Mark and Roxanne Benson bike across America

By Alan Carman
The Imperial Republican
    Former Imperial resident Mark Benson and wife Roxanne, set out on a journey across America on June 1, 2025. The couple is retired and live in California, riding  their bikes daily.
    The Benson’s have been planning this adventure for nearly two years. Mark has been an avid bicycle rider his whole life. Roxanne, on the other hand, is a bit of a novice.
    When asked what inspired the trip, Mark said he had been researching the trek across America and saw a couple that had the husband ride his bike and the wife drive as a support crew, going ahead in the car and setting up camp for the end of the day, then just hanging out until the rider showed up.
    When he asked Roxanne if that sounded appealing, she replied that it sounded really boring. Plus riding alone for long distances has a tendancy to make the experience much less enjoyable.
    Thats when the couple decided to invest in an electric bike for Roxanne. After going on some shorter trips, and riding in the Bike across Nebraska, the couple decided to make the trip happen.
    Aided with help from Maps by Adventure Cycling, the couple laid out a large map in their house and plotted out the course and schedule for the trip.
    When June 1, 2025 rolled around, the couple took of on their adventure from Florence Oregon. The trip is slated to cover 4,436 miles, ending in Milford Massachusetts around August 21.
    Along the way the couple camps in tents, stays at bicycle hostels, motels and they stop and stay with family and friends. Mark said on Saturday’s, they like to stay in a motel so they can get up Sunday morning to attend church services. Being on the highways on bikes, you need to have God with you every step of the way.
    The goal on the trip is about 50 miles a day, but distances are not set in stone and Sundays are usually a shorter trip. Luckily, the couple is not on a strict deadline, so they can deviate from the original course and schedule, to fit in whatever comes up. Mark said when they reach Arapahoe, Ne., it will mark the completion of the first half of the trip.
    The couple road into Imperial on day 46 of their trip and stayed with Mark’s sister Mary-Anne Loeffler for a few days, before getting back on the road on Monday, July 21.
    When asked what the scariest part of riding on the highways was, they stated that it was the rental RV’s that cause the most concern. When people aren’t used to that large of vehicle, they tend to not give the cyclists the room they need.
    Along the way, the couple sometimes are joined by other riders that they meet along the road.
    After crossing Nebraska and Iowa, the couple will turn a little to the north, riding by the Great Lakes and into Maine, before finishing in Massachusetts.
    The couple discovered that the most economic way to get themselves and their equipment home was to have their daughter get a hold of a transport company and have their vehicle trucked to Milford, Mass., where they will load everything up and drive back across America to get home.