STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

Related Links

• Web: Check out www.thebigride2008.com

More Bonita

• Today's traffic enforcement locations in Collier, Lee
• Blood donors will get free movie ticket
• Former bank employee charged with stealing

Share and Enjoy [?]

When Pastor Scott Cain moved to San Carlos Park two years ago, he quickly set about discovering his new community from the seat of a bicycle.

Cycling provides a perspective you can’t find from inside a car, he says.

“The nature of riding is such that you get to deal with the climate, the sounds, the smells and the geography,” said Cain, who moved from Melbourne when he became pastor of New Day Christian Church in June. “And I’ve always been an adventurer of one sort or another.”

Cain’s adventurous spirit will get a lengthy workout May 12, when he and two cycling companions set out on a 4,000-mile trek across the country.

The 55-day marathon starts in St. Augustine and ends in Florence, Ore. It will take the riders through 12 states and across the nation’s wetlands, prairies and most mountainous regions.

The trip will also raise money for Habitat for Humanity and Lake Aurora Christian Camp in Central Florida.

Cain, 56, is a natural athlete who became a serious cyclist six years ago. He played baseball in college and dabbled in inline skating and racquetball before he became obsessed with the open road.

“I got bored with inline skating and had seen riders on the roads around Melbourne,” he said. “I found an old open road bike at a pawn shop, and then when I went on a ride with a friend he really took off and left me behind. I took that as a challenge.”

Cain says he is a persistent type who has the determination to travel long distances. “I’m kind of like the tortoise,” he said. “In cycling, you learn what’s inside you. It is a great time to focus and it’s one thing you can do where you can’t blame anybody if you don’t get it done.”

Church member Jeannie Simala said New Day congregants immediately noticed Cain’s passion for cycling when he arrived at the church, formerly San Carlos Christian Church.

“When he first came he’d ride his bicycle everywhere,” she said. “He’d be gone a long time then call the office and ask, ‘Do you know where I am?’ He’d be lost somewhere in Lehigh Acres.”

Cain currently rides between 150 miles and 200 miles per week in preparation for the trip. The regime includes regular trips around “the circle.”

Cain starts in San Carlos Park, riding south on Three Oaks Parkway to Bonita Beach Road.

He then heads west through Fort Myers Beach before riding north on Summerlin Road.

Taking Gladiolus Drive east to U.S. 41, he turns south to San Carlos Park. The circuit is about 47 miles.

“When I’m really feeling my oats, I’ll do it twice to get my 100 miles in,” he said.

Cain has taken long-distance bicycle trips before, including an 800-mile, seven-day ride from Minneapolis to St. Louis in 2005.

Biking across the country will be a new challenge even for a seasoned distance rider, said Ryan Thomas, owner of AJ Barnes Bicycle Emporium.

The bike shop is providing road supplies for the trip, including backup tires, tubes and bicycle repair tools.

Thomas, who once cycled from California to Michigan, is also offering his expertise.

“It’s not going to be the easiest thing he’s ever done,” said Thomas. “But he’ll be able to spread his ministry and raise some money for good causes, so I think that will give him inspiration. He’s one of those preachers who walks it like he talks it.”

Thomas said wind, changing weather and unfamiliar geography pose constant challenges on a long ride.

Starting in the northern parts of Florida, the riders will immediately encounter rolling hills that make riding much more difficult than cycling on the flat local terrain.

The other riders are Michael Stevens, a retired IRS special agent from Melbourne, and Marvin Talent, an engineer who lives in Louisiana.

The plan is to ride as many as 115 miles per day in flat areas and as few as 50 miles per day in the most mountainous regions of Colorado.

“He’ll be logging long miles and gutting it out,” said Thomas. “He’ll go through times when the mind says you’ve got to keep going and the body says, that’s it, I’m spent.”

“I’m just going to approach it one day at a time,” said Cain. “I’m trying to break the elephant down piece by piece so I can eat it all.”

The riders will sleep in a camper most nights and spend one night each week in hotels, Cain said.

On Sunday mornings, he will use the Internet to read church announcements and provide trip updates for the New Day congregation, he said.

He will also post photographs on the ride’s Web site, www.thebigride2008.com, on a regular basis.

“I’m standing on a lot of shoulders for this trip and people will be interested,” he said. “Our church is making the biggest donation, allowing me to be gone so long. I’m just getting to do something that is a life dream.”