By Melanie Patterson

The North Jefferson News



Twenty-six men are preparing for a 370-mile journey by bicycle this month.

Alabama Teen Challenge (ATC) is ready to kick off its ATC Bike Tour 2008, titled “Breaking the Cycle.”

The ride, starting Oct. 19 in Huntsville, is part fund-raiser and part treatment.

The men are raising money to buy a tractor for the ATC facility in Hayden. The facility has a one-mile long dirt driveway that “gets washed out every time it rains,” said Jason Easter, intake director and pastoral counselor at the Hayden site.

The facility needs the tractor to keep the road passable in all types of weather.

The treatment part of the bike ride is just one aspect of the year-long program that makes up the ATC experience.

Alabama Teen Challenge, which is also for adults of all ages, is a ministry that helps people learn new life habits to replace drug and alcohol addictions.

Easter said that this year’s bike ride will be a small part of the men’s experience while they’re at ATC.

“It’s a good experience for the guys,” said Easter, who himself battled and overcame a prescription-drug addiction as an ATC resident in 2006. “The reason we’re going is to raise money but also to raise awareness that addiction can be broken.”

Easter said the ride will include several church services and ministry opportunities.

This year’s ATC bike tour is the second one. It has more than twice the number of participants and will be a longer trip.

There were nine riders last year from Alabaster to Gulf Shores. This year, the 26 riders will bike from Huntsville to Gulf Shores.

Last year’s ride was a fund-raiser to remodel all of the student rooms at the Hayden facility. All rooms were remodeled as a result.

Easter, who is also team captain of this year’s ride, expects the journey to take six days. The riders will stay overnight at hotels or at ATC facilities.

The first day they will ride from Huntsville to Hayden, and then to Alabaster, Selma, Monroeville, Bay Minette and Gulf Shores.

The longest stretch, according to Easter, will be the 83 miles from Selma to Monroeville.

There will be ATC students from Hayden, Lincoln and Bay Minette, plus Easter and an ATC intern.

Easter said the riders will be broken into three teams for safety purposes. The teams will be followed by chase vans cautioning drivers about bicycle riders ahead.

“Anything that people can do to help, that would be awesome,” said Easter.

In order to help sponsor the event or an individual taking part in the ride, visit www.alabamateenchallenge.org/bike.php or call ATC at 647-6563.