Bicycle ride to bring housing awareness starts Tuesday in Huntington Beach

The Fuller Center for Housing has become known for long bicycle treks designed to raise money and awareness toward fighting poverty housing.

Now, one of those rides is starting in Huntington Beach for the first time.

The Fuller Center Bicycle Adventure’s first-ever Winter Western Ride begins on Tuesday morning. More than two dozen cyclists are expected to leave from St. Wilfred Episcopal Church in Huntington Beach at about 8 a.m., ride media liaison Dave Erquhart said.

“We’re doing it for the visibility of Fuller, and also to let people know what the message of Fuller is, which is affordable housing,” said Erquhart, who is a support driver for the group. “Everybody has the same bike shirt on, and it’s orange. Usually, when we’re in a group at a certain place, people will ask, ‘What’s this all about?’”

The cyclists will start with a “short” 26-mile segment to Anaheim. Erquhart said from there, they will head to Hemet for a couple of nights, where there will also be a work project.

“It does add to the camaraderie when people are working together to do things,” Erquhart said. “We do things from landscaping, cleaning up [and] painting, [to] doing simple construction. Fuller in itself, [has] projects around the world and also in the United States, to build affordable housing.”

The 626-mile Winter Western Ride is slated to conclude on March 14 in Tucson.

Erquhart said the riders typically stay at churches or other community buildings. The Fuller Center for Housing is a Christian nonprofit that’s based in Georgia.

“We’re camping out on this trip at Joshua Tree, so that’s going to be a new one for me,” said Erquhart, who is providing ride support for the third time.

The Fuller Center Bicycle Adventure began with a single cross-country ride in 2008, but has grown into the nonprofit’s biggest fundraising and awareness event. Since its inception, the rides have raised more than $6.8 million, according to a news release, with more than 2,200 riders pedaling more than two million cumulative miles.

Along the way, they’ve participated in more than 350 Fuller Center builds.

This year will be the Bicycle Adventure’s biggest yet, with nine rides to choose from along eight different routes. The main event is the annual summer cross-country ride, which this year goes from Oregon to Maine and covers 4,000 miles over 10 weeks.

For more information, visit fullercenterbikeadventure.org.