An epic cross-country cycling trip was just one of this Greenville couple’s continuing adventures on the road
Looking out the window of their home in the Verdae neighborhood of Greenville on an early January morning, Allison and Alan Garrigus were somewhat less than delighted to see the snowfall.
“It’s keeping us off the road,” Alan says.
Specifically, the snow was preventing them from cycling into nearby Legacy Park and riding the trail spur to the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail—a lost day of training for a couple who estimates they’ve put upward of 12,000 miles across the United States under their bicycle tires, with many more miles to come.
Both now retired from service in the US Navy, the Garriguses saw about 3,800 of those miles in the summer of 2021, joining a group of fellow veterans on a ride across the partially completed Great American Rail-Trail, starting on the National Mall in Washington, DC, and ending in the coastal town of La Push in Washington State. The trip was organized through Warrior Expeditions, a nonprofit outdoor therapy program that helps veterans transition from their wartime experiences through long-distance outdoor journeys.
Allison Garrigus, a nurse who retired from the Navy after a 21-year career culminating in serving as head of education and training at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, learned about Warrior Expeditions during a solo hike of the Appalachian Trail. The nonprofit provided gear, including Trek 920 bicycles and camping equipment, to the Garriguses and the three other veterans making the trip. COVID delayed the start of the journey for a year, time Allison put to good use.
“Alan was a cyclist before I met him, but this was my first bike trip,” she says. “I had to learn the mechanics and geometry of the bike and build up some endurance.”
Cross Country Cycling Mission
Thanks to their military careers, both cyclists were already accustomed to packing lightly–a useful skill when everything you need for an 83-day trip needs to be strapped to your bike. “I just love living out of a bag,” Allison says. “I love the exploration and the troubleshooting. We really had to figure it out together.”
“It is a lot of fun just living out of four bags and trying to make it work,” adds Alan Garrigus, a 30-year Navy veteran with deployments as a corpsman in Saudi Arabia and Iraq. “You don’t have to worry about what’s happening back home or anything. You’re just out there riding each and every day.”
Part of the mission was to evaluate the Great American Rail-Trail, a chain of more than 150 existing rail-trails, greenways, and other multiuse paths spanning 12 states. They found it to be a noble vision, but still a work in progress, with many dangerous and unrideable stretches. The path also brought them through Montana during a particularly intense wildfire season, prompting the cyclists to accept a few car rides.
Although it was their longest single trip, the Great American journey was just one of a series of adventures on the road for the couple, who traveled throughout North America in a camper before finding their Greenville home. Favorite memories include rides on the VTXL Trail through Vermont, the Katy Trail through Missouri, and the Ohio to Erie Trail.
To prepare for their planned big trips this June, the Garriguses, who usually take one or two training rides a week, will once again go mobile, living out of their RV in a campground in western North Carolina for better access to the mountain trails. Overall, though, the two are pleased with their choice of Greenville as a home base.
“We’re in a great location,” says Allison. “Literally, we open our garage doors, and the Swamp Rabbit Trail extension is right there.”
