Pedaling for a Purpose: Pi Kappa Phi members embark on a cross-country journey for Push America
By Liz Schneider
Feb. 14, 2012 12:30 a.m.
Fourth-year math student Mike Borger (right) and fourth-year art student Ralph Guerrero (left) will bike across the United States to raise awareness about people with disabilities.
Nearly every morning, Borger and Guerrero (pictured) spend a few hours riding, averaging 40 miles a day during the week and 60 miles a day on the weekend. During the summer’s journey, they will be covering distances up to 100 miles a day.
Borger (pictured) and Guerrero will join other members of Pi Kappa Phi in the annual event called Journey for Hope, which this year aims to raise $600,000 dollars for the fraternity’s charity, Push America. The money will benefit people with disabilities, ranging from grants for local organizations to construction of handicap accessible facilities.
Pi Kappa Phi members Mike Borger and Ralph Guerrero are the first to admit they are hardly seasoned road warriors.
When the pair embark on a cross-country cycling journey this summer to raise money for their fraternity’s charity, Push America, it will be their first such undertaking and probably, they say, one of the most physically challenging experiences they’ve ever had.
And although Guerrero said that “his legs hurt just thinking about it,” his thoughts on the cross-country journey will lie more with the physical challenges faced by someone else: his younger cousin, who was born with a muscular disorder that Guerrero says prevented him from partaking in many childhood activities.
“Growing up, my cousin’s leg disability kept him from doing sports and playing with other kids,” said Guerrero, a fourth-year art student. “That motivated me to do this.”
This firsthand knowledge of the challenges of disabilities gives the ride, appropriately titled the “Journey of Hope,” even more emotional significance. The program sends members of Pi Kappa Phi on a cycling trip across the country, participating in “friendship visits” with groups of people with disabilities along the way.
“Friendship visits could be anything from a baseball game to a water park or a barbecue ““ just normal things that people do in the summer,” said Alex Roth, director of team services for Push America.
“We want to have a good time and bring our participants together so everyone can learn about each other and have fun.”
Each participant must also raise a minimum of $5,500, but Roth says that the true value of the trip comes from showing both the participants and supporters what people with disabilities are capable of.
“Most of these young men don’t have a lot of experience with people with disabilities,” Roth said.
“The most rewarding part of this journey is learning about people with disabilities and how much they can do in society. These are lessons that they will take with them in their careers and their lives.”
Some of the visits will be in conjunction with Build America, another Push America program that constructs handicap accessible amenities for public places such as playgrounds or parks.
These physically strenuous tasks are interspersed with mornings filled with an average of 80 miles of cycling ““ an intense combination of activities that makes the journey physically and mentally challenging.
“It’s going to be really hard work, but I’m really excited for it,” Borger said. “I’m just ready to help out and do whatever I can.”
The duo is currently training 4-5 days a week, averaging 40-60 miles per trip ““ a regimen that will be tested when the duo heads to a regional team training in Arizona next month.
While there, they will meet Pi Kappa Phi members from all over the nation who will join them on their journey and experience the intensity of their first long-distance ride as a group.
They will also learn which of the three cross-country routes ““ North, TransAmerica or South ““ they will be traveling. All of the routes, which start in either San Francisco or Seattle, finish simultaneously at the Capitol building in Washington D.C., where all of the participants partake in a huge banquet and celebration.
And while the riders say they will be happy with whatever route they are placed on, Borger admits he has both personal and practical reasons to hope for the Northern route.
“The Northern route goes through the Great Lakes, and I have a lot of family up there, so that would be really cool,” said the fourth-year math student.
“Besides,” he added with a smile, “does anyone really want to bike 300 miles in three days across Texas in the summer?”
And while Borger hopes to visit his younger brother, who attends the University of Michigan, during the journey, Guerrero’s mind will lie with his family regardless of his assignment.
Guerrero said the Journey of Hope offers more than just the opportunity to raise money for people who live with disabilities.
It also gives him the chance to show his cousin that with the right mind-set, anything is possible, Guerrero said.
“I just want to show him that if you really want to do something, you just have to have a lot of faith and spirit and push through it,” Guerrero said.
“Even though this seems really impossible at first, I’m going to do it. I want him to see that he can do the things that he wants to do, too.”
