Participants in the Firehouse Bike Trip are planning to stop here this week.

Sometime in the afternoon of Friday, a team of cyclists from South Bend, Ind., will arrive in Dunkirk as a part of a 12-day, 1,000-mile ride from Monroe, Mich., to Kennebunkport, Maine. Dunkirk First United Methodist Church and Fredonia Methodist Church will be hosting the group after they pedal in from Conneaut, Ohio.

The Firehouse Bike Trip is a ministry of Clay Church in South Bend, comprised of teenagers and adults on bicycles in addition to a support team on the road. These cyclists began training in early April, and have already logged more than 10,000 miles in 2018 before kicking off their trip. Their adventure begins from the west coast of Lake Huron at Monroe, Michigan and takes them all the way to the Atlantic Seaboard in Kennebunkport, Maine. Along the way, they’ll visit communities, stay in churches, and perform small service projects for many of their hosts.

Now in its tenth year, the Firehouse Bike Trip has ridden through Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York, Iowa, and West Virginia. During that time, more than 100 different cyclists have participated, and the group has logged more than 200,000 total miles. This year, they’ll add Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine to the list.

Said youth minister Aaron Helman, “We often talk about how teenagers are capable of doing great, big, incredible things. But rarely do we give them opportunities to actually do those things. Bike Trip is that opportunity.”

Nearly every participant in the adventure begins as a novice. Their first training ride is usually less than 15 miles — and at that time, that’s usually the longest ride of their life. But in less than 12 weeks, every participant will have ridden the full length of a state, ridden up and down hills and mountains, and completed at least one century ride (a ride of 100 miles in a single day).

“When students realize they can do this, they begin to realize they can do everything,” stated Helman. “Our students realize that they have every ounce of will and determination to reach their goals and to build a better world in the process.”

The group’s motto is pulled directly from Romans 5:4. Helman and the other adult leaders are consistently espousing the values of perseverance, character, and hope. They believe, and have seen, that the adventure of Bike Trip teaches and develops those values better than any lesson or curriculum, and so they keep pedaling, mile after mile, day after day, until their destination is reached.

“At the end of every Bike Trip, we challenge students to reflect on how far they’ve come with the help of God and the encouragement of their team.” said Helman. “And if they can do this, then that means there’s nothing they cannot do.”