TERRE HAUTE —
A bicycle ride to help others is helping the riders, too.
The Journey of Hope, an annual cross-country bike ride organized by Pi Kappa Pi fraternity members to help people with disabilities, arrived in Terre Haute on Tuesday afternoon.
More than a dozen riders, including Brazil resident and Indiana State University student Jared Royer, arrived at ISU’s Dede Plaza about 1 p.m.
“It’s going great,” said Royer, a sophomore finance student. He and the 17 other riders in his team rode from Effingham, Ill., to Terre Haute on Tuesday. Today, they are headed to Bloomington.
While in Terre Haute, the riders visited Happiness Bag, a United Way agency that provides recreational and educational services for people with disabilities. The riders said they are inspired by the people they meet during such “friendship visits” along their 4,000-mile journey.
“There are some really cool stories” of courageous and inspiring people with disabilities, said Joey Stassi, a Colorado State University senior taking part in the ride. “It really opens your eyes” to the abilities people have, he said.
The Journey of Hope riders are divided into three teams. Two of the teams started their cross-country journey in California. The team in Terre Haute on Tuesday started in Washington state amid cold weather and rain, they said.
Each cyclist in the Journey of Hope is required to raise at least $5,000 for people with disabilities. This year, the entire ride has raised more than $500,000, the cyclists said. Since they began in the late 1980s, the annual rides have raised a total of more than $13 million.
When the ride is difficult, on a windy day or on a mountainous route, it helps to think about the people who will benefit from the ride, said Nick Leone, another student at Colorado State taking part in the ride. Each day of riding is dedicated to someone the cyclists met during one of their “friendship visits,” he said.
“We’re doing this trip for them,” he said.
The cyclists stayed Tuesday night in an ISU fraternity house and were scheduled to leave early this morning after breakfast. Some days, they ride more than 100 miles. Today, they will make the relatively short trip to Bloomington.
The friendship visits provide the young riders with a chance to interact with people unable to make the same sort of journey. But the riders said they are inspired by the abilities of the people they meet and not focused on the disabilities.
“It’s been fantastic from about every perspective,” said Andrew Brendle, a University of Colorado senior who also stopped at ISU on Tuesday. The riders have been told repeatedly that the only disability in life is a bad attitude, he said. “We’re seeing that kind of spirit and courage.”
The Journey of Hope started June 9 and is set to be completed Aug. 14 in Washington, D.C. To follow the riders’ progress online, visit www.letsride2010.com.
Contributions can be made online or by texting TRANS to 50555.
Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
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Indiana State University student participating in cross-country Journey of Hope bike ride
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