Laguna Beach : Five Bicyclists Depart on Cross-Country Trek

There was still a hint of mist over the breaking surf early Wednesday morning as the five bicyclists began final preparations before embarking on their journey.

As a crowd of Laguna Beach locals began to gather, the curious mingling with friends and boosters, hurried farewell kisses and hugs were made as the five riders, already almost an hour behind schedule, finally began the first leg of their 3,300-mile, coast-to-coast trip.

The group’s goal is to help raise money for the restoration of the Statue of Liberty by bicycling from Laguna Beach to New York City by June 4. Although the riders are not officially sponsored by the Statue of Liberty Ellis Island Foundation, they will be passing their helmets around at the towns they go through, collecting money for the landmark. After collecting the cash, they will pedal to a nearby post office to convert the donations into money orders for the foundation.

The five riders--three women and two men--are a diverse group with a single purpose. “We want to help raise money for the Lady,” said Dawn Motto, the bubbly, 30-year-old veteran of four previous cross-country bicycle trips and chief organizer of the fund-raising tour. “I love cross-country touring and I love this country,” she exclaimed.

Motto’s companions on the trip include Andrew Pessen, a former Laguna resident and a UCLA graduate student, Laguna residents Lois Thorell and Clancy Heard, plus Motto’s sister-in-law, Sandy Bick, who flew in from Washington state to participate in the overland trek. Pessen, who is working toward a master’s degree in kinesiology and who is a veteran of several cross-country tours, will be writing a research paper on his experiences.

During the course of the journey, which will last nearly two months, Pessen will monitor the physical conditions of the other riders by performing daily tests, such as checking body fat content. “The other people were kind enough to be my guinea pigs,” he said, adding that the five riders will expend about 5,500 calories apiece each day they are on the road.

Although the two male riders are single, all of the women are married and two have children. Skip Thorell, the husband of one of the riders, said he would “probably become a recluse for a couple of months.”

Motto’s husband, Jerry Hurska, who owns a Laguna Beach candy shop and has been handling most of the promotion for the trip, admitted the next two months could be tough. “Raising the kid and running the business can get difficult,” he said, adding that the last cross-country trip his wife took only lasted 42 days.