“Washington, here we come,” were the words that led us off on a journey none of us were expecting. In total, we traveled 465 miles, through 3 states and 19 counties. The experience was undoubtedly unique. Anytime you gather over 50 young men to do any task, it becomes daunting very quickly. Raising money, mapping routes, attaining bikes, renting vans and making t-shirts were just a few tasks the guys who put this event on dealt with.
At no point did we think this was going to be easy. Each person knew they were responsible for roughly 10 miles. We trained; we even went on runs after our chapter meetings. We were ready, physically and mentally.
The first leg of the trip took us roughly 150 miles, close to the North Carolina/Virginia border. The guys in the first leg did the 150 miles in less than 12 hours, which put us 2 hours ahead of schedule. They set the tone for the entire trip. Hearing stories of their trials and tribulations just made the rest of us want to get on the bike and ride that much more.
As the second van departed, you could see the excitement and anticipation in their faces. They were going to do a tough stretch, through the foothills of North Carolina and about halfway through Virginia. Their journey was an arduous one.
You have no idea how much people love you until their words of encouragement are the only thing keeping your legs peddling. The weather was below freezing and they were riding directly up hill with limited down hills. They did not let the hills and freezing weather stop them, and their leg put us another 2 hours ahead of schedule.
I was on the final leg. We had a 6 hour ride to meet the second van and partake in our leg of the journey. The ride was obviously something to remember. We were all so excited, no one could sleep and the van was full of excitement for what we were about to do. We knew we were bringing the trip into Washington, and we were ready for the challenge.
We met the second van at the University of Virginia. We were enough ahead of schedule that we were able to tour the campus and meet up with another Pike chapter. The chapter at UVA was the first Pike chapter, started in 1868.
We all then went and ate dinner before we started the final leg. It was nice to be able to sit down and talk with the second van about their journey and share our anticipation for our leg of the trip.
The final leg was amazing. We departed around 6:00 pm and traveled throughout the night. We traveled down everything from 2 lane highways to major roads, pushing ourselves to the finish. You cannot explain the feeling you get when cars are passing by you and you are solely reliant on the coordination of your brothers for your safety. It was truly a rush to finally get into Washington and see the United Cerebral Palsy headquarters and know we had made it.
Several brothers took the opportunity to ride the bikes around the city and see different monuments. That morning, at 7:00 am, we held our closing ceremony at the UCP headquarters. After that, we toured the city and visited the Lincoln Memorial, World War II and Vietnam Memorials.
As we departed from the city, the sense of accomplishment rushed through everyone on the trip. Knowing we had met our goal of an $8,000 donation, had helped countless people, and had raised awareness about Cerebral Palsy was truly amazing.
The ride back from Washington gave us all time to reflect on our journey and understand the magnitude of what we had done. Some of the things I heard people say to encourage the riders truly brought a tear to my eye. We have been on brotherhood events before, but nothing like this.
Words cannot even describe the emotions people felt throughout this trip. The 2009 Pi Kappa Alpha Bike-a-Thon is something we will all cherish, remember and share stories about for years to come.
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