRING: Cycling into the night, I love it,

I love the silence, I love the darkness and just

being alone

and the peace that you feel.

It's freezing cold and a really bad wind but

just laying out and watching the stars,

I don't think I'd rather be anywhere else right now.

(WIND WHOOSHING)

WOMAN: How is the wind out there?

MAN: Better than yesterday-ish.

WOMAN: Is it more favorable today?

MAN: Um, it's about the same sort of crosswind

it's just a little section

where you have to head directly into it.

WOMAN: Mmm-hmm MAN: It don't seem as...

WOMAN: As bad. Okay.

MAN: But still not good. WOMAN: Yeah.

He, actually, did say that if there was hamburger here,

you might drop your liquid diet for a minute.

(ALL LAUGHING)

MAN: So, does the food taste good? It's pretty good.

MAN: Yeah. Yeah, it hits the spot.

You're not considering that you are probably

eat the rear end out of a rhinoceros right now,

hamburgers are probably pretty good.

MAN: God speed, Jason. Farewell, brother.

We happen to be one of

very few towns that the

Trans-Am cyclists that use the Trans-American trail

uh, get to come right down

in the middle of our main street.

So, our mission here, at Newton Bike Shop is to

make sure that everybody can bike.

It's not about your bicycle,

we don't care that you got it from a department store,

42% of people in America get their bikes from department stores,

so why wouldn't we fix those.

Look what's here? (CHUCKLES)

So, the plan is just to get this together, eat.

Um, you know, you reach a point

in these races where that whole, like four hours of sleep

and eating on the go and like that, all falls apart.

So, I got hit by a horse trailer.

I saw the truck pass me and then, he tried to like

scooch over to the right

and he clipped at me with like the back of the trailer

you know, it had like a little, uh, like a lip that came out,

and he... It just... I was in my aero bars

but he hit, he hit this

which just spun everything sideways, over I went.

It's going to feel good though, to be back on this road bike.

Have to relearn to ride this thing.

(WOMAN CHEERING)

He's back on his race machine, he'll start picking people off.

It will be really fun to watch, so,

he's not done yet. He's still got more to go.

MAN: So, my daughter and I did that last night

and put it up last night

to give them something.

MAN: That's awesome. It's a long ride.

PICKUP: The wind is killing me the last couple of days.

(SNIFFS)

It's the third time now I've ridden across the Plains,

I am never doing it again.

When I, when I fell asleep, I didn't really realize

it was just completely infested with mosquitos.

I woke up like 4:00 this morning completely

bitten to hell with it.

Yeah, it's hot, it's windy, it's tough.

Pueblo is like the, uh, the half-way point

and you kind of, mentally think,

"Yeah, I've cracked it, this is awesome."

I've got some flats coming up.

You know, you've probably got some knee issues and some

tendon issues after the mountains,

then you hit the flats and it's just like,

"This is so much worse."

The daily mileage just isn't, uh...

I just underestimated the amount of time...

Especially, I am not a fast-acting person, obviously, to stand here,

going into stores and getting your supplies and everything just

takes way more time than you think.

Yeah, you can almost start to like, think about it.

It's only Missouri and then, cross the river, and Illinois,

you'd only be the little, tiny part of it.

Cross that river and then you've got what a couple of days

to cross Kentucky and then you're basically in Virginia,

just go up and over the ridge.

Doesn't sound too bad.

Need a little massage right now, a little massage

and, oh, I need a massage on my

uh, saddle sores, it feels fantastic.

This feels good, right here, all this, right here.

Awesome. It was kind of defeating,

watching all those blue dots pull away

when you check it out and you're like, "Okay",

and then it just kind of settles in

that you got to realize you got to run your own race

and it's between me and me

you know, me and my thoughts.

Me, how far I can push myself

and, um, I don't think I've really reached that yet.

I've gone through a lot of pain and suffering out here but,

it's gotten... Just cold, cold.

He's got a real light shirt on

right in the middle of the road. The crest.

The middle of the road!

Actually, to the far end left.

As we see him, you can't see him?

He's coming down the road.

No.

I see a little reflection. He's almost a yellow shirt now.

You're looking like five miles out there.

No, it's less than a mile now.

White truck coming down... Yeah.

Double the distance, he's on the left hand side. That's him.

Like a little reflection.

A little reflection.

See him now?

He's just crossing the... You can't see the color of his shirt?

Yes, I can it's either... It's a white shirt.

Actually, I think his light was the cause of the reflection.

That's... I saw the headlights, what I could see.

Look up and wave.

Hey! I'll buy you dinner

if you want to stop.

STEELE: Have the other guys already gone through?

There is one guy that went through.

Who's that guy?

I can't turn down the free dinner, right?

That's right. Come on, come on! I'll buy you dinner.

I want dinner.

I know.

I'd be happy to... (INDISTINCT CHATTER)

All right.

And then, he told me...

Your sandwich.

Yes, I will pack all that, just give me a second.

You need cash, brother?

No, no, I'm good.

That's better. (LAUGHS)

Russell and Dave,

those guys were so awesome.

HALL: It's Portsville down...

(CLICKS TONGUE)

Town on the rivers

on creek crossings...

(SIGHS)

It's good to get that out of the way with that in the night.

It's just everything in this. It just hounds you all the time from...

You know, you started out there and you're into mucky,

like, saw-teeth climbs like this.

Seventy miles in, in 4000 is not a huge gap.

I just need to make sure I don't make too many mistakes and

and just keep moving.

I can see he's not stopping that often

and I might be riding a little bit quicker

but, um, I tend to stop more often and eat and stuff,

so he catches up.

I better get finished tonight.

Oh, you've got to be kidding me. What are you guys doing here?

MAN: What are you doing here?

I don't know what I'm doing here.

This is, this is a tough ride. Yeah?

There's nobody else saying? Everybody else saying it's easy?

MAN: (CHUCKLES) No. (LAUGHS)

Or, am I just the only one hallucinating out here? (CHUCKLES)

On a daily basis,

the conversations I have with the cows are incredible.

My mantra for today is,

"Believe in the innate kindness and compassion of all living beings",

because all I found that in the state of Kansas

is people who care about you.

The first night,

I, I fought that wind for eight hours to go 65 miles.

It took me eight miles an hour

I got to the town, the guy gave me a hotel room

and the lady kept the restaurant open

even though it was closed. Made me a steak dinner.

I woke up before my alarm this morning which is a bit odd.

Seems like I only slept for four hours.

I have not really got a goal in mind

'cause I don't know what day it is.

So, I really do not know that day it is,

I think it might be Thursday, but I don't know.

You can't take yourself too seriously

it's only riding bikes at the end of the day.

You're not curing cancer or anything.

(GROANS) Well, I got here maybe about

12:30 last night.

(SNIFFS) And, uh...

Hey, I forgot there was a ferry.

Quite a lot of bugs there so...

They were trying to bite me.

But other than that...

I had a decent few hours of sleep in the end.

Ah, it starts at 6:00 in the morning. (SNIFFS)

So the first one's...

We've just missed I think.

I am ready for my breakfast.

(METAL CLANKS)

And, I remember, um, looking at it on the map and...

Rings a bell there was ferry ride but...

That's the last bit of paper now.

They're just significant towns.

So it's a breeze.

3189.

Oh, I don't know. I must've been saying for the past two days that,

"Oh, just three or four more days."

And it always seems that, that same distance away.

I always thought it will be 16 or less, but...

We weren't, we weren't really racing at the start,

I mean we didn't pace ourselves too much.

I think it's just that, that

little bit longer that you go out hard

like that and then you just

blow yourself up a little bit, I think.

MAN: Day what? 10?

Oh, no, dude, it's like 15 or something like that.

We just saw Jesse and Juliana,

the Italians got by them,

uh, just as they were waking up

and I know Juliana is super motivated

to uh, to not let the Italians stay in front of her.

Yeah, Italians passed.

At least we slept good, they didn't.

The other guys are behind us.

How far?

MAN: Don't know.

STAUFFER: I've said, "Hi." "Hi and Bye!"

I just asked them how they were doing and everything, you know.

That's the first time I've seen them on the road.

(BARKING)

Are they close?

Did you see them? MAN: Yeah.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Hasta la vista, baby!

That was awesome.

Nothing like a little early morning racing.

BUHRING: One of the Italians just rode up next to me after I passed them

and basically accused me of cheating to get this far.

He said that it's impossible that, um, I've beaten him

after cycling just two and a half years

and he has been racing his whole life and it's impossible that I am faster than him

so, therefore, I must be cheating.

And, I said "Really, how can we cheat?"

He said, "You have a camper van.

"I know you have a camper van following you."

(CHUCKLES) I was so angry.

She just graduated from nursing school

got a job right out.

I just got a new job. We just sold and bought a new house.

Now she's pregnant.

It's like everything is just kind of all happening at once, so...

It's all overwhelming but

extremely exciting too, so...

Part of me was like, I just want to go home

after like she told me, but, I'm like "I got to go finish at least."

My hand doesn't function so I have to

shift with my other hand.

MAN: What happened? I don't know.

I think it's just from the pressure of being on my hands all day.

There's just no strength in it.

Kinda looked like he was little bit wore out.

(LAUGHS) He still looks kind of wore out.

The sun, you know, takes a lot out of people.

'Cause I know, I walk every day, five, 10 miles.

I've done walk five miles this morning

and I'll walk back home. MAN: Good.

Yeah! I'll walk up here.

People say, you know, wonder why, I say, "Well, I'm 67."

You know, I want to keep my health.

I had this thing already mapped out

that I knew it was on the race route, so, I just

figured, well,

I might as well just stay up and ride and

grab an afternoon nap in the sun instead of, uh, sleeping in the wet.

Y'all going cross country?

Well, it should be done Tuesday. How far?

And, how far you got?

Huh, we've got about 850 miles...

A little over 800 miles left, we have done 3500 in two weeks.

Damn!

I just sit on this thing all day.

Well, good luck!

Thanks guys. Good luck.

I've got my emergency ration of bagels and Nutella

which I'll probably and may be have before bed or for breakfast.

Pretty nice, little lifestyle.

You know, the whole trying to be an athlete,

training all the time,

you know, pretending you're not really a grown up and just pretty much fun,

like everything about it.

Traveling real far places,

like going all over the world and doing crazy stuff.

Watching Eco-Challenge when I was a little kid,

being like, "That is awesome."

Guys running through the forest.

Ours is a coal mine place but it ain't much anymore.

The way things are going, you know what I mean.

Uh, I wish things would pick up.

Wouldn't be... Wouldn't be having a yard sale,

you know what I mean. (CHUCKLES)

Trying to pay the bills.

I talked to one dude, he's like,

his first time he ever done a cross country,

and he said...

But when he got here

and got these mountains and he said,

"This is my last time I ever doing it",

he said "I'll never do those trails again."

Nothing but mountains, nothing but curves, steep curves too.

I don't see how they do it, man.

HALL: Oh, that last bit of road down was hectic.

Just weary.

It just doesn't seem to end.

I just want to get done.

Just start eating everything in sight.

STAUFFER: Ice cream. I love ice cream.

BUHRING: I, actually, tried putting on weight before I came out

because I knew I would lose weight.

WOMAN: I've heard of crazy people like that?

Define "crazy."

I think that's entirely subjective.

I think crazy is sitting behind a desk from 9:00 to 5:00.

WOMAN: I am sorry. MAN: It's okay.

WOMAN: Here, I don't know anything about you guys

but I know you have to have food,

and I want you to have that.

Oh, thank you. You are such an angel. Thank you so much.

Yeah! Whoo!

HALL: Yeah, I'm starting to feel a bit spaced out now.

My hand won't do certain things.

We were half way with

all the mountains done

in seven days, seven and a half days.

I don't think you can suggest that the last part is easier.

Someone asked me about the "Round the world" race.

I said to him,

"You know, when you... When you want to do it again and enjoy it,

"but if you enjoy racing, then it's what you enjoy.

"Going slowly isn't necessarily more enjoyable."

(DOG BARKING) I've just got to sleep.

See if I can get a Coke.

(CHUCKLES) That'll help.

MAN: Uh-oh! Jesus Christ!

This is damned worse than it was last night, that's for sure.

Are you going to miss the ferry, now?

(CHUCKLES)

Somebody can steal whatever they want.

I'd be interesting to see if the Italians show up though

'cause I don't think the first ferry runs until 8:00 tomorrow.

(BREATHING HEAVILY)

(GROANS) I am not in the mood to deal with this right now.

(GRUNTS)

(GROANS)

Now what?

Ride 12 miles and find something.

That's what you call a long, fucking day.

(SPEAKING ITALIAN)

(SPEAKING ITALIAN)

(SPEAKING ITALIAN)

(SPEAKING ITALIAN)

We didn't sleep at all last night, we just kept going.

Because of the heat, I've been thinking then to sleep, during the heat,

but, now that there's a lead I don't think I'm gonna stop,

I am just gonna keep riding. I'll sleep tonight.

He wants to sleep. He keeps falling asleep everywhere,

every time we stop, I find him like laying on the road, just like...

(IMITATES SNORING) (CHUCKLES)

There are still people in Colorado. That's crazy!

That's what you get for being slow. Sorry, that's terrible.

(LAUGHING)

I like your shirt, man. Thank you.

That's perfect for a day like today.

That's fashion. That's Kentucky fashion.

HALL: And, back there, before, uh,

before Buchanan went off the road twice.

Just not completely off the road, but just,

(IMITATES SWOOSHING)

The first patch of shade I saw,

I just laid down.

Look, I've had some allergy thing today but that's not doing any good either.

Things are swelling up and rashes and it's all just...

I think I'm suspending doing anything about it.

This is probably the time when you should be looking after yourself the most, but...

I do just want to get it done, but...

Everything is dead. Everything is dying.

Seven miles up there.

(INDISTINCT MUTTERING)

MAN: Dude, he is going for it. He's not gonna sleep.

Mount Vesuvius.

HALL: It's different for everybody, really, what constitutes adventure.

I don't necessarily feel the need to live in a bigabag consistently for two weeks.

And it's more about, "Does it intimidate you? Does it worry you that

"you're taking on something a bit bigger than you thought it was gonna be?"

Are you in front?

Yeah, I'm in first place, yeah. First place?

The next guy's maybe a 100 miles back. 100 miles back?

Good God! What, have you got, a motor on your bike or something?

(CHUCKLING)

Normally, I have coconut pie and chocolate cake for breakfast but...

Here, you go, buddy.

You headed to Yorktown? Yeah.

So, it's 200, about 200 miles from here.

(LAUGHING)

(GROANS)

Uh.

(EXHALES HEAVILY)

They're all right. It's a good part of the... Just part of the scenery.

But I can't understand what they're saying.

(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)

(ALL LAUGHING)

I will go there but my boat ain't gonna charge you that much.

(CHUCKLING)

What seems to be the problem?

Okay, my gear's actually not shifting very well.

I don't know if it's just the chain that needs changing or whatever.

All right, so, first things first, let me check your chain.

So, it was stretched well enough that just changing this should help

significantly. Hopefully anyway.

(CHAIN CLANGING)

STAUFFER: Put the old one on.

I think the old one is gonna work better than that one.

I was afraid of that.

As soon as I walked into that bike shop, yeah...

I hope she gets the old one on and it works, but...

MAN: So, I've the pin coming out.

No, I'm just going to grab another chain and use it.

They're here. The Italians are here.

Should be all right. Thanks, man.

Oh no, don't thank me.

I feel terrible now, you guys.

I'm so sorry for the hassle.

Did it get fixed? It sounded like it was still skipping but worse.

Hey, did you see a girl ride by on a bike?

Uh, no, not yet. Not yet? Okay.

Saw a guy. Yeah.

It's very strange, she would be going backwards on... Yeah, but, it could just be

a fluke with the dot, you know.

Hmm.

Backwards on the row, that's just... Especially in this area.

Shit, I seriously feel like something's wrong.

We'll figure it out.

'Cause there's no reason you'd punish yourself going up and down these hills again.

So, you see her further down? Yeah, she is down at the bottom of this.

This is strange.

There she is.

Is she in there? Yeah!

BUHRING: I was just going up the hill, and it just snapped.

Too much pressure I think. The guy, he didn't put the link on very well...

I... I guess.

It was such a mistake from start to finish.

She wanted to know where a bicycle shop is and this is the closest I could find.

They don't have like bike stuff here but apparently,

Randal can fix anything.

Let's hope you don't lie. (CHUCKLES)

RANDAL: You don't have buy new parts intact with you?

Yeah, the body parts, but...

That's what I was wondering.

I don't usually...

Like a car race, if you blow the motor, you're out of it.

I don't know if you remember?

Oh, yeah, for sure.

Loose tires, or chains, or...

We're gonna have to buy some bike tools.

Let's leave them right in there.

No, why don't we just leave it like that.

Okay, so, it's supposed to come right through that?

Yeah, like this and through there and there, under...

A cable broke off of it or something.

Probably costs as much as a Harley.

(CHUCKLES)

BUHRING: You all right? Yeah, hold on right there.

It won't cut better.

One side's braided...

BUHRING: Yeah, turn the pedal.

All right! Wow, you guys...

I just hittin' the hammer. Yeah, it's working.

You guys rock.

Well, at least they did it.

Thank you, I really appreciate it.

Now I have a beer in me, I have a bit more energy.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

How long do you expect to ride that tonight?

Oh, all night.

I'll just keep going 'cause I have to put some distance between me and the others.

I don't know where I need to go.

It's been one of those days.

Yeah, it's good hillbilly quality, tough as nails.

Whoo! Done!

Yeah!

(SIGHS)

(CHUCKLING)

MAN: That was a long ride.

That was too long.

Even managed to creep into another day, didn't it?

Cool!

(MARCHING BAND PLAYING)

(CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)

That's not a bad finish line. (LAUGHING)

HALL: Congratulations, mate. Thanks, you too, Mike.

Good job.

It didn't seem like it was ever going to end, did it? Oh, jeez!

All right!

WOMAN: Hello! Yeah!

WOMAN: Hey!

WOMAN 2: Congratulations!

(LAUGHING)

Phew!

(ALL LAUGHING)

You're here, you made it!

Yeah.

Yeah! WOMAN: Very impressive!

Can't believe it's done!

Good work, Ed.

I've been up to go anywhere but we keep peddling.

It's depressing!

I'm basically drugged up because I've got a pinched nerve down this entire leg

and my back and it hurts so bad, I can't even move my leg,

so I'm paddling with one leg.

It's pathetic.

Hey, mate, the Italians are coming.

I saw them.

(CHEERING AND WHOOPING)

(SIGHS)

Well done, kid. Oh, Mike.

Come here.

Excellent ride, well done! Very proud of you!

(LAUGHS)

You look dead. Yeah, I haven't slept in over two days.

Yeah, dude.

GUSKE: It's like I've kind of been waiting for the moment for a while and now,

it's actually happening.

Does it feel... Does it feel real to you, yet?

I've been kind of in my own...

Real world, not real world place, so...

An alien?

Yea, I know what you mean.

MURARI: Yeah. (CHUCKLES)

LAURETI: Yeah.

MAN: It was really hard. (ALL LAUGHING)

Exhausting.

WOMAN: No, you're good, Nathan, you can stay in the picture!

Say "Cheese!"

(CAMERA CLICKING)