Carrie Britten and her husband Jerry decided last October that their 2010 vacation would entail a trip from their Clayton home to their cabin in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, where Carrie’s family lives. But rather than flying or driving, they decided to ride their bikes.

So began the planning of an adventure that culminated in them leaving Clayton on May 12 and arriving in Flippin, Ark., peddling up a dirt road to the cabin on June 13. All went well – other than battling sandstorms in the Monument Valley to Canyon de Chelly portion of their journey in Arizona, which took them off their bikes for three days and a portion of the route.

After visiting with Carrie’s family, Jerry returned home by plane to resume work as a chemical engineer at Livermore Lab. Carrie stayed behind for a little more time with her family and to clean the cabin.

That’s where the rub came in. Sweeping inside the cabin, she fell down the stairs and broke a bone in her left foot. She’s now back in Clayton, on crutches for six weeks, unable to resume work as a registered nurse for a group of kidney doctors or take part in her thrice weekly visits to the gym for spin class.

Rigorous routine.

After the Brittens came up with the trip idea, they enlisted her parents, Joe and Lou Hatcher, to drive out to California in their RV and be their escorts on the trip. “My folks did all the cooking, laundry and set up camp each night,” Carrie said.

They charted a route using mapmyride.com. She outfitted her bike with a Garmin Edge 605 computer that had the route loaded and would show hills, distances, calories burned, elevations and provide GPS directions. They left home for the Central Valley and through the Tehachapi Pass. They ultimately went through Las Vegas, Arizona, New Mexico, St. George, Utah, and then through Oklahoma (“very flat and windy”) to Arkansas. They would generally ride their lightweight road bikes for 15 miles and then take a five-minute break. They tried to do about 70 miles a day. On flat terrain, they would go 20 mph. On hills, it might be 4-5 mph. Carrie rode a 30-speed and Jerry a 27-speed.

“With so many speeds on the bike, it was really easy. We rarely had to stand up when peddling uphill,” Carrie explained. The biggest impediment and hardship was “a sore bottom.” Their five-minute rest breaks were actually to give their bottoms some relief from sitting on the bike seats.

Weather – or not.

Mother Nature was at her crankiest when they were in Arizona. “There were winds in excess of 60 mph. We finally decided to drive through it in the RV, which actually had a fender blown off in the storm,” Carrie said.

They had to completely take the bikes apart to clean out all the grit from the sandstorms. Then near Taos, N.M., they went through a pass at 10,531 feet and encountered snow on the ground.

They also had hybrid bikes, which are heavier, studier and have fatter tires for patches with rough roads such as in Arizona and for the final 17 miles to the cabin in the Ozarks. Their Arkansas cabin is near Crocked Creek, which has great small mouth bass fishing and bird watching, something Jerry, 52, enjoys locally and in the Ozarks.

They cycled 26 days of the 31 from start to finish – with only one day of rain. They ended up with six flat bike tires (all but one for Jerry) and three truck repairs for the Hatchers. They visited or stayed at 10 national parks and had their best meal at Antonio’s in Taos. They didn’t speak quite so highly of Blue Moon Cafe in Ponca City, Okla.

Carrie, 51, participated in a short triathlon a few years ago. Their son Ned, 22, did the triathlon with his mom. He didn’t like the swimming or running but enjoyed the cycling and is now a member of the UC Davis cycling team. His older sister, Audrey, lives in Concord and works for the Berkeley HeartLab. The family moved to Clayton from Oakley five years ago and Carrie says the area is conducive to bike riding with all the hills. In preparation for the long trek, Carrie rode every chance she got – including long-distance rides on Morgan Territory Road and hill climbs up Mt. Diablo.

Carrie really got into riding during the last few years. “I go on many organized rides. The Bay Area has lots of century rides (100 miles),” she said. “Jerry would ride around but not on a regular basis. He has been involved with ultimate frisbee for 25 years, so he’s in great cardio shape, but I tell him bicycling is much easier on his knees.”

You can read more about the Brittens’ bicycle adventure at carriebsbigadventure.blogspot.com.