When Amy Ernenwein (Turtle Clan) dipped her bike wheels into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Washington on May 23, she wasn’t racing toward a finish line—she was beginning a long and amazing journey through the country’s mountain ranges, great plains, busy highways and isolated back roads. Over 109 days and 4,308 miles, she pedaled her bike and four panniers with her friend, Dan Mitchell, from a tiny coastal town to the boardwalk lights of Coney Island.
The trip was far from easy. Heat waves, headwinds, and unexpected flat tires tested her patience. Some days brought endless climbs, and others with long stretches of isolation. But each morning, she packed up her gear, swung her leg over the bike, and reminded herself of a simple truth: “You just can’t quit on a bad day.”
Amy had learned that mantra years earlier through hiking the Appalachian Trail. On her fourth day of that trek, she’d realized she could finish the entire thing — that she had the endurance and mindset to see it through. The same quiet confidence resurfaced on this ride.
“I just kind of knew we were going to do it,” she said.
Amy and Dan met while bike riding on the Erie Canal three years ago. Biking has always been a major part of their relationship. Last year, they rode from Amy’s driveway all the way to Niagara Falls and then down to Washington, D.C.— a journey totaling 1,005 miles. Even before they finished, their minds were already thinking about their next challenge: a cross-country ride.
What surprised her most wasn’t the difficulty of the miles, but the generosity of people that appeared along the way. One day, they found themselves stranded with a flat tire and no tubes left to change it. A stranger pulled up to them asking if they needed help and took them to the nearest hotel a few miles away.
On another occasion, when Amy and Dan had pushed a long day’s ride a little too far—hungry, tired and running on fumes—a friendly hotel owner handed them the keys to their truck so they could drive into town for a pizza instead of backtracking on their bikes.
“People took the time for you,” she recalled, still amazed at the chain of kindness that seemed to follow her.
Among the many highlights of the trip, some of the most memorable moments came while crossing Coeur d’Alene territory in Idaho, camping in Yellowstone National Park, and visiting the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota. The scenic trails of the Pacific Northwest offered a breathtaking beauty that was hard to put into words, with the Cascade Mountains rising in the background along the long winding roads.
Her family, including her mother, Jenny (Turtle Clan), and father, Jack Ernenwein, followed from home with equal devotion. Each night, they traced her route on pages from a road atlas, adding notes about her progress and snippets of her day — the funny moments, the hard days, and the small victories. Those pages became a second journal and a shared record of progress in their daughter’s steady movement eastward.
To her, this ride wasn’t about competition or records, it was about showing that adventure belongs to anyone willing to make the time for it. “I just set my mind to it and went out and did it,” she said simply.
Her open, adaptable outlook translated naturally to her career at Turning Stone Enterprises, where she spent 25 years building relationships and creating meaningful connections. She retired in 2017, but the people skills she developed there continue to shape how she approaches every new encounter. Her brother, David, continues to work as an Operations Manager at YBR Casino and Sports Book.
By the time she and Dan rolled into Coney Island on September 8, they had crossed a continent and could finally celebrate their shared accomplishment. The support she received from her family and friends, as well as strangers she met along the way, wasn’t about how fast she rode, but about her determination and desire to complete such a tough challenge.
“It worked out in my life that I had a window of time to do this,” Amy explained. “But whatever your thing is—just make the time. You can do it.”
Now home again, Amy still is thinking about what comes next. She thought about a canoe trip down the Mississippi River, the Greenway Trail that goes from Maine to Key West, Florida, or a trail closer to home. For now, she’s content knowing she did something few ever attempt.
“I didn’t fall once,” she laughed. “And at the end of it all, it’s just a bike ride. You get up, you pedal, and eventually, you make it to the other side.”
