By Jake Dowling, Icon intern
Some Bluffton residents are taking on a big and long challenge this week.

Everett Collier, Marilyn Bishop, Bill Suter and Pat and Dennis Sheidler, are participating in a bike path ride called Rails and Trails Greenway Sojourn.

The event takes place Sunday, June 17, to Sunday, June 24, and begins at the nation's capital, Washington, D.C.

"The passage itself has been recently completed," Sheidler said. "Rails to Trails plans a group ride every year for up to 200 to 300 riders and this year they decided to take this pathway."

The event is sponsored by Rails and Trails Conservancy, a non-profit advocating for trail-friendly policy, assisting communities with technical information and public education to develop from rail lines to trails.

The distance of the path is 335 miles from Washington, D.C. to Pittsburgh. The riders will drive to Pittsburgh and then be shuttled to Washington then ride back to Pittsburgh.

"There are about 250 people participating," Sheidler said. "Some even ride on by themselves."

The trail is a two-part bike path. Part one of the trial is called Chesapeake and Ohio Central Towpath, located along the north bank of the Potomac River. It became a national historic park in 1971 with the path being made of clay and crushed stone.

The second part of the trail, called the Great Allegheny Passage, is a path where bikers will speed at an average of 7 to 10 mph. The path is a slow rise in elevation and then a slow fall in elevation.

"This path is designed for mules, not trains, not bikes," Suter said.
Bishop says however, that the main challenge is adventuring through the weather.

"The main challenges will be rain, wind and heat," Bishop said.
This will be the first time that all five will be riding together in a large-scale event like Rails and Trails.

"We just try to ride as many days as we can," Sheidler said. "Luckily it has been good weather this spring so we have been able to ride quite a bit."

Sheidler did admit though that they do not partake in these kinds of events often. However, to Bishop, who does not ride long distances often either; to her, this ride is more personal.

"I do it for the adventure," Bishop said. "But I also do it because it is my way of celebrating life as a cancer survivor."

For more information on the Rails to Trails bike path, visit. http://www.railstotrails.org/getInvolved/findAnEvent/sojourn/index.html