A recent Auburn business graduate is experiencing America’s purple mountains majesties and amber waves of grain this summer on his road bike—along with Wyoming’s strong winds, Montana’s snow and the Midwest’s blazing sun—as part of a charitable cycling ride that raises money and awareness for individuals with disabilities.

Chase DuMond ( ’24) is more than halfway through the 4,000-mile Journey of Hope ride from Seattle to Washington DC, and he and his 26 Pi Kappa Phi fraternity brothers have raised more than $185,000 and visited 18 disability resource centers across Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas and Missouri.

His motivation for undertaking such a feat?

“The Journey of Hope is my chance to learn more about myself, see the country and serve other people,” said DuMond, who earned his degree in supply chain management from the Harbert College of Business in May. “It’s also helping me figure out what my career path will look like.”

DuMond and his fellow cyclists, who departed from Seattle’s Space Needle on June 5, typically ride from 50 to more than 100 miles each day, taking brief breaks along the route to grab a Gatorade, granola bar or sandwich.

They have rest days interspersed along the TransAmerica route so they can physically recharge and enjoy friendship visits with adult residents at the disability resource centers, while also delivering funding grants to the organizations. Their longest ride was 135 miles from Yellowstone, Montana, to Jackson, Wyoming.

They will complete the ride on August 10 in Washington, DC.

DuMond is grateful for the camaraderie of his fellow riders.  

“We push each other and encourage each other to finish the hard days on the bike,” he said. “Then we give all our effort and energy to the people that we’re visiting. It’s easier to do this in the company of brothers.”

DuMond isn’t the only Auburn student riding in the Journey of Hope and raising money for Pi Kappa Phi’s non-profit The Ability Experience. Engineering senior Turner Friday has undertaken the challenge by riding a different cross-country route from San Francisco to Miami.

Recently, DuMond and Turner crossed paths in Denver, where their respective riding teams had a joint friendship visit with the Denver Special Olympics Colorado organization.  

“I am so grateful for this opportunity to practice hands-on servant leadership, absorb knowledge about the disability community, and expand the bounds of mental and physical toughness,” DuMond wrote in a LinkedIn post July 12 from Wichita, Kansas.

After one friendship visit in June, DuMond spoke about his new-found appreciation for empathy.

“No matter what, you can find some kind of common ground with somebody even if they seem different than you,” he said after enjoying breakfast and outdoor games with clients at a resource center in West Yellowstone, Montana. “The adults we meet sometimes don’t have much family left to take care of them.”

According to DuMond, the last four years at Auburn and Harbert College helped prepare him for the grueling, yet highly rewarding, ride.

“My Harbert education and experience really encouraged me to enter this next phase of my life with the spirit that is not afraid,” DuMond said, referencing The Auburn Creed. “My education has taught me that I can complete and accomplish difficult things.”

The Journey of Hope is DuMond’s second charity cycling ride. In 2022, he participated in Gear up Florida, a 1,000-mile Ability Experience charity ride sponsored by Pi Kappa Phi from Miami to Tallahassee.

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Readers can follow DuMond’s progress through the 2024 Journey of Hope TransAmerica Facebook page.

Learn more about the Ability Experience's Journey of Hope.