Bulldog pedals cross country

Pure grit and undeniable determination got senior Quinton Egger across the finish line of a 4,109 mile cross country bike trip this past summer with a group of Eagle Scouts. Egger embarked on this adventure in Seattle, Washington on June 17 and passed nearly every summer day on his bicycle until he reached the finish on Aug. 22 in Washington DC 66 days later.

“I’d heard of people [biking across the country] and it’s always been something I wanted to do,” Egger said. “I was thinking I would do it when I got older, but the opportunity came up now so I decided to take it.” In the past, Egger has competed in triathlons which gave him some experience in biking. However, to prepare for this trip, he needed a lot more than that. Egger made a point of biking every single day, no matter what. “It didn’t matter how far I went, just that I at least touched the bike.” Egger said.

Throughout the journey, Egger faced numerous challenges, such as crossing the Rocky Mountains and even getting hit by a car. The latter occurred in PA, nearly at the end of the race. Egger explained that an older gentleman failed to see him and accidently rear ended him. “I flew up on the hood of the car and then hit the gravel trying to figure out what had happened,” Egger said. While sore, Egger did not sustain any serious injuries. During these hard days, Egger found motivation by looking at everything he’d already done. He said, “I’ve come this far, why stop now?”

While almost every day was spent biking, the participants did have some sightseeing opportunities along the way. “We went to Yellowstone, Devil’s Tower, the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, New York City, Cape May, and Washington DC,” Egger said. His favorite place to be was Northwestern Montana because, “It was the prettiest.”

On Aug 22, 22 of the original 25 participants crossed the finish line in Washington DC. To celebrate the completion of such a feat, the bikers feasted on blue crabs and cake and Borough of Newville officially declared Aug. 29 “Quinton Egger Day” in his honor. Egger emerged from the trip with a renewed understanding of how irrelevant time can be. “During the trip, I didn’t know what day it was or even what month it was. It didn’t matter. Sometimes it’s okay to slow down and enjoy things, there’s no reason to rush,” he said.

After crossing such an adventure off his bucket list, Egger has already started to look ahead, considering bike trips across Europe, Asia, or even Australia. While all are within reach, Egger plans to settle down and focus on college, saving more adventures for farther down the road.