Roaring Fork Couple Completes Century Rides in All 50 States

Aspen —100 miles in one day is hard. Doing it across 50 states on a single tandem bicycle is absurd. Lena and Randy Ross just did it.

They didn’t set out to break a Guinness World Record. They were just clearing a bucket list item. But now they’re hunting for proof that no one else has ever matched their specific feat: a 100-mile, same-day tandem ride in every state.

“We are not saying that there isn’t someone who has done it before,” Lena Ross said. “I have searched, and people have done 100 miles in each state, but not a century ride — not in the same day.”

The couple has spent the last decade turning this into a logistical nightmare. From September 2016 to July 2026, they covered over 5,000 miles. They rode a da Vinci Global Venture tandem bike built in Denver. It breaks down into two suitcases. That’s the only way you get a two-person bike on a plane without paying a fortune for oversized baggage.

Out of the 50 century rides they completed, only five were supported. The rest were unsupported. They carried minimal repair supplies. They relied on their own planning.

Randy Ross is a general surgeon at Valley View Hospital. He’s lived in the Roaring Fork Valley for more than 30 years. He’s been biking his entire life. Lena is a nurse at Grand Valley Health. They met while working together at Valley View. It was kismet.

The idea sparked in 2016 during a college family weekend in Vermont. They were on a bike tour that offered an unsupported century ride option. They laughed about it now. They didn’t expect it to become a decade-long obsession.

The bike’s design matters. Randy takes the front. Lena sits behind him, shielded from the wind. You don’t have to be perfectly coordinated all the time, unlike many tandems. Randy calls out when they’re going to stand. Lena gets in sync. It works better on hills.

They rode into work together from Canyon Creek when schedules allowed. Lena rides to work more than she drives her car. They did Ride the Rockies together a couple of times. It just sort of became their thing.

Now, they’re checking if anyone else has done it. Another tandem couple did all the contiguous states. They missed Hawaii and Alaska. That’s the gap the Ross couple filled.

For context, this isn’t just about fitness. It’s about logistics. It’s about fitting a specialized piece of equipment into a suitcase and hauling it across the country. It’s about showing up to a random bike race in a state you’ve never visited and riding 100 miles on a bike you just unpacked.

The financial impact on the couple? Time. And probably some airline fees. But for the rest of us, it’s a reminder of what’s possible when you stop chasing a record book and start chasing a goal.

The Ross couple has completed the ride. They’ve got the data. They’ve got the bike. Now they just need to confirm no one else beat them to it. If they are the first, they’re in the record books. If not, they’re still the ones who did it.

The bottom line: They rode 5,000 miles. They broke down a bike into suitcases. They proved that a century ride in every state is possible, even if it takes ten years and a surgeon who knows how to fix things.