ALPINE — Mason McCord had never cycled farther than 20 miles until last fall, when he mounted the bike he bought on Craigslist and rode 900 miles from Salt Lake City to San Diego.
Now, McCord, 20, of Alpine, is hitting the road again, this time with a new bike, a new destination and a new purpose.
On Thursday, he departed on a cross-country, border-to-border trip that will take him from San Diego to Calais, Maine, in an attempt to raise $6,000 for the Blue Planet Run Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides clean water for people in the Global South.
The ride will take him across the Southwest, over the American heartland and through New England to the Canadian border. It will take an estimated 95 days to complete.
McCord said his idea to bike across the country came last summer, when he wrote up a list of things he wanted to accomplish.
"I was just like, 'Why not start on this now? Why hold off? Why not go for it instead of just talking about going for it?' " he said.
McCord used his ride to California to condition and prepare himself, then stayed in San Diego and worked to earn money for the trip.
After hearing about Katie Spotz, the 21-year-old woman who rowed solo across the Atlantic Ocean to raise money for Blue Planet Run, McCord decided to devote his bike ride to raising money for the same cause.
"I was like, 'You know what? Why not do something like that? Why not do some good with something I'm already doing?' " he said. "I set a goal of $6,000. That's how many people die every day because of lack of access to clean water. That seemed pretty small and manageable for me, and I decided to go for it."
Blue Planet Run raises money for cheap, low-tech projects that bring clean drinking water to people in impoverished countries. Those people are then taught to sustain and maintain the water systems.
McCord joined the foundation's Team Blue and created a fundraiser for his cycling trip. Blue Planet Run creative director Mark Steele said team members create their own epic challenge to raise money. For Spotz, it was rowing; for others, it is a relay race around the world or a race through the desert. For McCord, it is his cross-country bike ride.
"What we wanted to do is have these events or feats or personal challenges that people create," Steele said. "Really the one similarity … is that they show commitment and endurance. And the reason for that is that's what it's going to take for society to really tackle this issue of safe drinking water."
McCord's border-to-border trip fits the bill. He will ride solo, pulling a bike trailer filled with the bare essentials: a sleeping bag, a tent, dehydrated food, a camp stove, bike parts, a change of clothes and a first-aid kit. His GPS will send a text message to his parents, letting them know where he is, and he will have a cell phone to use when he can find coverage.
Though he will occasionally stay in motels, McCord said he plans on sleeping outdoors for most of the journey.
"When you're out in a tent or under the stars in the middle of the night, it's pretty serene," he said.
McCord's route generally follows rural roads, away from freeways and traffic.
"It's usually more scenic that way, too," he said.
McCord will blog about his experiences on his personal website, www.masonmccord.com, during occasional stays at motels and visits to other places with Internet access. His GPS also projects a signal that will allow visitors to track his progress on the site, which he hopes will lead people to donate to his cause.
McCord said he feels ready for the trip after last fall's preparatory ride.
"It's more about endurance than anything else," he said. "I know I can do it."
Anyone interested in donating to McCord's ride for the Blue Planet Run Foundation can visit www.blueplanetrun.org/mason.
e-mail: jritter@desnews.com