SEVEN FIELDS — Riding a bike is one thing. Living on one is another.

Jeremy Palermo, 31, of Seven Fields basically did the latter last weekend, riding his bicycle from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh, covering 335 miles in 27 hours and 20 minutes.

“My goal was to do it in 30 hours,” Palermo said. “My brother and I did it last year in 46 hours, but we were carrying hammocks and extra supplies. We stopped and slept.”

There was no sleeping this time around.

Palermo’s wife, Ryanne, also a distance bike rider, checked in on him every 70 miles along the way. He ate during those brief stops.

Palermo ate approximately 15,000 calories during the ride. He figured he’d have to consume an extra 200 calories per hour, “but it ended up being about 400.”

“The constant pedaling is taxing,” he said. “Although the trail is only a slight grade, there is little time to coast and rest your legs.”

Palermo played sports in his younger years — running track and field for Butler and playing baseball in Center Township.

His family runs an auto body products business.

“Once I entered the professional world, I was lazy for a few years,” Palermo said. “Ryanne and I decided to start riding bicycles together.”

Once they did, their circle of friends began taking in fellow bike riders.

“The people we started hanging out with socially were into biking competitively,” Palermo said. “We started riding more and getting involved with some endurance events.”

Palermo estimates he’s done 30 to 40 races over the past five years, including 24-hour mountain biking events at Seven Springs. In two weeks, the couple will do a 100-mile bicycle race in Shenandoah, Va.

Last year, Palermo did the Breck Epic in Colorado, considered one of the most difficult mountain bike stage races in the world. It consisted of six days of racing, including steep climbing and fast descents.

He was one of 10 riders from Pittsburgh to try the event.

“We raced our single speeds against a lot of west coasters who were well-acclimated to the thin air,” Palermo said. “We got beat, handily and expected.

“One of my favorite experiences. There is always someone faster and it taught me to play to my strengths — for instance, riding for 27 hours straight across 335 miles.”

Next year, Ryanne Palermo is scheduled to join forces with three other women in the Race Across America, a 3,000-mile trek from California to Maryland.

During his 335-mile jaunt to Pittsburgh, Palermo’s bike had a dynamo generator hub, so her didn’t have to carry batteries.

“As long as I was moving, I had light,” he said. “The ride was more of a mental thing than physical.

“Every four minutes, you see a mile marker along the road and the task you’re undertaking seems endless. If I saw no mile markers, the trek would have been easier to manage.”

Palermo and his wife had dinner together Friday night in D.C. He began his 27-hour ride at 4 a.m. that Saturday.

“By 7:15 a.m. Sunday, I was on Carson Street on the South Side,” he said.

He saw a few foxes at night and bald eagles in the morning.

“The biggest morale boost I got was when the sun was setting,” Palermo recalled. “The weather got a little cooler and the overall scene was breath-taking.

“Windmills, trees, mountains as far as you could see. It re-energized me.”

Now it’s time to dream about the next big challenge.

“I hear the 3 Rivers Trail in Oregon is something else,” Palermo said. “Going to Europe to ride in the Alps, riding through South Africa ... There’s a lot of possibilities. We’ll see.”