MISSION VIEJO : Cyclist Goes the Distance for Charity

For most people, making a donation to a charitable cause requires no greater effort than scrawling their pen across a check.

Recently, Mission Viejo resident Christine Psaros went more than the extra mile--3,373 more, to be exact.

Psaros and 32 people from different states and even a few foreign countries pedaled across the United States to raise money for charity.

In Psaros’ case, the $10,000 she raised over 18 months went to the Fran Joswick Therapeutic Riding Center in San Juan Capistrano.

Part odyssey and part charity drive, the journey was organized by Tim Kneeland & Associates of Seattle. The group, which organizes long-distance bike rides as benefits, managed to raise about $250,000 on the cross-country tour for such charities as the Leukemia Society of America, the American Lung Assn. and others.

The adventure drew 33 bikers from 12 different states and included two people from England and one from Australia.

Psaros took nearly two months off from work as a computer programmer to make the trip from Seattle to Asbury Park, N.J. The journey was a test of endurance, and it rained on 25 of the 48 days she was on the road cycling.

Psaros, 29, said she wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. “I learned the basics of survival,” she said. “You can do anything if you take it in small steps, no matter how massive the task.”

After setting out on June 8 in Seattle, the group averaged 80 miles per day, arriving in Asbury Park on July 25. In between, was a trip that Psaros described as a journey of both physical hardship and wide-eyed wonder.

There were muscle pulls, scrapes and aches--especially seat sores. The most challenging part of the trip was pedaling through Morehead, Minn., where the high was in the 50s on June 30.

Head winds were so intense, the bicyclists encountered resistance going downhill.

Nobody quit and only one person--who suffered a knee injury--had to retire from the trip.

“I wasn’t going to stop,” said Psaros, who is a volunteer at the riding center. “I felt responsible to complete the ride, there were people (at the center) who were counting on me.”

Then there was the beauty of the nation, unfolding in front of her. Often, the people they met along the road opened their arms to the group.

“We really met small-town America,” Psaros said. “People would buy us meals, shake our hands. One couple who raised sled dogs invited us to their homes and shared their lives for a little while.”

Throughout the journey, the people at the Joswick riding center were never far from her mind. The center uses horses as therapy for about 75 mentally and physically disabled people in South County.

And in many ways, what Psaros learned going solo against the road are lessons that can be harnessed by those who use the center. “Now, I feel a sense of independence and freedom,” she said. “I’ve learned that any challenge can be accomplished if you break it into small pieces.”

Or to put it another way: “If I can do this, what else can I do?” asked Psaros.