Heading west for graduate study at the University of Washington’s School of Public Health will be an adventure for Flavia Chen ’07 in and of itself, but she has decided to make the journey there a trek to remember by making the trip solo on a bike. It will be a homecoming for Chen, who is originally from Seattle, but has lived in Boston since graduating from Bowdoin. ”I’ve done smaller tours, but this is definitely the longest and most ambitious,” says Chen. “I’m not going into this with any sense of hubris. If I don’t make it, I will get on the train with no shame, but I think I’ve set out with a good goal for each day.”

Chen will make her way, at an estimated 60-miles-per-day pace, with a plan of arriving in time for orientation before her Masters in Public Health program begins in September. Chen has plotted a course along the Adventure Cycling Association’s Northern Tier Route, which swings through upstate New York, then south of the Great Lakes to Minnesota, then across the northern states to Washington. Polar Bears along the route able to offer Chen a bed and a bath may contact her by email. Chen has already begun chronicling her journey on her blog Running (& Biking) with Noodles.