Cycling group travels country raising funds

In what is called the Journey of Hope, a group of college students is volunteering to bicycle across the country this summer to raise money for people with disabilities. The Phi Kappa Phi students started in Seattle ten days before making a pit stop at the Thompson Falls High School last Friday. Three teams kicked off the event on the west coast and will have ridden a combined 12,000 miles by the time they end on the capitol lawn in Washington, D.C., in mid-August.

Along the way, the cyclists spread messages of disability awareness to the public. They stop at what are called friendship houses, which are houses inhabited with people with disabilities, where they play games, lead campfire songs and bring joy to the disabled community. They also synchronize with the local media to help spread their message. The team that stopped in Thompson Falls was led by Austin Gothard.

Gothard said that his team of 24, five of which are crew members, biked 92 miles from Sandpoint to Thompson Falls on Friday. The crew members drive, fix bikes and help keep everything rolling. The cyclists get up for the day's journey between 5:30 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. to ride an average of 75 miles per day in whatever weather comes their way.

On their way from Seattle, the Phi Kapps stopped at three friendship houses. One was the Arch of Tri Cities in Richland, Wash., the next was the Ashley house in Spokane, and the third was at the Panhandle Special Needs in Sandpoint, Idaho. Gothard said that the teams have raised $330,000 so far.

The Thompson Falls Chamber of Commerce has sponsored the event for five years with Annie Wooden doing the honors of cooking a taco dinner for the men this year. Escorted by Director Ryan Frields, boys from the Mountain Meadow Youth Ranch came to lend a hand and learn about the program. To kick-off the event, everyone introduced themselves and the college they attended, what they were studying and a fun fact about themselves. For all of them, it was their first time in Montana. One student said that Montana would be the only land-locked state that he would consider living in. Anthony Betz, crew member and the person in charge of public relations, presented Katrina Nygaard with the traditional gift of an event T-shirt to recognize her help with the effort.

Gothard said that they are all fraternity brothers of Phi Kappa Phi and every year there is a sign-up sheet for the ride, an alumni who promotes the event and then an interview process as well.

Betz, the oldest volunteer at 25, is getting his master's degree. "My favorite part of the journey is to explore the country with the guys, meet people and for the adventure."

Cyclist Zackary Metz from Hattiesburg, Miss., said that his mom, who works with kids with special needs, inspired and pushed him to go on this journey. After talking with an alumni, he was won over. He is working on a health sciences major (pre-physical therapy) and loved the northwest aspect of the trip.

The bicycles the group rides are mostly steel because those are the ones donated, but a few riders had lighter bikes made of carbon fiber. Trent Hollinsworth said he was riding a carbon fiber bike and the only one to fall so far because he fell asleep.

After Thompson Falls, the men rode to Missoula where they stayed at Sentinel High School. After the Thompson Falls stop, they had 57 days left on their Journey of Hope.