Cross-country bike ride honors dad, 9/11 victim

Cecelia Kauth, of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., was only 15 years old on September 11, 2001, when her father, Don Kauth, was killed working at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) on the 89th floor of the World Trade Center's South Tower.

Today, Kauth is 25 and working hard to finish a long, cross-country bicycle ride in her father's honor. Kauth embarked in June from her home in Portland, Ore., and is hoping to finish her ride on Sept. 10, in New York City, in time to attend 10th anniversary memorial services with her family on September 11.

Kauth is seen here biking the Columbia River Gorge in Washington State.

Cross-country ride honors dad who died on 9-11
Special section: Eye on Parenting
Kauth's journey: Find out how you can help

oie_1001159gpO3ZdoD(1).jpg — The Kauth Family

Cecelia Kauth and her father, Don Kauth.

Cross-country ride honors dad who died on 9-11
Special section: Eye on Parenting
Kauth's journey: Find out how you can help

Kauth and her riding companions enter Montana via Lolo Pass.

Kauth's ride has taken her more than 4,000 miles throughout the U.S., from Oregon's Columbia River Valley, to the Grand Tetons, the Badlands in South Dakota, around the Great Lakes and into hilly upstate N.Y.

Cross-country ride honors dad who died on 9-11
Special section: Eye on Parenting
Kauth's journey: Find out how you can help

Kauth riding through Swan Valley, Mont.

Kauth says biking has helped her to cope over the years. She explained recently to "Eye on Parenting" that, "When I'm biking, my mind and body get in harmony. It's enabled me to cope with a lot of different emotions."

Kauth says she decided to go on the cross-country ride because of her father's love of America.

Kauth explained, "He really loved this country. ... So I thought, what better way to use something that I love to see the country he loved so much and called home?"

Cross-country ride honors dad who died on 9-11
Special section: Eye on Parenting
Kauth's journey: Find out how you can help

Kauth cruising down the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park in Montana.

Cross-country ride honors dad who died on 9-11
Special section: Eye on Parenting
Kauth's journey: Find out how you can help

Kauth about to ride through a granite tunnel in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Cross-country ride honors dad who died on 9-11
Special section: Eye on Parenting
Kauth's journey: Find out how you can help

Kauth poses with a riding companion in the Badlands of South Dakota.

Over the months of cycling, Kauth says she's met people from all walks of life across the country.

She told "Eye on Parenting," "(I met) the people that live here that you don't see on the news, the people that are working so hard between the coasts ... that are just living their lives. ... We were on so many main streets of America. We got to meet ranchers and nurses and pharmacists. We met so many people that allowed us to pitch a tent on their lawn. They trusted us as strangers. They were so giving and so trusting and it was so refreshing as a young American."

Cross-country ride honors dad who died on 9-11
Special section: Eye on Parenting
Kauth's journey: Find out how you can help

Kauth is raising money for her ride to benefit World Bicycle Relief, a non-profit that gets quality, sturdy bicycles into the hands of people living in extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. Kauth's goal is to raise $15,000 - an effort that will get bicycles to students in rural Zambia.

This is Mary receiving her bike at a school distribution in Zambia. Bikes help students reach schools efficiently (as oposed to hours of walking to and from) and prepared to learn. Girls are especially at risk on long walks to school.

Cross-country ride honors dad who died on 9-11
Special section: Eye on Parenting
Kauth's journey: Find out how you can help

Each bike costs $134, so if Kauth reaches her goal, she will be able to supply 111 bikes to school children in Zambia.

Cross-country ride honors dad who died on 9-11
Special section: Eye on Parenting
Kauth's journey: Find out how you can help