HUNTINGTON, West Virginia -
It's been a long hot summer for Zach Morris of Huntington. Last May he and other college students from across the country started a cross country bike ride in Seattle, Wash.
Some days during the trip the extreme heat pushed temperatures in the triple digits.
"For some of the cyclists it was really, really hard. There were some days out in the Midwest where we would have to go over a 100 miles in one day as well as in 100-degree heat. That was pretty tough for them. We had to fill up with water multiple times," said Morris, a junior at Marshall University.
The trip is called "Journey Of Hope". It's the 25th year for the trip that's sponsored by the national Pi Kappa Phi fraternity for the purpose of raising money and awareness for people with disabilities.
"For every one mile you ride it's a thousand people you are affecting, and that is what circles through our heads as we're going," said Michael Fowler, a graduate of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
That's what kept the cyclists peddling, realizing they are helping and touching the lives of those with disabilities.
"Remember they are a person first who happens to be a person that uses a wheelchair to get around, and so this attention of these types of activities helps us spread the word about people with disabilities so people will be more comfortable," said Anne Weeks, President & CEO of Mountain State Centers for Independent Living.
The Journey of Hope ends Aug. 5 in Washington, D.C.
The cyclists that rode through Huntington are actually one of three Pi Kappa Phi cycling teams riding across the country. All three are scheduled to arrive in Washington on the same day.
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