LESSONS TO BE LEARNED FROM JEREMY’S RIDE

Teachers and parents can teach their students/children many practical life skills following Jeremy’s Ride across the United States on his blog site: jeremysride.blogspot.com. Each day pictures of the landscape will be posted along with miles ridden, wind direction and speed, temperatures, elevation gained/lost, special features, and other information parents and teachers can share with their children/students that will enrich their education.

Goal Setting: Jeremy had to set a goal; to ride across the US and then develop a plan to accomplish this goal. This included such things as physical training, transportation, food, housing, how to fix a flat tire and reading a road map. To develop a plan, Jeremy also had to determine how far he felt he could ride every day. As a learning activity, children could be ask what they felt someone would need to do to prepare for a bike ride across the US to help them understand the need for planning. Goal setting is a very important skill young people need to learn.

Geography:
Learn the location of all the southern states by tracking daily progress
Learn about different vegetation and landscape and how they change from state to state
Learn about direction by discussing prevailing winds, headwinds, and tailwinds
Talk about temperature changes and compare temperatures between Jeremy’s location and home/school
Learn about different time zones in the US

Math:
Distance – show students how far one mile is by walking or riding a mile
Average – how many miles did Jeremy average this week, this month
Estimation – based on how many miles Jeremy has ridden each day, how many miles do you think he will ride today.
Money – how many pennies has Jeremy earned so far or today? If Jeremy were paid 5 cents or 10 cents for every mile he rode, how much would he earn each day, each week or for the entire trip
Elevation – how many feet did Jeremy climb/ride today or this week

History:
An effort will be made to list anything historical learned along the way

Fund Raising For Special Needs Youth

Jeremy's Ride

On Jeremy's cross-country bike ride, he will be raising money for programs that serve special needs kids. Jeremy will be riding 3,159 miles from San Diego to the Jacksonville, Florida area. His goal is to have school kids, businesses, and interested individuals raise one penny for every mile he rides from March 23, 2008 to about May 8, 2008.

Anyone wanting to help Jeremy complete this ride and raise money for special needs children is asked to send donation to:

Jeremy's Ride

Huntington County Community Foundation

P.O. Box 5037

Huntington, IN 46750

Any and all support will be deeply appreciated, especially by the special needs kids who benefit so much from the efforts of various groups that provide activities to enrich their lives.

Tentative Route and Schedule for Jeremy's Ride

March 23 Day 1 San Diego, CA Alpine, CA
March 24 Day 2 Alpine, CA Jacumba, CA
March 25 Day 3 Jacumba, CA Brawley, CA
March 26 Day 4 Brawley, CA Blyth, CA
March 27 Day 5 Blyth, CA Salome, AZ
March 28 Day 6 Salome, AZ Wickenburg, AZ
March 29 Day 7 Wickenburg, AZ Phoenix, AZ
March 30 Day 8 Phoenix, AZ Apache Junction, AZ
March 31 Day 9 Apache, Junction, AZ Globe, AZ
April 1 Day 10 Globe, AZ Safford, AZ
April 2 Day 11 Safford, AZ Lordsburg, NM
April 3 Day 12 Lordsburg, NM Silver City, NM
April 4 Day 13 Rest Day
April 5 Day 14 Silver City, NM Kingston, NM (Emory Pass)
April 6 Day 15 Kingston, NM Las Cruces, NM
April 7 Day 16 Las Cruces, NM El Paso, TX
April 8 Day 17 El Paso, TX Fort Hancock, TX
April 9 Day 18 Fort Hancock, TX Van Horn, TX
April 10 Day 19 Van Horn, TX Fort Davis, TX
April 11 Day 20 Fort Davis, TX Marathon, TX
April 12 Day 21 Marathon, TX Sanderson, TX
April 13 Day 22 Sanderson,, TX Del Rio, TX
April 14 Day 23 Del Rio, TX Bracketville, TX
April 15 Day 24 Bracketville, TX Camp Wood, TX
April 16 Day 25 Camp Wood, TX Vanderpool, TX
April 17 Day 26 Vanderpool, TX Kerryville, TX
April 18 Day 27 Kerryville, TX Blanco, TX
April 19 Day 28 Blanco, TX Bastrop, TX
April 20 Day 29 Bastrop, TX La Grange, TX
April 21 Day 30 La Grange, TX Navasota, TX
April 22 Day 31 Navasota, TX Cleveland, TX
April 23 Day 32 Cleveland, TX Kountze, TX
April 24 Day 33 Kountze, TX DeRidder, LA
April 25 Day 34 DeRidder, LA Opelousa, LA
April 26 Day 35 Opelousa, LA Simmsport LA
April 27 Day 36 Simmsport, LA St. Francisville, LA
April 28 Day 37 St. Francisville, LA Frankinton, LA
April 29 Day 38 Frankinton, LA Wiggins, MS
April 30 Day 39 Wiggins, MS Pascagoula, MS
May 1 Day 40 Pascagoula, MS Spanish Forks, AL
May 2 Day 41 Pensacola, FL Crestview, FL
May 3 Day 42 Crestview, FL Marianna, FL
May 4 Day 43 Marianna, FL Quincy, FL
May 5 Day 44 Quincy, FL Crawfordville, FL
May 6 Day 45 Crawfordville, FL Perry, FL
May 7 Day 46 Perry, FL High Springs, FL
May 8 Day 47 High Springs, FL Palatka, FL
May 9 Day 48 Palatka, FL St. Augustine, FL

Background on Jeremy and his ride

Jeremy will begin his cross-country ride on March 23, 2008, from Ocean Beach Park in San Diego, California. His goal is to average between 60 and 70 miles per day. If all goes well he will arrive in St. Augustine, Florida on or about May 9th.

Jeremy has cerebral palsy which causes him some coordination and speech problems. He also wears hearing aids and fairly strong glasses. When Jeremy was a child there were concerns that he would have great difficulty walking and his parents were told that they should have no hopes of his ever playing sports of any kind.

Neither Jeremy nor his parents accepted this picture of the future and encouraged him to try his best at various sports and activities. He played baseball with little talent, but lots of heart. His favorite past time is playing basketball and he has developed a very good three-point shot. When he graduated from Huntington North High School in 1998, he was elected Homecoming King by the student body.

To prepare for this ride, Jeremy works out at the Huntington YMCA. He rides a stationary bike for 20 to 25 miles, lifts weights, and plays basketball three days a week.