A 57-year-old former phys ed teacher has finished her 800-mile ride from Evansville, Indiana, to Eunice, Louisiana.
It's not a bike ride that follows any established bicycle routes. But it was the most direct route from Becky Jones' home to the small Louisiana town that nearly doubled its population with evacuees from last fall's hurricanes.
Jones wanted to call attention to the job Eunice had done in hosting 6,000 evacuees after the storm and raise funds to help support the 800-some people who still remain.
Giving up on the idea to walk the distance, she took up bicycling, toning up on a stationary bike at a local gym over the winter and riding outside on better days. She's lives in a river valley, so didn't get to ride the hills until she left on her bike trip. She told the Clarksville (Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle:
“I thought surely if a real bike rider can bike 100 miles a day, I can bike 50 miles a day as a pretend rider. It's mostly mental. I know that from hiking. It's partly physical, but it's mostly mental.”
Along the way, she raised $17,000, which she gave to the city of Eunice on Monday.
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