10 Ways to Roll Across America

In my last post I mentioned a couple who roller-skied across the country. Well, that got me wondering what other quirky ways people have completed the trans-American traverse. What I found turned out to be a lot more than the classic cross-country bike tour:

Roller skating newlyweds, via Reminisce Magazine

1. Unicycle: This guy has been unicycling across north and south America since last summer. Crazy? Perhaps just slightly unbalanced.

2. Tandem: This couple rode a tandem bike across America to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary in 2004.  No word on if they are still married or not.

3. Inline Skate: The organization LiveGiveSKATE promotes inline skating across America for the Special Olympics.

4. Roller Skate: In the 1920s this newlywed couple became the first people to roller skate across America. He was a professional skater, and she was a good sport who face-planted as soon as they started. That's love.

5. Skateboard: In 2013 a five-person relay team skateboarded across America to raise money for Alzheimer’s research in a fundraiser they called A Push to Remember.

Velomobiles. I had no clue what they were either. 

6. Wheelchair: Last summer this guy rolled his wheelchair 3,100 miles across America. Now that takes some serious arm strength.

7. Velomobile: Two dozen velomobilists rode their human-powered bicycle cars across the country in the 2011 Roll Over America .

8. Tricycle: In 2012 this couple completed a tricycle crossing to raise money for the Wounded Warrior project, and in 2007 this gal crossed the country on a recumbent hot pink tricycle. Talk about style.

Thomas Stevens on the cover of
Adventure Cyclist magazine

9. Penny-Farthing: In 1884, Thomas Stevens completed the first transcontinental bike ride on a penny farthing (high wheeler). He went on to ride around the world.

10. Rickshaw: In 2012, this guy pushed a 400-pound rickshaw from California to Florida in his third attempt to break the Guinness record for the "longest walking rickshaw".

And if all else fails, you can always just hoof it like Peter Jenkins did in 1973 when he set out on foot from New York to Oregon, documenting his journey in his book A Walk Across America.

So as you can see, crossing America by some form of human-powered, wheeled vehicle is nothing new. And combining it with charity seems to be a trend. Wheelies for Whooping Cough? Cruisers for Crohn's? What other cross-country charity rides can you think of?