A Virginia family of nine on bicycles was evacuated from a wildfire near Lander, survived a hit-and-run in Montana and suffered altitude sickness on Union Pass this summer while on an epic ride of the 2,700-mile Great Divide Mountain Bike Route.
Despite the setbacks, the Bettis family of Danville continues to press forward.
Nikki Bettis, 50, and eight of her children plan to finish within 120 days. They are just over halfway on a trip from Banff, Canada, to Antelope Wells, New Mexico, along a route mapped by the Adventure Cycling Association.
Although experienced cyclists can cover the route in 30 days, Bettis planned for much more time because her youngest is 7 and she said they are not experienced cyclists.
They just finished the Wyoming leg of their journey.
“It is so good to get away from screens and just silencing the noise of the world when you get out there as a family,” Bettis said. “It's not that we're completely off the internet or their phones. It's just finding a balance by being physically active.”
The off-road trails are dusty and long through Wyoming, but the family says the scenery is stunning and the people exceptional. Highways are avoided for safety.
Bettis said she first began taking her kids on this type of outdoor adventure to help heal as a family from the effects of domestic violence.
“I am a single mom of 15 biological kids, and they range in age from 28 to 7 years old,” she said. “We hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2023 as a family just to overcome some of our past and the trauma that we have been through.”
Bettis said they discovered they loved being outside so much that they didn't want it to end. Last year, she and seven of her children paddled the Mississippi River from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.
This year they decided to get on bikes for their four-month adventure.
Seven of her kids, ranging from 17 to 25, stayed home because of obligations ranging from a new baby to jobs to sports.
Biking with Nikki are 15-year-old twins Graham and Gatlin, 14-year-old Gates, 13-year-old Lillye, 11-year-old Grisham, almost 10-year-old Galatine, 9-year-old Galax, and 7-year-old Opye, who at age 4 was the youngest hiker ever to complete the Appalachian Trail three years ago. The oldest, Grayson, 28, pedaled until Wyoming, when he became a support driver.
On Family Time
Nikki said they take their time and stop along the way. They toured visitor centers at Yellowstone National Park and camp early to unwind after a day on the trail.
“It's a lot of biking, but it's also a lot of going into the towns that we're near to just learn the history and science of where we are,” Nikki said.
Grayson said he found the Bighorn Basin in Wyoming fascinating.
“To be able to learn the history, find fossils and see very real physical evidence of that many millions of years ago is just cool … to know all the life that was happening before us,” he said. “I definitely want to return and explore more.”
Grisham said he was impressed by the people of Wyoming.
“The people were all super kind and friendly,” Grisham said. “People in the stores and in all the towns were happy and nice.”
Camping at Union Pass was one of the favorite stops for the Bettis family of Virginia during their 2,700 mile bike trip from Canada to Mexico. (32 Feet Up) 
It is not just about the biking! The Bettis family of Virginia are on a 2,700-mile bike trip from Canada to Mexico, but make sure to stop and learn about their surroundings along the way. (32 Feet Up) 
It is not just about the biking! The Bettis family of Virginia are on a 2,700-mile bike trip from Canada to Mexico, but make sure to stop and learn about their surroundings along the way. (32 Feet Up) 
It is not just about the biking! The Bettis family of Virginia are on a 2,700-mile bike trip from Canada to Mexico, but make sure to stop and learn about their surroundings along the way. (32 Feet Up) 
Camping at Union Pass was one of the favorite stops for the Bettis family of Virginia during their 2,700 mile bike trip from Canada to Mexico. (32 Feet Up) 
It is not just about the biking! The Bettis family of Virginia are on a 2,700-mile bike trip from Canada to Mexico, but make sure to stop and learn about their surroundings along the way. (32 Feet Up)
Hit & Run in Montana
With eight kids on bikes, Nikki made sure that they have a support vehicle.
“It protects us on the roads, but it also stays behind us or stays ahead,” she said. “It's a rest stop and was vital when we had a hit and run in northern Montana.”
The family was on a curvy mountain road near Butte when a speeding car cut the corner, she said. The teenage boys were leading and quickly veered out of the way, but the driver still hit one of the riders. The bike was swung around and hit the side of the car, Nikki said. The others went over in the ravine, and a few of her kids flew 20 feet down the gravel road.
“The little one and I were way in the back of the pack,” Nikki said. “The driver came up the mountain to me just yelling, they're hurt! They’re hurt!”
Nikki raced down the mountain as he drove off in the opposite direction.
“The impact to one of my kids was so extreme that it cracked his helmet,” Nikki said. “We all wear bike helmets 100% of the time, and it paid off.”
Forty-five minutes later, they were still cleaning up the scene when the driver came back to make sure that everyone was OK, she said. Once reassured that there were no serious injuries, the driver once more left the scene and they haven't heard from him since.
The Bettis family of Danville, Virginia, has been biking for over a month on a trip of 2,700 miles and have recently biked through Wyoming. Their adventures in the Cowboy State included fleeing from fire and enjoying all the backroads. (32 Feet Up)
Fire Near Lander
Another incident occurred outside of Lander. The family was in a campground when the Weiser Knoll Fire broke out.
“We have the Weather Channel on and all the alarms went off when the fire was at about 300 acres,” Nikki said. “By the time we actually got out of there, it had grown to 3,700 and was in danger of jumping the highway.”
Nikki said it was a valuable lesson to always pay attention to the alarms because they were able to get themselves out of a bad situation. She grew up in Texas and usually ignored sirens.
The fire started Aug. 9 about 13 miles southeast of Lander near Wyoming Highway 28 and grew to nearly 16,000 acres in a few days.
“When you're on trail, you heed those warnings and we got out of there before the fire took over,” Nikki said. “It eventually did jump the highway, and it burned a lot of where we had evacuated from.”
Healing In the Outdoors
Nikki said the hospitality of the people in Wyoming, especially a hostess at a campground in Green River, was meaningful in the wake of the family's trauma. She said she was married for 20 years to a public-safety employee who Nikki said suffered from PTSD because of his job.
“He just went downhill, and it greatly impacted the kids and I,” Nikki said. “There was some abuse involved and some addictions and it ended very, very traumatically.”
Her husband ended up abandoning the family, she said.
“I spent my life building a close family and when it all fell apart, I was just kind of wondering how you pick up the pieces,” Nikki said.
That was when the idea of these outdoor adventures was born.
“I was figuring out how to regroup as a family and reconnect,” Nikki said. “We were just trying to heal and it's going to look a lot different for each one of us.”
Wyoming Trails
Nikki said the family usually backcountry camps but had to get far off trail to do so because so much of the property was private. While the rest of the family biked, Grayson would find BLM land open for camping.
“Wyoming was my favorite state 'cause of all the beautiful campsites and remote BLM land,” Gatlin said. “All the best campsites were in Wyoming. They had all the views and no other people.”
Nikki said Wyoming is one of the most diverse states, ranging from Yellowstone to the Red Desert and Great Divide Basin.
“One of my most favorite things was Union Pass and how many glacier pools exist up there," Graham told Cowboy State Daily. “We camped at Lake of the Woods that was 10,000 feet in elevation. The road to get there was epic. It was one of my most favorite campsites.”
Nikki said it was fun to see the different ecosystems and diversity through the eyes of her children. Lillye liked the remoteness of Wyoming while her siblings were enthusiastic about the wildlife.
“Wyoming had the best fishing of the whole trail. Bass, rainbow trout, salmon, catfish, pike, muskie, and all kinds of other species,” Gates said. “I love to fish. Now I want to learn fly fishing, too.”
“We saw more wildlife in Wyoming than anywhere else we’ve been … and we’ve been a lot of places and in a lot of states,” Opye said. “We saw black bears, elk, prairie dogs, bison, antelope, wild horses, whitetail deer, mule deer, red-tail hawks, golden and bald eagles, marmots, bighorn sheep. I love the wildlife.”
The most amazing part to Nikki was seeing the Tetons. She grew up seeing the iconic Moulton Barn but had no idea that the mountains were the Tetons in Wyoming. Her 9-year old, Galax, said the Tetons were also his favorite but he rated his best experiences as the people they met.
“My favorite part about Wyoming was the Flaming Gorge road and Green River,” Galax said. “The people were nice, the town was good and the gorge was my favorite.”
The ongoing Bettis adventure can be followed on Facebook and YouTube under “32 Feet Up." Nikki said she would encourage other people to stop looking for the perfect time to get outside and explore remote trails with their families.
“I want my kids to be able to look back and know that I was a very present parent,” Nikki said. “That they got everything out of me that I could give them, and that's what the long trails have enabled us to do.”
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
