Kidsburgh: 2 Highland Park brothers in the middle of epic bike ride across country
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Two local brothers are in the middle of an epic bike ride across the country.
They started in California on March 10 and plan to be on the Atlantic Coast of Florida on March 27 – That's 18 days. Pedaling through open spaces, city streets clogged with cars, small towns dotting Texas and across surfaces that look unearthly in White Sands National Park, Chago and Cruz Bradbury are biking about nine hours every day.
The brothers, 16 and 18 years old and homeschooled in Highland Park, are cycling with Cody Wagner, program director for Pittsburgh Youth Leadership, which uses cycling to help young people. For the boys, it started with curiosity.
"I think the challenge of doing it. Also, the wonderment of, 'Can I do it or not?'," 16-year-old Chago said.
His 18-year-old brother, Cruz, a high school senior, said, "First off, come up with amazing stories, experiences. I think those just shape us as human beings, who we become."
They're also cycling to raise money for the people of Haiti, a place they visited with their dad, who co-founded the non-profit Haiti H2O.
Cruz explained how the charity works. "They help build houses. They help make porta-potties, but they use the tools and then they leave it there for the village to make their own and do it by themselves."
The journey started with the atmospheric river drenching them in California, then wound through canyons, up extreme inclines of 7,000 vertical feet.
Cruz pulled his Achilles, but he cycled the next day with help from his brother and Cody.
"They kind of helped me out with the draft for me to take a lot off the load," he said.
They average 150 miles a day, biking so late some days it's dark out.
Cruz said on those days, "You just have to take a deep breath and just keep on biking through the night, even though it's a little scarier."
Chago said, "Whenever obstacles hit, you have to have a clear mind of how you want to get through it, and you have to be prepared for anything to come at you, and so I've learned a lot of that already."
The mantra at Pittsburgh Youth Leadership is cycling is a metaphor for life. You can take the easy way out, but if you accept the challenge, you're going to learn what's deep inside you and be a better person for it.
Chago is learning that on this adventure.
"I was coming into it thinking it was more of a test of strength to see how strong (I am), but really it was a test of faith and how strong is your mind," Chago said.
You can support Chago and Cruz Bradbury on their ride cross country here.
Pittsburgh Youth Leadership has been around for 17 years helping kids in disadvantaged communities improve their lives by using cycling. It has done some cross-country trips with the kids before but never in this short of a time span. It also does lots of training rides around our area and shorter rides around the region.
Follow the boys' cross-country ride on the Pittsburgh Youth Leadership Facebook page here. And you can learn about more great programs for kids around our region at Kidsburgh.