John Denver sang about the Blue Ridge Mountains in his classic song “Take Me Home, Country Roads” as he yearned for the beautiful scenery and mystical feeling of the area. Teammates Dave, Nick, and Jennah took a trip on those same roads through those famous, familiar American mountains… by means of a four-day bike tour in support of Blood:Water.

On their fundraising page, 29k Feet: a Bike Tour, they describe how they realized they needed to do more to solve the water crisis: “As former racers on DePaul’s cycling team, cycling is one of our biggest passions. One hot summer day in Chicago, we were on our way home from a ride and ran out of water. After realizing we weren’t going to make it home without filling up somewhere, we spotted a man outside his house watering plants with a hose. We rode up to him, asked for water, he filled up our bottles, and we were on our way.

“As we rode further, we started thinking ‘how amazing is it that this man had a clean water source attached to the side of his house, and through minimal inconvenience, this stranger was able to provide for our needs in that moment – for free nonetheless!’

“It became clear to us that not everyone in the world has that same privilege.”

Over the course of their four day journey, they travelled a total distance of 281.9 miles, a total time of 19 hours and 30 minutes, and raised $5,556 for Blood:Water! And if you’re curious where their campaign name comes from: they gained a total elevation of 29,000 feet, the equivalent of summiting Mount Everest!

We are so grateful for this inspiring team! If you would like to cheer them on and support Blood:Water while doing it, check out their fundraising page here.