I am a professor at Yavapai College, in Prescott, Arizona (the northern highlands). On May 16, 2020, I began riding my bike on Peavine Trail, an historic national trail, a portion of which is an old railbed.  The trail varies in elevation from about 5,400 feet to 5,550 feet. It is a beautiful trail, rimmed by Watson Lake and the Granite Dells of Yavapai County.  The ride's roundtrip distance is a bit more than 8.7 miles.  For me, confronted with the monotony of Covid, it was a mental health break to simply get outside and do something.  I am by no means a cyclist, but I had a bike, so I decided to use it.

And then, I noticed that I was going biking everyday.  Never missing a day.  Consecutive days of biking started to mount, and I began to take notice.  So did other people.  By the time August had rolled around, I had logged over 75 straight days.  And then Covid hit me.  I contracted Covid, and though my symptoms were mild, I continued to bike everyday.  I was important to simply keep going.  I recovered from Covid, yet still experience long-hauler, post-Covid syndrome.  

As a professor at Yavapai College, I have witnessed first-hand the struggles that my students and their families are experiencing during the severe economic downturn during the Covid pandemic.  And I thought to myself, "What can I do about this?"  People had been telling me all along that I should mount some sort of campaign or fundraiser based upon my Covid bike ride.  That's when I hooked up with the folks at Yavapai College, and the marketing department of 360 Translations (my sponsor), and launched this Covid Ride for Students.

This fund is designed to alleviate an immediate need when a student is in financial crisis, due to job loss, illness, unexpected home or car repairs, childcare costs, to name a few. The goal is to help prevent students from dropping out of their programs, and to keep them and their families stable in terms of food security and housing.

As of January 1, 2021, my ride has accumulated 228 days of consecutive riding without a lapse.  The overall goal is to achieve 365 days, which will happen on May 16, 2021.

Won't you help me help the students?