Saturday, August 11, 2007
By Larry Walsh, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Ah, the adventure of a long-distance, midsummer bicycle road trip:

Withering heat, unrelenting head winds, days with no shade, face-dampening humidity, rough roads, flats and splats.

The Pittsburgh Youth Leadership group — eight teenage riders and three staff members — endured it all from July 19 to Aug. 3 as they traveled 1,405 miles from Devil’s Lake, N. Dak., to Findlay Lake State Park in central Ohio.

The young riders, aged 13 to 16, were Kevin Cross of Wilkinsburg, Larelle Davis of Hazelwood/West End, Justin Dean of Carrick, Nate Kigler of Oakland, Wolf Moreno of Greenfield, Dion Wallace of Greenfield, Nuwh Wallace of Homewood and Joshua Wieblonger of the North Side.

They were accompanied by PYL founder Mark Rubenstein, his daughter Casey, Charley Monroe, Beth Manifesto and Gordon Roth.

Mark Rubenstein selected the teenagers after consulting with community leaders, school counselors and local YMCAs. Each boy was chosen from a different inner-city school and neighborhood. With the exception of four who participated last year, they had no previous bicycle or travel experience. The all-expenses-paid ride was funded by donations.

The group completed the trip faster than expected, thanks to what Mark Rubenstein said was their “great determination and perseverance.” Examples of the latter were three days where they pedaled more than 100 miles and a fourth day when they rode 98. All four days took them through parts of upper and lower Michigan.

They rode into the Red River Valley of Minnesota, past the waterfront statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox in Bemidji, Minn., through the Leech Lake Indian Reservation, past the Mesabi Iron Range and into the Ottawa National Forest in Michigan.

Casey Rubenstein drove a van that contained food and beverage coolers, first-aid supplies for road-rash incidents dubbed “splats” and bike-repair tools and parts. Charley Monroe was the go-to guy when tires went flat.

Wieblinger and Nuwh Wallace had the most flats — 7 — and, for the second year in a row, Justin and Mark Rubenstein had none. Rubenstein said the bikes, purchased last year from Bike-Tek in Monroeville for a ride from Pittsburgh to Acadia National Park in northern Maine, “held up very well. Frank Bruno and his staff do a great job of maintaining them for us.”

When the combination of heat and humidity made it unwise to ride, the group took siestas in the shade or air-conditioned buildings and then rode until sunset.

In an entry she made after the group pedaled 121 miles from Munising to St. Ignace, Mich., Casey Rubenstein wrote:

“Friends, family, sponsors and other supporters should be proud of the progress these young men have made. The bikers show class in their interactions with one another, appreciation towards the staff and the environments they encounter and marvelous dedication towards this endeavor.”

Mark Rubenstein praised the efforts of his daughter, Monroe, Manifesto and Roth for their “commitment, kindness and enthusiasm.”

Alan Ostfield, vice president of the Detroit Pistons and his father, Howard Ostfield of Squirrel Hill, arranged a surprise tour of the Palace of Auburn Hills for the group. The boys sat on the players’ bench at courtside, visited the locker room where they relaxed in the players’ chairs and got a deluxe tour of the building.

“The boys were delighted,” Mark Rubenstein said. “It was a memorable afternoon.”

Next year, they will pedal from Devil’s Lake, N. Dak., to the Pacific coast of Oregon. For more information, go to www.pghyouthleadership2007.blogspot.com or call 412-391-4305.

Larry Walsh can be reached at lwalsh@post-gazette.com and 412-263-1488.