By Loyal Baker

DAYTON–On this particular day, Felix Schelling and Marie Schwarz of Rosenheim, Germany, were intent on making the day's 64-mile ride from their Tuesday-night campsite at Lewis and Clark Trail State Park to Chief Timothy State Park west of Clarkston, but a repair was necessary and they ducked into Dingle's of Dayton for parts.

It has been a long and fascinating adventure for 27-year-old Schelling and 29-year-old Schwarz, who started in Ushuaia, Argentina, on November 21, 2021, and will complete the two-year odyssey later this year at Tuktoyaktok, in the Yukon Territory, by the Arctic Sea. They expect to ride some 21,750 miles, not counting backtracking to Anchorage for their flight home.

Their next major city will be Missoula, Mont., then they'll cycle north bound into Canada on their way to the Yukon.

Both are engineers in their native land, and they worked and saved their money to be able to take two years away from their careers for this experience of a lifetime. "We saved our money and quit our jobs to enjoy some adventure," Schelling said.

Ushuaia is the major city in Tierra del Fuego, at the southern tip of South America, and they cycled the Andes on the way up the length of the continent. They came across Central America and into Mexico, entering the United States about two months ago.

Shelling and Schwarz are riding simply for their own sense of adventure, and they're keeping it simple by eschewing social media and some sort of cause to promote.

-Submitted photo

"It's just meeting people along the way," Schwarz said.

The couple could not point to any single experience that stood out. "We've had so many wonderful times," Shelling said. Nor have they been in precarious or dangerous situations.

They have not had the occasion to question "what am I doing here?"

They camp most of the time, and carry everything necessary with them. There is a website for trekkers such as Shelling and Schwarz that caters to adventurers by linking them with a place to grab a warm shower, and they've taken advantage of that. "It's free couch surfing," Schwarz quipped.