A wave of wheels with an international flair stopped in Brainerd Wednesday.
The 18th annual Cycle of Hope ride brought 48 bicyclists from Canada through the lakes area on a Habitat for Humanity fundraising ride stretching from St. Louis back to Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Two weeks. One thousand miles.
The bicyclists travel 75 to 100 miles in a day burning a couch potato’s dream of 4,000-5,000 calories. The riders, ranging in age from 26 to 80, have a common goal of raising money to help a family working to build a home of their own.
To date, the riders have raised $194,700 to build a Habitat for Humanity home, well within the range of estimated cost of $150,000 to $200,000 to build a home.
This year, Habitat of Humanity Winnipeg built it’s 200th home. Habitat for Humanity Canada built its 2,000th. The effort has included more than 300,000 volunteers in Canada logging more than 11.2 million hours at building sites. The Manitoba Chambers of Commerce noted the effort includes hammering 25.4 million nails and screwing in 56,000 light bulbs.
Wednesday the volunteers who are part of raising the money to build the homes were stretching their legs in Brainerd, washing their bikes and preparing to spend the night on the Brainerd Family YMCA gym floor.
Each cyclist pays a registration fee to cover the trip’s expenses and the money they make through fundraising all goes toward the home-building effort.
“It’s been a wonderful, fun experience; challenging” said Liz Moffatt, Carman, Manitoba.
“Growth in many ways — physically, mentally.”
Moffatt said the extreme heat as they traveled from Missouri made sleep difficult some nights. On one of the travel days, the group was biking in 105 degree heat. This trip, the group’s 18th, was Moffatt’s first. She saw parts of the nation she never imagined
“Absolutely fantastic,” she said, noting she’d be willing to do it again. “The trails — beautiful. The roads, the scenery — magnificent.”
Alvin Croll, Winnipeg, said each year he says he’s not going back. And each time when he learns the route, he’s drawn back again one more time.
“We’ve been following the Mississippi right from St. Louis,” Croll said. “We are going to go right to the source. That’s this year’s theme. Every year we go a different route.”
The group transports the bikes to a specific destination and then the riders bike back to Winnipeg, arriving at the home they are helping to build. A 10-person crew travels with the group. They expect to be back home Saturday after two weeks on the road. Friends and family will greet them at the Habitat for Humanity house.
Wednesday the riders arrived at the Brainerd Family YMCA after traveling from Prescott, Wis. They planned to dine in Brainerd and then Thursday, after a night’s rest, they get back on the bikes to travel to Walker.
The group was impressive, said Natalie Saatoff, YMCA resource and marketing director. “They are very nice people. This is what the YMCA is all about it.”
Event founder Olenka Antymniuk said the inspiration for the Cycle of Hope came in 1993 when former President Jimmy Carter was in Winnipeg for a work project and 60 cyclists biked from Minneapolis to Winnipeg.
“We thought if they can do it, why can’t we do that,” Antymniuk said. They decided it was a way to be on their bikes and do something good with the effort.
Trips took them to South Dakota, Los Angeles, Atlanta. The group typically has 45 to 50 riders. Three women traveling in the support group prepare morning meals and daily lunches.
The cyclists keep the event alive, Antymniuk said, noting the are already anticipating what the next year will bring. It’s not the group’s first stop in Brainerd, but it has been awhile. The idea of the ReStore, selling recycled building materials, and helping to pay for Habitat’s administration, started in Winnipeg. Now there are 760 ReStores, including one in Brainerd. A nice bit of Canadian exporting.
Gord Steindel, Cycle of Hope chairman, said a trip highlight was going up the St. Louis Arch. For Antymniuk it was being hosted by a Southern Baptist Church in St. Louis and being invited to the worship services the next day.
“The highlight of every ride is meeting the people,” Antymniuk said. She said lasting friendships were formed during the past 18 years with people she met on the bike rides.
Steindel said the effort takes a group of people who really don’t know each other very well and in a short time create a family as they challenge themselves, united for a cause. He said the best of people tends to come out.
“It’s a very reaffirming experience. There is a lot of goodness in the world and lots of good people,” Steindel said.
More information about the Cycle of Hope trip is on robcycles.com.
The Canadians won’t be the only riders in the lakes area Thursday as about 125 riders are taking part in the week-long annual Habitat 500 ride. The cyclists will spend the night in Pine River. They’ve been following a route that begins and ends in St. Joseph. The Habitat 500 riders are celebrating the construction of Minnesota’s 1,900th Habitat for Humanity home. Last year, $983 raised during the Habitat 500 went to the Lakes Area Habitat for Humanity affiliate. More information is online at www.lakesareahabitat.org.
Kevin Pelkey, Lakes Area Habitat for Humanity executive director, said the riders will travel through Brainerd Friday and will be able to tour Habitat’s new ReStore on Wright Street.
Of the Canadian riders, Pelkey said: “They are pedaling their hearts out, too. God bless the riders from Winnipeg.”
RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.
