Eight states. Six weeks. 3,000 miles. 100 degrees. Last summer, junior Claire Graebner trekked across America — not in an RV or a gas-guzzling SUV, but on her forest-green Novarra bicycle.

Graebner traveled with eleven other students from around the country. The group went through Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona with the Overland Summers program, a company that sponsors teen community service, hiking, and biking summer trips.

“I think that small town America is definitely very different from where we live — especially down South,” she said. “Everyone’s really nice and hospitable.”

In Union, Miss., a fire truck, police car and pickup truck escorted the bikers.

In the West, Graebner said the group took cover in a stranger’s house to escape a tornado cloud.

In the southern states, the bikers would sleep in churches; out west, they camped out in national parks. Luckily, there was usually a shower available after their long days on the road.

With their belongings attached to their bikes, the group biked for hours every day, taking a break every fifteen miles and traveling up to 115 miles a day. Typically, the campers woke up at 4:15 a.m. to be on the road by 6 a.m. to beat the sweltering summer heat. They would stop every other day to buy nonperishable food, and cooked dinner every night in church kitchens or on cook stoves.

Graebner said her favorite part of the trip was biking through the mountains because of the beautiful scenery. Still, she noted that some days were difficult, especially when the weather was scorching and the surroundings were dull.

“The Oklahoma pan-handle was really tough because we had back-to-back 100 mile days,” she said. “There was nothing much to look at, so it was hard to motivate yourself.”

The long miles also took a toll on Graebner’s health.

“I have nerve damage from putting pressure on my hand,” Graebner said. “I have to wear a hand splint, and I have trouble grasping things. I don’t really have control over my fingers.”

Despite the struggle, Graebner says she is happy she went on the trip.

“For me, it was just a big accomplishment to bike all the way across the country,” she said. “And it was great to have made so many memories and come out with great friends.”