Bicyclist pedals to northern Arizona

As 81-year-old Bill Anderson covers the miles on his latest long-distance bicycle ride, he's hoping Yumans will open their wallets to benefit his favorite cause. "It's all about Crossroads Mission," he said of his latest effort to bring attention to the issues of hunger and homelessness by bicycling around the state's perimeter, a trip that will rack up about 2,000 miles on his wheels.

Anderson left Yuma Tuesday evening buffeted by a windstorm. He finally rolled into Parker, his first planned stopover, at 4 in the

morning, said Kevin McEwen, who is driving Anderson's chase vehicle.

After some sleep, they headed for Kingman, arriving at 2:30 in the morning for the second stopover. Thursday night, they made it to Williams.

Late Saturday morning, they were on their way to Page, where they planned to spend the night and resume their travel today.

That has Anderson right on the schedule he mapped out before leaving Yuma.

"We're making really good time," McEwen said.

Anderson took the phone for a moment to report his progress: The weather has been windy, the hills steep, the truck traffic "constant," he said, but things are going good.

McEwen said the trip has been a real treat for him, since he's never been outside southern Arizona.

"It's so awesome. I'm having a blast. I'm seeing a lot of new country and taking lots of scenic photographs (unfortunately, his e-mail to The Sun with some of the pictures didn't go through). It's amazing up here."

So far, McEwen said, the only mechanical difficulty has been with the chase vehicle. "We had three nails in the car tires. The bike is doing fine."

He said people seem to know of Anderson and are approaching them at the motels to talk to "the bicyclist from Yuma." They even met up with someone from Yuma.

The next legs of Anderson's journey will be to Page, on to Kayenta, then down to Sanders, Eagar and Safford. From there he will head for

the Mexican border at Douglas, then to Nogales, Tucson, Ajo, Gila Bend and home to Yuma. Anderson estimated the entire trip would take about 14 to 16 days.

This is not Anderson's first ride to call attention to Crossroads Mission and gain support for it. Last year, he rode from the Mexican border to the Canadian line, then back again. In 2004, he made two trips for the mission: one from Canada to Mexico, and the second one coast to coast, going from the Pacific Ocean in San Diego to the Atlantic Ocean in Jacksonville Beach, Fla.

He has said he wants to help Crossroads Mission because he was hungry as a child himself. All donations benefit the mission since he is paying his own expenses.

----

CROSSROADS MISSION

Services provided by Crossroads Mission include meals, showers, clothing, furniture, a men's shelter, a family shelter, the New Life Recovery Program, a Career and Academic Center, the Serenity Complex for men's transitional housing and the Harmony House, women's transitional housing.

During the three-month period from October through December 2006, the mission provided:

-32,483 meals

-2,901 family shelter bed nights for women and children

-5,646 bed nights at the men's shelter

-24 graduates of New Life Recovery Program

-Career and Academic Center for 179 students, with five GEDs earned

-768 bed nights at Serenity Complex

-186 bed nights at Harmony House

-6,628 articles of clothing

-132 pieces of furniture

----

TO HELP

-Send checks to: Crossroads Mission, 2291 E. Palo Verde St., Yuma, AZ 85364

-Clothing donations may be brought to the 2nd Chance Thrift Store, 2291 E. Palo Verde St.

-For more information, call 726-0491

----

Joyce Lobeck can be reached at jlobeck@yumasun.com or 539-6853.