Written by Caleb Rummel
More than 100 riders gathered last Saturday morning for the 65 Roses Tour, a bicycle ride supporting cystic fibrosis awareness. The riders started in Spring Park and split to four different routes of 65, 50, 35 and 10 miles.The 65 Roses Tour is an annual Searcy event in its second year. The ride is a fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which seeks to find a cure for its namesake disease.Originally scheduled to start at 7:30 Saturday morning, the ride was delayed by bad weather, but it did not deter the riders from showing up, especially when they knew it was for a good cause.”I’ve been going, honestly, all winter, so when it was zero degrees and icy I was definitely out in that, and now it’s raining and cold, so I’m glad I’m kind of used to it,” said 2009 Harding graduate Kevin Gormany. “It’s a challenge. It’s 50 degrees, it’s raining, it’s gray, we’re going up Joy Mountain, and we’re on bicycles. That sounds like an adventure to me. That’s what I like.”While the draw of a big ride brought many riders to Searcy from as far away as Fayetteville, Ark., the charity brought in its own fair share of riders. One such rider, freshman Soffia Metzler of Pleasanton, Calif., was moved by the story of Aven, a 4-year-old girl from Searcy who has cystic fibrosis and was the face of the tour.”[Hearing Aven’s story] just really struck a passion in me to ride for her,” Metzler said.While many of the riders were experienced cyclists and had completed rides as long as 65 miles or more, inexperience did not keep people away. Nearly one quarter of the participants rode the 65-mile route, but most kept to the shorter distances. This, however, did not stop freshman Kelly Batte of Atlanta, Ga., from attempting the longest available ride.”I haven’t ridden since, like, fifth grade, but I ride the bike in the gym occasionally,” Batte said. “[Metzler] told me about the whole story and everything, and I saw advertisements everywhere, so I thought I would just take the challenge.”Each person had a reason to attend, be it cycling or the charity. Some, however, were more personal than others. Searcy native Bruce Berkheimer and his son John have completed several bike rides, with two of Berkheimer’s being 100 miles, and they were out in Searcy for the 35-mile ride.”I’ve been biking and had a lot of friends in Searcy for years. I’m a cyclist enthusiast,” Berkheimer said. “We have another cause because [ John’s] aunt died of cystic fibrosis when she was about 22. We like cycling anyway, but this is another reason to come out.”The name “65 Roses” comes from a story of a young boy who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. He overheard his mother on the phone, trying to raise money for medical research. The young boy commented to his mother that she was “working for 65 roses.” Since then, children with cystic fibrosis have called their disease by that name, and the rose has become a symbol for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
