Journey of Hope rides through South Lake Tahoe on way to Washington, D.C.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - For 36 years, Pi Kappa Phi fraternity members have crossed the country on cycling journeys to raise awareness and understanding for people with disabilities through Journeys for Hope. Teams take off from San Francisco, Seattle, and Los Angeles and rendezvous in Washinton, D.C.

The San Francisco team was in South Lake Tahoe this week, the first of their layover days after a long 90-mile trip from Jackson, up SR88 and over Carson Pass and Luther Pass and into the Lake Tahoe Basin. A gain of over 11,400 feet! The group was hosted for two nights by Hope Lutheran Church, the Odd Fellows Emerald Bay Lodge #50, and the Moose Lodge 1632 and Women of the Moose Chapter 408, with free showers provided by the KOA campground.

The team of 29 college students each fundraised a minimum of $6,500 for the cycling trip that stops in 52 different towns over 63 days. The purpose of the trip is to not only spread awareness of individuals with disabilities but to also raise funds through their 501(c)3, Ability Experience, for organizations that serve and support them.

Jack Laughlin, a graduate of Loyola University New Orleans and currently a resident of Austin, Texas, is serving as team manager. He rode the trip in 2021 and is now in leadership and is one of the support van drivers. He led introductions of the 29 men at dinner at the Moose Lodge Thursday evening. They represent 20 different universities from coast to coast.

On Friday, the cyclists left Hope Luthern in South Lake Tahoe for a 40-mile trip over Kingsbury Grade and into Carson City where they stayed at the First Presbyterian Church and a planned stop at the Boys and Girls Club of Wester Nevada.

The Journey of Hope trip can be followed on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/abilityexperience and their website at https://abilityexperience.org/.

They will be in Washington, D.C. on August 10, 2024.