KINGMAN, Ariz. – Dartmouth graduate, 22-year-old Bond Almand, biked into Kingman from Glendale Sunday evening to shower and rest up for the next leg of his journey to Seattle.
The 11,000 plus mile trip from Miami began July 7 from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Almand will stop at all 30 NFL stadiums and complete the more than 11,000-mile trip by September 9. His final destination will be Lumen Field in Seattle where highest bidder will receive his bike, NFL tickets and a Super Bowl game ball. Proceeds will benefit NFL’s GENYOUth.
Almand said he loves biking, especially setting new endurance records.
He cycled 14,000 miles from Alaska to Argentina in 75 days, 17 hours, and 55 minutes in 2024.
He set a record of eight days, five hours, 56 minutes and 17 seconds on a north to south U.S. transcontinental crossing in 2025.
“Biking is the best way to travel,” Almand said. “It’s the perfect speed to see and enjoy things along the way, things most people don’t get to see. It brings me great joy and freedom.”
Born in Seattle but raised in Maryville, Tennessee, since he was three, Bond is making this trip, not only to raise money for the NFL’s GENYOUth, he said, but to deliver the football that will be used as the official kickoff/game ball September 9 at Lumen Field between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. Kickoff time will be 5:20 p.m. PT and can be viewed on NBC.
Sunday was day 48 of his journey; the first 42 were done alone, he said, with no one following him to make sure he was safe or hydrated. Bond said his girlfriend Jadin joined him when he hit the desert in Utah because there were no restaurants or places to stop for food or drinks. It’s the same in Arizona and will be worse in Death Valley enroute to California.
Bond said Jadin would drive ahead on the same route he biked, wait for him to pass by, give him water, Gatorade or whatever he needed to keep him going.
“The heat is difficult, but I’m very (determined) to keep up,” Almand said.
From Kingman he will travel to Las Vegas and through Death Valley, the hottest spot in the U.S., but he’s confident he can do it.
“I try to eat 5,000 calories in the morning and 5,000 calories at night. Extreme Networks is one of my sponsors. They pay all my expenses.”
Extreme Networks has provided for his stay at nice hotels along the route so he can shower and get plenty of rest and all the food he wants to eat before the next grueling day. He said they approached him with the Miami to Seattle trip idea and he was all for it.
Another one of his sponsors, Almand said, is Trek, the name on his bike, engineered to support long rides.
His bike, NFL game tickets and a Super Bowl game ball is open for bids. The winner will be announced in Seattle September 9th, after Almand’s journey is complete.
For more information or to place a bid on Almand’s Trek bike, NFL tickets and a Super Bowl game ball, click on the following link:
https://nflauction.nfl.com/own-the-bike-own-the-ball-support-the-cause-bid-on/isynmv1/aucd/6322113
To track Bond’s journey, click on this link:
https://www.followmychallenge.com/live/bonds-extreme-journey
“To get paid for doing something you love, what could be better?
This is what I love. I want to do this the rest of my life.”
Connie “Ceejay” Jones
cjstandardnews@gmail.com
