Paul Anderson Youth Home teens to bike 520 miles in 7 days for 18th Annual Charity Ride
Anthony, Landon, Noah, Perry and Kassten will venture mainly along the backroads of southern Georgia and northern Florida in support of the Paul Anderson Youth Home (PAYH) in Vidalia, Georgia. The home is named for founder and Olympic gold medalist Paul Anderson, who credited his physical prowess to God after being diagnosed at a young age with Bright’s Disease (a term no longer used for nephritis, or kidney disease) to perform at the highest level of sports. When his record-setting career in weightlifting ended, Anderson and his wife, Glenda, founded PAYH as a Christian alternative to juvenile and adult correctional programs for young men ages 16 through 21.
The home offers programs such as addiction treatment, spiritual development and counseling. Betty Burris, PAYH's executive director, said, “Many of the young men who come to the home are not Christians or don't necessarily come from Christian families. So, teachings of the Lord and Jesus are incorporated into other aspects of life training.”
Daily activities range from running a mile in the morning, cooking and cleaning for themselves, or attending the fully accredited, on-campus school to complete their high-school education. An average stay for a young man at the home ranges from 14-18 months.
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Annual bike ride is 'major growth opportunity'
The annual ride formalized 18 years ago when Mac Jordan and Drew Read, former PAYH COO, decided to emulate Anderson’s own bike trek from Vidalia to Omaha, Nebraska, in 1961. Jordan and Read were the only two riders that first year and they raised $5,000. The event has evolved significantly since then to become the biggest fundraiser for the home. The home is still short of this year’s $145,500 target. Any individuals or organizations interested in supporting the riders can go to payhbikeride.com or Text: BIKERIDE to 71777.
Aside from raising money for the home, the ride is a major growth opportunity for the boys involved. With safety as the number one priority, the boys began training back around the first of May when they were fitted to their bikes and provided safety instruction.
“Then they ride three days a week about fifteen miles a day at the start and build up to more [distance] with each ride,” said Victoria Shuman, PAYH's advancement officer.
Fritz Olnausen, board member and event organizer (and a PAYH alumni parent) devised the current training scheduling. This week the boys will rest to conserve energy before embarking on July 8 from Vidalia. They end up back in Vidalia on July 14.
Shuman said, “The first two days are easy. By the third day, things get hard. Their bodies tire, but they push through. It is definitely a spiritual journey they go on.”
Fortunately for the home, the boys who endeavor to take this ride each year either volunteer or are nominated by the PAYH staff. “They’re typically boys who have shown tremendous growth during their time at the home and earned their spot on the team,” Burris said.
Olnausen, a PAYH alumni parent, has been participating in the bike ride for 10 years (riding alongside the boys nine out of those 10 years) and can attest to their fortitude. He advised that, “Weather works with us and sometimes it doesn't.”
He recalled a situation during the ride from five years ago. “We were in the Thomasville leg of the journey, headed toward Florida, when the skies opened up on us at 1 p.m.” After spotting lightning, “We pulled off at the first store that we found, which wasn’t much of a store in that part of the state, and we waited out the storm for almost an hour. When the lightning finally stopped, we continued through the light rain.”
He went on to assure that there are folks who follow the bike troupe in vehicles to address any emergency situations. “We also changed the nature of the ride a few years back, because we would sometimes have boys spread out over 10 to 15 miles. We made it a team effort instead.”
Riding 80 miles a day, they are responsible for cleaning their own bikes. They are also trained on bike maintenance. “Inevitably they are going to get flats. Everyone pulls over and walks through the repair process,” Olnausen said. “In the end, committing to the ride is spiritually and physically transformative for the boys. It represents the very purpose of the home.”
The ride is planned about a year in advance. During their trip, the boys may stay at campgrounds in tents, at donors’ homes, in church halls, or in gyms at YMCAs or schools.
Go to www.payh.org for a full schedule of the stops and more insight on the riders as well as information about Paul Anderson and his legacy.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: 18th Annual Paul Anderson Youth Home charity bike ride rolls on July 8
