MSU alumnus Ken Blidy joined his Pi Kappa Phi fraternity brothers last year to embark on a 63-day coast-to-coast bicycle tour.

It wasn't until he finished the tour when everything came together for him.

"It didn't actually hit me until we got to Washington, D.C., and we raised our bikes in the air," he said. "When we got home, it kind of sunk in, what we did."

What Blidy did was participate in the annual Journey of Hope - an approximately 4,000-mile bicycle ride across America - alongside Pi Kappa Phi fraternity brothers from all over the nation to raise awareness and funds for people with disabilities.

Started in 1987 and comprised of three teams, Journey of Hope members start their tour in San Francisco and meet in Washington, D.C., at the end of the journey.

Each team of Pi Kappa Phi students travels a designated route - North, South or Trans America - and stop at cities along the way to spread their mission.

Journey of Hope participants must apply to become a member and raise $5,000 each to go on tour. The money they raise is given to various organizations across the country for people with disabilities.

Blidy, who was on the South route last year, said the journey was a memorable experience.

"It's the kids' faces when you go on friendship visits and the smiles you put on them when you show up," Blidy said. "When you take them by the hand and dance with them … it's those types of memories I always hold close to my heart. It's a great cause and you don't really see too many fraternity guys doing this."

This year's Journey of Hope North team stopped Sunday at Impression 5 Science Center, 200 Museum Drive, in Lansing, to perform "The Kids on the Block," a puppet show that educates the public about people who have disabilities such as cerebral palsy, Down syndrome or blindness.

Twenty-four riders in yellow jerseys were sprinkled among the audience at the museum. The team also has seven crew members who assist the cyclists throughout the national tour.

It will take 64 days for the men to make it to Washington, D.C., this year. The North team left San Francisco on June 10 and is expected to arrive at the nation's capital August 12. The cyclists ride about 75 miles per day in order to make scheduled stops along the way.

MSU alumnus Dave Ratledge is the only participant from MSU this year and is traveling the South route.

"Our mission is to raise funds and awareness for people with disabilities," said Nick Kulik, public relations coordinator for the Journey of Hope North team. "Throughout this trip, we make friendship visits and stop in different cities to do volunteer work at a facility or just hang out with people who have disabilities."

Although not on the tour this year, Blidy and MSU alumnus Brent Beckman donned red jerseys, which notes Journey of Hope alumni status, to show their support for the 31-member North team.

Blidy and Beckman rode their bicycles with the team from Kalamazoo to Lansing on Sunday morning to make it in time for the 2 p.m. puppet show and meet with visitors at the museum. They said it took about four hours to make it to Lansing.

Some team members stayed Sunday night with MSU family and child ecology professor Tom Luster and his wife, whose son participated on the tour last year, while others stayed with residents in the Luster's neighborhood.

"The friendships they make with the other riders, and the people they meet along the way, is the most rewarding for them," Luster said.

The stop in Lansing brought Berkley, Mich., resident Janice Lovchuk and her family to the museum for the day.

Lovchuk, whose 4-year-old son has cerebral palsy, said the event was an opportunity to thank those from the trip for what they do and to allow her two children to have a better understanding of people with disabilities.

"I bring them to fundraisers so they know people are out there to help other people," she said.

The three teams of Journey of Hope annually raise more than $500,000 for Push America, the fraternity's philanthropy, and other organizations that support people with disabilities.

"It's just so exciting to see these young men so energetic and working so hard for people they haven't even met," said Marion Contompasis, external relations officer at Impression 5 Science Center.

"I hope people learned an understanding of what somebody with a disability is and that it doesn't mean they can't do anything and sit in a corner all the time. I hope they get an understanding and give it to others."