Cross country bikers make a stop in Saratoga

It's not unusual to see bicyclers traveling through Saratoga, since the town is located on the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail. Unless it is in April.

Two bicyclists stopped in Saratoga April 26 and were enjoying some craft beer at the Saratoga Resort and Spa. They really didn't want to bike out to Saratoga Lake Campground after they day they had.

Kim and Vince Hytrek overheard them and offered them an option–camp in their backyard. The two young men gladly accepted.

On April 27, Dan Riccio, of Pitman, N.J. and Sam Newman, of Bend, Ore., were getting ready to eat breakfast at the Hytrek house. Kim had cooked a high-carbohydrate meal with eggs, sausage, pancakes and fruit.

The two men couldn't be more different – Riccio, whose road name is "Dapper Dan", is 21 years old and bought a bike for $60 at the Salvation Army. He paid another $40 to get the bike fixed up and started the trip on a whim after a job offer fell through.

Newman, whose road name is Sam "Been Jamin" Newman, has a folding bike with 20-inch wheels.

Riccio drove from California to Port Townsend, Wash., because of a job offer. When the job fell through, he decided to head back east where he sold his car and bought the bike. Riccio, whose education ended after high school, said he doesn't quite remember the exact date he started riding, but it was around the end of March, the beginning of April. Riccio wasn't even sure he was going to do the TransAmerica at that point, he was thinking about the Olympic Discovery which works around the coast of Washington.

Newman has two degrees, one is a Bachelors of Arts in Public Speaking and Environmental Science, with a teaching endorsement and the other degree is a Bachelors of Science in Sustainability.

Newman said he really likes the bicycle because it is sustainable. "You're riding a bicycle, you're getting exercise, you're meeting people and you're saving money on gas. There is just all these benefits that completely and utterly describe what sustainability is," Newman said.

Newman works as an electric bike mechanic in Bend – he has been wanting to ride the TransAmerica Route, but the summers are too busy for him to get away.

He took 60 days off from work to ride, after deciding there is no time like the present. He started his trip from Florence, Ore., April 1. With 27 days behind him, Newman had completed around 1600 miles of his 4,000 mile trip. "There is always an excuse of why not to do something," Newman said.

The two met in West Yellowstone, Mont., when Newman was having some drivetrain issues with his bike and popped a tube, so he got a ride from a bear hunter about 40 miles from West Yellowstone. By the time the hunter had picked up Newman he was desperate. He had been trying to fix his tube for two hours, but since the hole was on the They were both eating at a Taco Bus when Riccio overheard Newman talking about a Taco Bus he had eaten at in Dillon, Mont. Riccio had eaten at the same place. It was the first time either of them had run into a bicycler riding the route.

They talked of traveling together. The next day, Riccio couldn't find Newman and assumed he had already left, so Ricco started riding. Newman was looking for an axle nut, which was very specific to his bike and it took a while to find it and then fix the bike. By 1 p.m., he was back on the road and got word from Riccio that Old Faithful at Yellowstone Park was closed. They knew they would have to reroute and Riccio wasn't sure what to do. Newman told Riccio to meet him in Ashton, Idaho and they have ridden together since.

Newman said he has learned on this trip to be as kind as possible. He described himself as an ambassador meeting amazing people. "The generosity is something you can only experience when you are really vulnerable." Newman said he has learned to adapt to each situation.

For Newman, the highs have been really high and the lows have been really low.

April 27, Newman woke up to a poem that his girlfriend had written about him and his trip.

When the young men met the Hytrek's at Snowy Mountain Brewery, they were trying enjoy themselves. Vince told the bicyclers that Kim was the Saratoga representative for the county visitors' council. They asked Kim if there was a closer place to camp than Saratoga Lake campground.

Kim said that is something the council is addressing since Saratoga is on the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail. Newman said he stopped in Twin Bridges, Mont., where several businesses got together and developed a cyclists'-only camping area. The town has around 600-800 people, and within a year, the businessmen had made their money back, because the town was so cyclist friendly.

"Bicyclists have huge economic impact," Newman said, especially for smaller towns because they are eating more. Some bicyclists stay in hotels and some need to buy gear for their bikes. As a rule, Newman said, bicyclists spend $25 more than a motorist. "The impact is there and having a cycling infrastructure in small towns is super important," Newman said.