Some students get winded just from biking across campus. But for biochemistry and molecular biology junior Karl Ochs, a short ride through MSU is nothing compared to the trip he will make across the nation next summer. Ochs plans to bike from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. as a participant in the Journey of Hope.
The event is organized by the Pi Kappa Phi charity Push America, which raises money and awareness for people with disabilities. Ochs, who is the vice president of the Pi Kappa Phi chapter at MSU, has a goal of raising over $5,500. Ochs and his fellow fraternity brother Cody Bascom, a kinesiology junior, are representing MSU’s chapter at the event.
The Journey of Hope consists of three different teams, all with different starting points, which include San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle. Each team ends in Washington, D.C. The cross-country bicycle trip combines a total of 12,000 miles, with each team going 4,000 miles respectively.
Ochs' team, which will take the north route, is scheduled to start June 7 in San Francisco and will arrive in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 8. Ochs’ team wants to go the north route partly to beat the heat of the south, but he also thought it would be cool to go through Michigan. The north route will send him to Kalamazoo, East Lansing and Ann Arbor in three days’ time.
Ochs is no stranger to charity bicycle rides. This past summer he raised more than $2,700 through Gear Up Florida. While Journey of Hope won’t be his first long bike ride, he actually just started riding this summer.
“At first I was going 10 miles, and it was like, phew,” Ochs said. “Now, I can do a 40 mile ride and it’s like nothing. It’s more of a mental thing than a physical thing. It becomes a lot easier when you know you’re doing it for a good reason.”
Ochs hasn’t been struggling to balance school with training so far, but he said he will be training much more in the spring.
“Right now, since school started it’s been difficult because I have a pretty difficult schedule,” Ochs said. “I haven’t been doing it too much. But, when spring comes, I’ll be back doing long rides.”
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