Tanner Stergue, a 2019 Newtown High School graduate, is currently the midst of a two-month cross-country cycling trip to benefit The Ability Experience, an organization that empowers people living with disabilities.

According to The Ability Experience website, “Along the way, the team spreads the message of disability awareness through local media and makes stops at partner organizations where we delivery joy to our friends from the disability community.”

On Wednesday, July 28, Stergue took time during a rare day off to speak with The Newtown Bee about how the trip is going so far and the positive impact it has made on his life.

When Stergue began attending Virginia Tech, he joined the fraternity Pi Kappa Phi as a way to meet new friends on campus. Through that experience, he learned about the fraternity’s philanthropic commitment to The Ability Experience, and knew he wanted to help, too.

Despite not having a background in cycling, he decided to take part in The Ability Experience’s annual Journey of Hope ride. So back in June, he flew from the East Coast to Santa Barbara, Calif., with just his bike and essentials before kicking off what would be a 59-day journey on June 14.

Stergue is riding with the South Route team — one of two groups of riders crisscrossing the nation this summer. His team will eventually pedal around 3,700 miles. With him are people from Pi Kappa Phi fraternity chapters across the nation.

“We have people from NC State, Santa Barbara, Ohio State, from Michigan – everywhere,” Stergue said. In total, he said, there are 20 cyclists as well as six crew members who help the riders along the way.

Stergue explained, “We have a project manager who coordinates our sponsored lodging for the night. We usually sleep in churches or gym floors – wherever people will house us for the night. He also figures out the meals that we will have in the morning, afternoon, or night.

“If it’s not sponsored from someone who wants to donate to us, we have a crew chief who is the second in command in that group, who organizes all the meals that aren’t sponsored and makes sure we are safe while on the road. The other crew members help with luggage and all the crew members help with the riding.”

Heading Eastward

On average, the team travels 75 to 90 miles a day; some days, it can be more for them to meet their daily goals.

“It’s really eventful in terms of cycling,” Stergue said. “Tomorrow [July 29] we have a 130-mile bike ride from Birmingham, Alabama, to Carlton, Georgia… If you look on a map for elevation, the West Coast to about Texas is really steep, then it sort of flattens out where we are at. But tomorrow we are going to start going into the Appalachians, the foothills, so we have around 7,000 feet of elevation to climb tomorrow, which is pretty intense.

“But it’s a great ride to kind of push myself tomorrow,” he said.

Each day, the team has a 4 am wake up call, then gathers a half-hour later for “circle up.” During that time, they share a prayer and a ride dedication to help them focus their minds on that day’s journey.

Stergue says the team identifies a “Disability of the Day” where each member individually selects a specific disability — which could be a physical or mental — and concentrates on its impact.

“Then, usually 15 minutes later, we are on the road cycling,” he said.

When the team departs from their location, they always have a support van following close by to ensure everyone’s safety. Crew members in other vans are stationed at the Mile 10, Mile 20, Mile 30, and Mile 40 markers.

He said when all the riders have passed Mile 10, that van relays to Mile 50; then when all the riders have passed Mile 20, that van proceeds to Mile 60; and so on.

“This is to make sure every ten miles we are able to have snacks, water, and anything we need to keep going those extra miles,” Stergue said.

Friendship Visits

Once the team has reached their riding goal and made it to their destination, the next part of the Journey of Hope begins: Friendship Visits.

Friendship Visits are organized meet-ups where the riders and crew spend time with people who are differently abled. There, they can have fun engaging with the community and making a positive impact on the lives of people they meet.

“Sometimes if we have a Friendship Visit by 2:30 pm, we’ll have to complete, say, 80 miles by 1:00 so that we can stage up and get ready for the Friendship Visit. Other times it will be dinner at 5 pm, so you can take your time, but usually we go around 18-19 miles an hour,” Stergue explained.

On days the team has off from cycling, members enjoy the city they are in while also doing multiple Friendship Visits.

“We’ll have a breakfast with a bunch of campers, then we’ll have lunch with a bunch of people, then hopefully a Friendship Visit for dinner,” Stergue said.

On August 2, Stergue informed The Newtown Bee that, so far, he and his team had visited with New Horizons Center in Lake Havasu City, Ariz.; New Horizons Developmental in Center, Carrizozo, N.M.; Camp Civitan in Williams, Ariz.; Moody Miracle League in Moody, Ala.; Tabosa Developmental Services in Roswell, N.M.; Sandy Anderson at Lubbock State School in Lubbock, Texas; Naomi Richardson at Disability Resources, Inc, in Abilene, Texas; Talana Morris at Terrell State Hospital in Terrell, Texas; Chris Stow at AMBUCS in Longview, Texas; Kathy Terrachia at University of Louisiana Monroe in Monroe, La.; Shirley Clark at LIFE of Mississippi in Brandon, Miss.; and Mandy Sission at Mustard Seeds, Inc, in Brandon, Miss.

Over the subsequent 12 days, the group expected to have nine more Friendship Visits. The visits this summer are even more impactful for the people involved, as last year the Journey of Hope ride was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For many, the Friendship Visits are the highlight of their day, and sometimes their whole summer.

“It’s their holiday when we come and join them for the day. It’s a really a special time for them and everyone is super happy to meet us,” Stergue said. “To a certain extent, people look at the cyclists and crew members and say, ‘You’re doing such a great job doing this,’ but in my perspective, what I learned so far is I feel almost selfish, because I can never give back to these communities what they are giving to me. The opportunity and what I have learned from all these people is just so significant that I could never repay it.”

‘Big Arrival’

Throughout the Journey of Hope ride, cyclists persevere past physical challenges for the greatest reward: getting to help The Ability Experience.

“Everyone is here for different reasons in terms of personal goals, but my goal is to spread the message of empathy and inclusion for those who aren’t really included as much and are forgotten about when the summertime comes around… everyone should be able to have fun in their lives.” Stergue said.

In addition to making connections with people and spreading awareness about the cause, the ride also raises money to continue its impact.

All the proceeds received from the Journey of Hope ride will cover the trip’s expenses and go toward giving grants to organizations that the team visited along the way, according to Stergue.

For those interested showing their support, the Journey of Hope South Route team is scheduled to arrive at the Capitol lawn in Washington, DC, on Saturday, August 14.

“It’s kind of a big arrival, because we’ve been away from our families for two months,” Stergue said. “All of our families will be there, my fraternity brothers from Virginia Tech will be there. It’s welcoming all of us in, and we take a bunch of photos. We have a banquet later that day where they give out our pins and a bunch of awards to certain members of the group, then we disperse after that.”

To learn more about The Ability Experience and to donate, visit abilityexperience.org.

Reporter Alissa Silber can be reached at alissa@thebee.com.