This summer, NC State students Jack Agresta and John Bradford embarked on a 4,315 mile, 67 day cross-country cycling trip called “Journey of Hope” to benefit The Ability Experience, Pi Kappa Phi’s philanthropy.

With an average of 85 miles a day, Agresta and Bradford raised $9,200 and $12,004 respectively with the help of family, friends, local businesses and more. 

Bradford, a third-year studying business administration, said the trip was grueling at times.

“We had to bike 80 miles after doing 135 the day before with 1,000 feet of climbing, which was ridiculous,” Bradford said. “And it was pouring rain for the entire ride. And I just remember being completely, utterly miserable. As everything was soaked, I was freezing cold and my legs hurt, my back, my hands, everything hurt, and you’re just like, ‘Holy crap, what are we out here doing?’” 

Even through tough weather conditions, Bradford said his teammates motivated him.  

“If you’re starting to struggle, you put the slowest guy in your paceline always up front, and you’re always pushing them to keep digging hard,” Bradford said. “And if you come up to a big climb, [and] they’re slowing down, you don’t pass them because that’s a motivation killer, and you just say, ‘Come on man, let’s go. Let’s go, you know, 15 more feet, 50 more feet.’”

Agresta, a fifth-year studying economics and communications, said the trip’s overarching cause encouraged everyone to keep cycling during difficult routes.

“Some of those days, it was like 30 degrees in the morning in the northwest,” Agresta said. “So you have to put four layers on. You’re like, ‘I don’t want to do this. It’s hard.’ But at the same time, I just tell myself, ‘Do I really want to be the dude who doesn’t ride this?’ Just realize what it’s all for.”

Bradford said the trip wasn’t just biking — cyclists joined local organizations dedicated to individuals with disabilities for friendship visits, which included activities such as dance parties, games and sharing a meal together.

Bradford said the money raised goes toward charities that riders visit while on their cycling trip.

“The money goes to both friendship visits in the form of grants and to fund the organization as a whole so they can fund other projects and also aid people with disabilities,” Bradford said.

Agresta said the friendship visits added a lot of significance to the trip.

“It was really emotional for a lot of people to see how cheerful some of these kids that needed to be taken care of were,” Agresta said. “We heard the next day [from] our project manager they only have a year or two to live, and that really hit all of us pretty hard. So that was really impactful for a lot of us.”

Although the cycling trip came with challenges, Bradford said the genuine value of the trip was making friends during the friendship visit.  

“I worked with a man [at one of the friendship visits], and he never gave me his name — he just said, ‘Call me your best friend,” Bradford said.’ “As soon as I got there he pointed to me and said, ‘You’re my best friend.’ And so the entire day we just ran around outside, and it was like, 102 degrees. We were sweating, we were tired, but he just wanted to go, go, go.”

Bradford said he gained valuable experience and insight on the trip. 

“Getting to work with people of all sorts of disabilities was a new challenge, specifically helping with people who are more medically fragile or nonverbal,” Bradford said. “But over the course of the summer, I got a lot better, and so I think I’d feel a lot more comfortable working with the disabled community. But it also showed me that these people are the kindest, most big-hearted, fun people you’ll ever meet. None, not a single one of them, ever says anything negative, and they never judge you for what you’re doing or who you are. They’re just there to have a great time.”