Cyclists to ride across U.S. to benefit disabled

SALT LAKE CITY – Sarah Grant will be riding her 21-speed Bianchi bicycle 3,637 miles across America this summer.

But she won’t be alone.

There will be nearly 50 other cyclists joining her for a tour that starts with the dipping of their rear wheels in the Pacific Ocean in Astoria, Ore., and ends with their front wheels touching the Atlantic in Portsmouth, N.H., close to Grant’s parent’s home in Maine.

And there will be times when her saddle may feel a bit crowded – with memories – as she rides to raise money for Splore, which provides outdoor recreational trips to people with disabilities.

“On my hardest days I’ll just think about all the participants I have been with on Splore trips. That should provide the extra motivation I need,” said the 36-year-old occupational therapist, who once worked as a program director with the nonprofit group out of Salt Lake City. “So many of the participants touched my heart. I’ll just picture those people on a river trip, on the climbing wall, dogsledding or whatever it was I did with them. If the ride isn’t for them, then it is for somebody who hasn’t had the chance to go on one of Splore’s trips yet.”

Doug Torosian, director of operations for America by Bicycle, the company Splore hired to help get Grant across the country, said between 15 and 20 percent of the riders on his tours each year are riding as fundraisers.

“Most people are living a life dream by riding across America. Sarah will come away from this experience with many new friends,” he said.

While passionate about riding, Grant is by no means a hard-core athlete. Some riders decide to attempt the bike journey across America by themselves, planning meals, carrying everything they need on their bike and booking hotel rooms in advance or finding camping spots each night.

America by Bicycle, a bicycle touring company out of New Hampshire, does all that for the riders. The Across America North Tour starts in Astoria, Ore., on June 18 and ends 55 days later on Aug. 7 in Portsmouth, N.H.

The average day covers 80 miles, with 120 the longest and 34 the shortest, although that leg is probably the toughest climbing day, with a steep stretch crossing Teton Pass from Idaho Falls, Idaho, to Jackson, Wyo.

“I’ve been training for a year, but it is just becoming daunting now that it is this close,” Grant said. “I’m definitely motivated, though, and I have no doubt that I will make it. My biggest fear is letting people down.”

About 1,200 people with disabilities participated in Splore trips last year. Another 400 family members or supporters joined the whitewater rafting trips, climbing adventures, canoe floats or skiing trips. To date, Grant has raised about $15,000 in pledges for the ride. Add another $15,000 in a matching grant from the Raymond Family Foundation, an East Coast foundation that Grant’s grandfather helped start 40 years ago, and this one fundraiser will allow Splore to provide about 600 scholarships.

“It has been an incredible success so far and we hope more people will donate as they hear about Sarah’s effort,” said Erik Rolstad, executive director of Splore, which stands for Special Populations Learning Outdoors Recreation and Education. “This represents about 15 percent of our annual budget so far. People can relate to what Sarah is doing as a person. They can see that what she is doing is getting people with disabilities out there to enjoy things they may have thought were impossible.”

Once on the road, America by Bicycle staffers will hand Grant an itinerary for the day after each breakfast, load her luggage on a sag wagon and then check on her a couple of times at rest stops during the ride to make sure she makes it to the motel for the night.

“Eighty miles a day might seem like a lot on a bicycle, but it is really like slow-motion and a really great way to see the country. There are a lot of friendships formed during the ride,” Torosian said. “It’s amazing to see the sense of accomplishment the riders have at the end. Many say the ride literally changed their lives.”

The tour briefly goes Canadian, with stopovers in London and Brantford, Ontario, before crossing back into the United States at Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Donors and anyone interested will be able to keep track of Grant’s ride through a blog at www.sarahsride.net. She plans on updating the Web journal with writing and pictures every night, “if I’m not too tired.”

Grant was prepared to give up her summer for Splore, but the fundraiser has already become more of a personal sacrifice than expected.

She was told she could take a leave of absence from her job as an occupational therapist at a Salt Lake Valley hospital, but it didn’t turn out that way.

“I was told I would have to quit. Unfortunately, that was not part of the plan. Luckily I didn’t know until a couple of weeks ago. My manager asked if I was still going and I said I was dedicated to the ride,” Grant said. “My manager said she would rehire me if they had not filled my position when I return.”

As an occupational therapist, Grant said she is constantly asking people to do things that are hard. Grant decided it was time for her to request that of herself.

“I challenge people every day to get out of bed; to do things that hurt physically,” she said. “The riding part won’t be easy, but it doesn’t scare me. I hate fundraising and it is the scariest part for me overall. I choose to do this to challenge myself and to help people enjoy life at the same time.”