Four UConn medical students are getting reacquainted with their own mattresses after spending eight weeks bicycling across the country.
When Liz Rodier, Keanna Chang, Justin Hoffman and Yoga Kammili reached Atlantic waters in Old Saybrook Monday, it marked the completion of the 14th Coast to Coast for a Cause, a cross-country bicycle tour that has become an annual UConn School of Medicine tradition.
“It feels great,” Rodier said, moments after she and her three second-year classmates arrived at UConn Health Sunday. “It feels like we’ve come a long way, but it’s very surreal to be back.”
Come a long way they did. The 3,500-mile journey started in Anacortes, Washington, June 10. It took them mostly along a bike route known as the Northern Tier and included two stints in Canada. Glacier National Park and Niagra Falls are among the notable landmarks they experienced along the way.
“What I learned on this trip was, we’re definitely able to do a lot more than we think we would be able to do, because looking at this summer as a whole, I don’t know how we did that,” Hoffman said. “But it’s really just one day at a time, and you can do what you have to do in that day, in that moment, to get yourself through. If you look too far out, it can seem insurmountable, but just take a little bit of time and you can get through it.”
This year’s cause was the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford, which provides a free summer camp experience for children with health challenges. The students stopped there Sunday morning, even though the detour added a few more hills and miles.
“It was 110% worth it,” Kammili said. “It was incredible.”
“The campers all came outside their cabins and cheered for us and high-fived us as we rode by, so that was really great to see them,” Rodier said. “Our contact at the camp, Justin, gave us a tour of the camp, described everything to us. It was really, really cool to see the tangible aspects of what we’re raising money for. And he told us lots of stories about campers and it really touched our hearts. It was very emotional to be there, but very incredible.”
Medical students historically refer to the summer between their first two years as their last free summer, because there’s no significant time off for the rest of medical school.
Aside the physical and mental demands of two months of cycling and missing family and friends, the riders, who nicknamed themselves the “Cyclopaths,” had to endure flat tires, summer storms, mosquito swarms, and the occasional choice between unpaved trail and busy roadway.
“A large part of it was, if one person was having a bad day, the other three almost knew exactly how to keep them sane and keep them motivated,” Kammili said.
Chang added, “There were a few days we were all just having a bad day, and I think it helped for all of us to just be miserable together.”
Throughout the trip the riders posted photos and daily updates.
Hoffman said what he was least prepared for was pedaling into the wind, which he said “is awful and can really ruin your day.”
“There were like 10 days out of the whole trip where the wind was going with us, and those were glorious,” Chang said. “But then the headwind days, I’ve never been so frustrated in my entire life. It’s just because you’re pushing against this invisible force, it doesn’t stop.”
Some days the students logged more than 100 miles, and at night they would either camp, pay for modest lodging, or stay with a Warmshowers host. Warmshowers is a worldwide community of people who offer their homes for touring cyclists to stop for the night.
“All the people who hosted us and fed us, they were beyond kind,” Kammili said. “The kindness of strangers has just been unbelievable. Biking across the country, people say it’s a great pace to see the world, and that’s true, but I think the best part was just the number of strangers who would come up to us and just start talking.”
Four young adults rolling through town in full bicycle gear often was a conversation starter among the locals. Rodier said they would hand out makeshift business cards to help tell their story, and it led to additional donors.
“On our web page we’re watching our fundraising meter grow as we’re coming across the country,” she said. “That’s really encouraging and really cool; we’re seeing names we don’t recognize on our donor page. That’s so awesome people are getting behind what we’re doing.”
The pedaling may be over, but the 2019 Coast to Coast for a Cause is still accepting donations for the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, and will continue to do so for several more weeks. So far they’ve raised more than $16,000 toward their $20,000 goal.
