Geneva man's cross-country ride to raise money for clean water
A warm shower after a grueling bicycle ride one day got Justin Ahrens of Geneva thinking.
Here he was, fiddling with the faucet to get the exact right temperature. It dawned on him this was a luxury he took for granted. He had seen, in a 2007 trip to sub-Saharan Africa, how hard it was for people there to obtain clean water.
He drew an image of a water drop on the steamy shower door.
And he realized, if he really loved his neighbor, that meant helping people get what they needed to live.
Ahrens and three other people will do that when they embark on a 10-day cross-country fundraising bicycle ride Sunday in San Diego.
By the time they reach St. Augustine, Florida, they hope to have raised $200,000.
Add that to the money raised in shorter rides in 2014, 2015 and 2016, and Ahrens' organization, Wheels4Water.org, will have collected $430,000, enough to provide access to safe water and sanitation resources to about 10,000 people in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It supports Lifewater International, a Christian organization working in east Africa and Southeast Asia.
The money is used to construct rain tanks, wells, cisterns and spring caps. It also pays for programs to teach people about sanitation, such as how to construct latrines and hand-washing stations to prevent catching waterborne diseases.
"I was just about blown away to see the reality of the world water crisis," Ahrens said of what he saw in rural Africa. People were carrying water, in large jerrycans, long distances. The water was often contaminated, as animals and humans shared the same open sources, such as springs.
In 2014, Wheels4Water riders trekked 1,000 miles from Boston to Chicago, raising about $100,000. The team filtered its water along the way, to appreciate what people who don't have clean water have to do.
A 450-mile ride in 2015 in California raised $70,000, and two 100-mile rides in Illinois and Arizona in 2016 raised $60,000.
Ahrens said after every ride that it was his last.
He's saying that again this time, and he chose a 3,000-mile route to make it "newsworthy and tough." The team will travel about 300 miles a day.
"If you would have told me four years ago in Africa, I would have told you were crazy," Ahrens said.
He took up bicycle riding only after having a knee replaced. He was overweight and needed to exercise, but he didn't like to swim and running hurt too much. The 45-year-old father of four has since lost 90 pounds.
He practices with 6 a.m. rides through the countryside west of Batavia, on a Cannondale Super6 bike.
To donate, visit wheels4water.org and click on the red "Donate" button at the top of the home page. The team is also selling jerseys, socks, T-shirts, hats and posters, through the "Store" button.