Across America and back again by foot and bike

By Anette Le Riche Aug 4, 2011, 3:06 GMT

Needles, Arizona - It's 7am in Needles, Arizona, and Achim Heukemes has already cycled 68 kilometres. Heukemes and his two companions stop for a breakfast of yoghurt, fruit, porridge and eggs before continuing their journey. Their aim is to complete the allotted route for the day by 4pm. Temperatures are due to reach about 46 degrees Celsius.

Heukemes' journey will take him across the United States twice in 80 days. But his trip is not a leisurely caravan tour: the extreme sports enthusiast will make the journey by bicycle and then on foot. He left New York on two wheels on June 25 and has managed to travel about 6,000 kilometres so far. At the moment he's right on time according to his schedule. His 'Coast2CoastandBack' project is a birthday present to himself as Heukemes will be 60-years-old in September.

'I'm surprised myself that I haven't experienced any physical problems,' said Heukemes in a recent telephone interview. 'I don't have any neck issues, no knee injuries and no back pain.' His journey is the longest Heukemes has ever undertaken. 'My biggest trip before this was 1,800 kilometres.'

He spent six months preparing for his US marathon journey. 'I ran about 4,000 kilometres and cycled about 4,500.' His training program took him 31 times around Lake Constance in southern Germany where he lives.

Heukemes travels on average about 280 kilometres a day by bicycle. The only problem he has encountered so far is the heat. 'Today I felt like I was cycling through an oven,' wrote Heukemes in his blog while passing through Missouri. 'I had to cool my head down with a frozen cloth every time I stopped.'

He encountered hot winds of up to 100 kilometres an hour in the high plains of Colorado. 'I could hardly keep myself on my bike,' he said. Travelling along roads without any cycle paths is also dangerous. 'It can be quite tricky when a motorhome rushes past you at 120 or 130 kilometres an hour. That's so fast it raises the hairs on my arms.'

Although some of the roads he's travelled are of poor quality Heukemes is still using the same set of tyres that he set out with in New York. It was not until he reached the legendary Route 66 that its many potholes forced him to make a small repair. 'But that's okay, it's an historic road after all,' he laughs.

Heukemes became fascinated with extreme sports at the age of 33 when he took part in a New Year's Eve run. In 2004 he ran in Alaska in temperatures of minus 42 degrees Celsius. The following year he traversed a hot and sunny Australia.

And even though he is now undertaking a journey that probably no other person has ever done, Heukemes sometimes sounds as if he's on a sightseeing trip. 'If I find something interesting I have to stop and take a picture.' The former truck driver was very impressed with Monument Valley in the Navajo Nation reservation on the state line between Utah and Arizona.

'My crew said I was a cycling photographer because of the many photos I've taken,' wrote Heukemes on July 14. Along with diet supplements he likes to eat steak and chocolate biscuits in the evening. 'I eat whatever I like. I don't follow any special diet.'

Heukemes is due to arrive in San Diego soon with his companions and their motor home and then begin the return journey by foot. He's planning to arrive back in New York on September 11 for the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks on the World Trade Center. He's dedicated his trip to the victims and their families. If he's to make it on time he must run 90 kilometres every day for 55 days. That's the equivalent of two marathons a day.

Why is he doing this? Heukemes has posted the answer on his website: 'Because no-one else has the nerve to do it.'