FARMINGTON – Friends and relatives arrived in spurts at Northern Lights Hearth and Sports on Monday to welcome four cyclists from a cross-country odyssey that began May 23.

Jasper Walsh, Jon Brown, Chris Irwin and Matt Thomson, friends at the University of Maine at Farmington, rode more than 4,100 miles from Oregon to Maine to raise money for the Healthy Community Coalition’s Helmets for Kids program. The program provides low-cost bicycle helmets to children who might not otherwise be able to afford them. The riders raised over $4,500. Helmets cost $7 apiece.

Walsh of Morrill was hiking the Appalachian Trail last summer when he decided he wanted to make the ride. The longest bicycle ride he had done before the trip: 12 miles.

When he returned to school in the fall, he recruited the others.

“We had the opportunity to talk to a lot of people before the trip about helmet safety,” said Walsh, a recent graduate with a degree in elementary education.

From the Pacific coast

“It was very rewarding,” he said, adding that it felt good to do the trip for a reason other than personal ones.

The 63-day adventure began in Astoria, Ore.

The worst part of the trip, Brown said, was the four-day bus trip out west. The bus stopped every two hours or so, and just about everyone – except the riders – spent their breaks off the bus smoking.

A highlight for Brown, a senior at UMF, was inspired by the story printed on the packaging of a Cliff Bar about the bar’s creation.

“The inspiration to create an energy bar occurred during a daylong, 175-mile bike ride,” the wrapper says.

Brown and Irwin, and a rider they had met along the way, decided that if Cliff Bar CEO Gary Erickson, could ride 175 miles in a day, they could do 176.

The trio rode from Monroeville, Ind., to Bay Village, Ohio, a total of 202 miles. At around 2 a.m. it was raining and Brown took a spill, breaking his aerobar, a specialized handlebar attachment. Virtually unscathed and having pedaled through the night, the three arrived in Bay Village at 6 a.m.

Walsh and Thomson caught up with their friends after pedaling two consecutive 98-mile days.

Brown said it felt surreal to be back in Farmington.

“We’ve been thinking about this for months,” he said.

Irwin agreed, saying, “It feels good to wake up and not have to spend seven hours in the saddle. For the past two months, my job has been to pedal. Now it’s back to reality and looking for a job.” He’s a recent computer science graduate.

“I’m really happy I did the trip,” he continued. “No one can take that away from me.”

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