The Mission on Wheels:

A Bike Ride Across the Country- Twice

Rick and Rachel Moyer celebrating the completion of their bike ride!

Months of preparation, several support systems, and one mission: Rick and Rachel Moyer ride across the country, from San Diego, CA to St. Augustine, FL, on their bicycles. This 3,200-mile trek, beginning with the back of their wheel in the Pacific and ending with the other wheel in the Atlantic, took them from August 14th to October 28th, 2004. The couple rode 50 to 80 miles per day “in the saddle”, and about 8 hours each day, raising upwards of $25,000 as they rode.

Rick and Rachel saw incredible sights and had unending support for their ride. The couple decided to take on this challenge in support of two missions: South America Mission and Trail of Hope. “We felt this was something we could do to raise money for missions”, says Rick Moyer.

The couple, who were in their 60’s at the time, prepared for the unimaginable journey by running up and downstairs of the retirement home Rick’s mother lived in. They also took long weekends from work to do practice rides, including one from Perkasie, PA to the Jersey shore. 

The ride affected the couple physically, mentally and spiritually. “It took a couple weeks until your body gets whipped into shape”, says Rachel. Rachel had each day of the entire ride planned out, so they could not slow down in order to meet their next support person at the airport on time. “After you did it [biking] for a couple weeks, it [the body] starts to know what it’s supposed to do every day”, says Rick. When the couple returned home, it was sort of a letdown, they were so used to waking up and biking all day, something they loved to do. 

Rachel riding on one of the many terrains the couple encountered.

Rick and Rachel experienced several miracles while on their trip, including one instance when they believe they met an angel. Rachel was out of drinking water, in the desert, with no way to contact any help. When contemplating what to do next, Rick hears “take this”. The voice came from a woman in a red Ford Focus, and she had a gallon of water. Neither Rick nor Rachel heard the car pull up. As they reached the top of their destination, they found another gallon with a note attached telling how inspiring they are.  

As you can imagine, Rick and Rachel inspired many people, including Pastor Jeff Orcutt, who is now their lifelong friend. Orcutt’s ‘job’ was to create a brochure and bring attention to their ride. He was heavily inspired by the Moyer couple; he even began riding bicycles himself because of them. “Don’t be afraid to take new challenges in life and do something for a good cause…they were doing something in their lives that meant something”, says Orcutt when telling how the couple’s ride influenced him.

Although there were some close calls along the way, Rick and Rachel successfully made it to completion. What would they do after they got back home? Start preparing for another one, this time 4,300 miles and from Anacortes, WA to Kittery, ME, across the top half of the country.