Now visualize this: dipping the rear wheel of your bike in the Chesapeake Bay as a ceremonial gesture, then pedaling nearly 4,000 miles, from one coast to the other, in 70 consecutive days (give or take a day or two for rest). To add a little more interest, make it two bikes — not just ordinary 10-speeds, but tandems, those heavier, longer two-wheelers built for a pair of riders. Then include a couple kids, water bottles, saddlebags with all your gear, plus a trailer in tow.

Welcome to Teamdavis Tandems Across America, the name used by the family of Cliff and Lisa Davis and their two young daughters, Molly, then aged 14 and Anna, ten, for their family cycling excursion across America in the summer of 2004.

"I wanted to do a trip like this all my life. I tried it when I got out of the Navy in 1982, but ended up sending the bike home and getting on a bus. Lisa and I always talked about the trip after that and decided we were going to do it," says Cliff.

"It was something we always wanted to do and thought it would be fun and a good experience for the kids…educational, and pretty much small town America, something that we could do together as a family and that our daughters would always remember," adds Lisa.

The Upstate couple’s journey started in Yorktown, Virginia, on May 24, 2004, with Cliff and Molly on a 700C Santana tandem that included a trailer, and Lisa and Anna on a slightly smaller 26-inch Bilenky. The parents were the pilots or captains, riders who sit in front steering and controlling the bike; the two daughters, stokers, those who sit behind the pilot, pedaling.

"Lisa and I were in good shape. Yet, we didn’t want to burn the kids out by training them before the trip, so we figured that we would take the first couple weeks, ease off the mileage a little bit and kind of ride them into shape," says Cliff.

Fortunately, the family had previously taken several weeklong trips together over the years, including a few across Alabama. This experience proved invaluable, especially in determining what to take and what to expect.

Cliff carefully researched the route for a year before they started, creating a spreadsheet that included layovers, lodging information and mail drops to keep in touch with family and friends. "We camped, we stayed in motels, in a church, hostels, even a fire department," adds Cliff.

You would think a trip of this magnitude — especially on bicycles with kids — would be fraught with danger. Not so. Except for a side trip to Yellowstone Park with its heavy traffic, some strong side winds in Wyoming and a close encounter or two with a truck and car, the Davis’ ride was smooth. They followed the Adventure Cycling Association’s TransAmerica Trail, which consists mainly of lightly traveled rural back roads. "When you’re on a bike, you see places you don’t see in a car. We took the TransAmerica route because it let us see a lot of small towns; There’s a lot of diversity going from Virginia to Oregon," says Lisa.

While the scenery was often spectacular, it wasn’t what the Davises considered the number one benefit of their journey. "The most memorable part of the trip was the people we met…a lot of interesting and accommodating people. Kansas was an especially friendly state. There was Elaine’s Bicycle Oasis — it was a farm and she was setting up a B&B for bicyclists. It was just like staying with family," says Lisa.

Surprisingly, the family’s most fun-filled adventure was not on a bike. It was on a boat. "When we got to Idaho, we saw a sign advertising jet boat rides on the Snake River. We hooked up with a service — a mother and son, a family thing. They towed us about ten miles on dirt roads over the mountains and put us on a 30-foot jet boat. We strapped the tandems and a trailer onto the back of the boat, spent all day on the Snake River and went swimming. That was probably the most fun," says Cliff.

Like many other good things in life, the trip finally had to come to an end…3,981 miles and 70 days later on August 1, 2004 in Florence, Oregon. "It was kind of a letdown when we got done. We just kind of wanted to keep going," says Lisa.

But like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, the Davis’ discovered there’s no place like home. "The funny thing is that when we got to Oregon, Lisa and I were talking one night and asked ourselves if we’d seen anyplace along the way we wanted to move to and we didn’t. We like it here in the Southeast," says Cliff. "It was worth it because of the experience and sharing with the kids," Lisa adds. "Without question, we’d do it again."