This Senita teen is on a cross-country bike ride

He’s 18 and cycling about 70 miles a day, from small town to smaller town, cruising the silver highway somewhere in Wyoming, then beyond.

Tracen Tanner, who graduated early in December from Maricopa Virtual Academy after spending most of his education at A+ Charter School, is on an incredible journey from Astoria, Ore., to Yorktown, Va., about 3,500 miles.

The Senita resident is riding the TransAmerica Trail adventure that cuts and winds through 10 states.

“I really didn’t have to do much planning because it already exists,” Tanner said of the trail.

He didn’t train for the trip just because he rides a lot and isn’t in a hurry other than he hopes to reach the East Coast by the end of summer.

“I just got on my bike and got my permits and headed for Oregon,” he said.

Most recently, he cruised through the Grand Tetons, the high country of Wyoming, reaching altitudes of more than 5,000 feet.

“When I went through grizzly bear country, that was very scary,” he said, simply because there wouldn’t be much metal to protect him.

The trail starts at a scenic coastline beach on Oregon’s oft-foggy beaches and wends through Boise, Idaho, through that state’s panhandle and into southwest Montana, then to the center of Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and, finally, Virgina.

Tanner has been stopping along the way at campgrounds and town parks to sleep in his pack tent. About once every two weeks, he stays at an inn. He might grab dinner at a tiny grocery store or sit down at a roadside diner nightly.

Along the way, he said he’s running into other cyclists, riding from Mexico to Canada, or Canada to Los Angeles.

On his best day with lots of hills, he’s traveled up to 135 miles, the distance from Shashone to Casper, Wyo.

His shortest day was 18 miles, with headwinds around Casper just too relentless to overcome, he said.

He packs high-protein, high-carb snacks in his saddle packs, like beef jerky, pop tarts and granola bars.

He wears a yellow vest to be visible to the many cars and semi-trucks that blast by him, some coming too close for comfort.

As of Thursday, he had trekked about 1,400 miles.

His Specialized Rock Hopper mountain bike has been fitted with road tires for the long haul on pavement.

“I’m just taking my time,” he said in a phone interview while another semi blows by, sounding like a jet taking off.

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