Bike4Life trek sets out to support Red Cross

Making it to the picturesque scenic overlook above Cumberland, Md., after a day and a half of biking uphill to get there couldn’t get much better for Dave Mickley.

A favorite stop on his five-day ride to Washington, D.C., getting to that point means most of the next part of his journey is downhill and he’ll get to have dessert at the Queen City Creamery that night. The only thing that might improve that experience: doing it for charity.

That’s exactly what Mr. Mickley decided to do seven years ago when he developed Bike4Life, a 300-mile bike trek benefiting the American Red Cross.

Nine riders will participate in this year’s excursion starting tomorrow in West Newton and ending Friday in Washington.

“First and foremost it’s about helping other people and helping fulfill the mission of the American Red Cross, which is to help people in times of disaster and that’s really the most important thing,” he said.

The idea for the excursion started as a bucket list wish for Mr. Mickley. He became friends with Mike Green, a classmate at C.S. Kim Karate in Irwin, and the two decided to take it step further than a bike ride to the capital.

The Bike4Life event (arcbike4life.org) has raised around $150,000 for the Red Cross in the past seven years.

Mr. Mickley, 56, of West Newton, a Westmoreland-Armstrong Red Cross board member, said that about $35,000 has been raised so far leading up to this year’s ride.

The money can be used nationally by the Red Cross for everything from military support to teaching first aid. However, these funds will primarily go to disaster relief.

Dana Bauer, the executive director of the Red Cross of Chestnut Ridge, which serves Armstrong, Fayette, Indiana and Westmoreland counties, said each emergency response costs the Red Cross about $900. But that number can vary greatly.

The Chestnut Ridge chapter responded to a fire in Greensburg on June 30 that displaced a family of 13, including 11 children, many under the age of 10.

Putting the family up in a hotel and providing them with other basic needs cost the Red Cross more than $4,000.

“The Red Cross relies on support from the local community to achieve our mission,” Ms. Bauer said. “We are not government funded.”

Mr. Mickley said he is not sure if he will continue organizing the trip to Washington after this year. He said, though, that he is planning one day rides from West Newton to the South Side or vice versa to continue to raise money.

“We think that we could get a lot more people involved in a one-day ride,” he said. “So that’s something that we’re looking at for next year.”