Their bodies are sore, but some WKU fraternity brothers are having the most memorable summer of their lives. Twelve members of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity are wrapping up a cross-country bike ride to raise money for Alzheimer’s research.
Drew Tingle of Franklin is riding in honor of his grandfather who passed away with dementia. WKU Public Radio reached Tingle as he was pedaling through West Virginia. He shared one of the highlights of the trek.
"We were climbing Wolf Creek Pass in Colorado. We probably climbed ten miles," said Tingle. After climbing for several days we got to the top and we all got to lay in snow in the middle of June on top of this mountain 11,000 feet in the air."
The college students typically pedal 70 to 80 miles a day and have faced all types of terrain from snowy mountains to dry deserts. Along the way, they’ve relied on the generosity of strangers, including many churches for housing. Drake Riley of Bowling Green told WKU Public Radio that two states were especially challenging.
"You don't realize how big those mountains in Colorado are until you bike up a few of them," remarked Riley. "Kansas, you wouldn't expect with it being so flat, but typically we would wake up and face winds 20 to 30 miles per hour to our side, and it was a struggle to just stay on your bike because the wind was trying to push you off."
Here is an excerpt from one of Riley's blog posts:
"One morning after leaving Pegosa Springs, Colorado we biked up a 7% slope for a 7 mile stretch up to Wolf Creek Pass. This was easily one of the toughest things I have done in my life. This mountain in Colorado was a training area for Lance Armstrong’s US Postal Tour de France team. When going up a mountain like this, the amount of work needed to peddle up is excruciating. The constant mind battle as you bike as hard as you can while yet only being able to travel about 5 mph is one of the worst feelings. I also battled the thin air that caused my lungs to hurt as I pedaled farther up the incline. Somehow in about 40 minutes, I was able to reach the top without stopping. When all was said in done, we were more than 10,000 feet in the air. As horrible as the climb was, the feeling of reaching the top was incredible. We were so high up that there was snow on the ground in early June!"
The bikers are in the home stretch. They left California in late May and will end their journey on Friday in Washington, DC.
You can follow their trek and learn more about their fundraising for Alzheimer's research at www. bike4alz.org.
