Serena Roundy rode alone for 2,300 miles. She did it to raise funds to mentor troubled youths. It was a solo act that wasn’t planned as such.
She came thousands of dollars short of her collection goal and saw her father endure a nasty crash on the journey’s first leg.
But none of it kept Roundy from loving the trip.
The 29-year-old Mormon from the Midvale East 7th Ward, Midvale Utah East Stake, returned in late July from the expedition with a scare in Jackson Hole, Wyo., where her father suffered a punctured lung and six broken ribs. The pair were attempting to take the same course that he rode as a member of the Utah State University cycling team 50 years ago.
Though the ordeal, which was compounded by the June 23 news that her mother was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, the five-year math teacher and BYU-Idaho graduate knew where her priorities lay.
“The first thing that went through my mind was realizing that he was doing (the ride) for me,” Roundy said of her father, Jon Roundy, who was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. “I mean, he’s 70 years old, but he believes in what I’m doing. I couldn’t believe it — he even apologized for not giving a better finish and was sorry he couldn’t help finish the ride.”
Roundy’s solo excursion went from Jackson, Wyo., to Washington state, then down the Pacific Coast to San Francisco, where a sibling picked her up just short of the Golden Gate Bridge.
But the first leg of the journey, which started in Logan on June 3, was delayed for nearly two weeks while Roundy and others in her family, including her sister, Cassie Roundy, spent time with their father at the Star Valley Hospital in Wyoming.
Cassie Roundy said the experience was a pleasure for all before her father's 50-year-old 27-inch wheels couldn't take his estimated 35-mph speed downhill.
"It was very high-spirited. All the nieces and nephews were very excited about it," she said. "Even the littlest ones did five miles or so. It really was a perfect day, an excellent time for us to get together and honor Mom and Dad. That was (Serena's) highest priority."
Despite the accident, Serena Roundy continued to pedal from June 25 to July 19, all with the hope of raising $20,000 for her Youth Adventure Advocacy program in Midvale, which she founded last year with hopes of inspiring high-school-age children to achieve higher grades through summer educational instruction and a variety of outdoor activities. The selection process occurs through collaboration with various high school counselors in the Salt Lake Valley, seeking teenagers who have struggled in school yet are exempt from a criminal record.
Roundy came up a bit short of her goal — nearly $18,000 short, actually. By the time she was in Yellowstone, Roundy understood that her 100-mile-per-day pace was far too much for her to afford to stop at frequent intervals, hoping to collect donations.
Pleading for strangers, let alone friends, to fork over their cash has never been her cup of hot cocoa, anyway.
“I hate asking people for money,” Roundy said. “When I was younger, my mom made these really good doughnuts to sell to the community, but I would have to call people and ask if they wanted to buy them. I was always willing to glaze 1,000 donuts before calling.
“It’s probably something I need to get over, though.”
Yet the returned missionary who served in the Venezuela Caracas Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continues to do so — with less-than-optimal results so far.
Roundy has recently tried the social media route. She blocked her Facebook wall on her birthday, instead asking for a gift donation to the Youth Adventure Advocacy. She received nothing.
“I realize that people have their own agendas, but my biggest pet peeve is people not doing what they said they are going to do,” Roundy said of those who had previously indicated they would support her, be it in cash or on the road. “But as I met more and more people on the trip, I understand that not everyone is a jerk. Isn’t that a great realization?”
The person who cycled the same route a half-century earlier, although a bit less painful than the 2011 version, remains proud of his daughter.
“It’s great for her to take an adventure and want to have a goal with it,” said Jon Roundy, who worked as a teacher for 29 years and lives in the Oakley Idaho Stake. “I hope that this project is able to give her the experience that she wants, plus earn a little money to have her program work.”
And if his daughter were to ever ride for the cause again — next time with a strategy to garner more donations — Jon Roundy said he wouldn’t hesitate. But a few adjustments would have to be in order. First thing? Ditch the half-century-old bike.
“I would even feel safer on a mountain bike because it goes slower than a street one, but these were little skinny tires,” Jon Roundy said. “At least (Serena) was able to purchase a pretty nice bike. I remember I thought I was spending a lot of money when I paid $150 for a really nice, top-of-the-line mountain bike. I think she has several thousand into her bike now.”
The Youth Adventure Advocacy program and mission, which is a registered 501 C-3 nonprofit, can be viewed at www.youthadventureadvocacy.org.
Email: rwilkinson@desnews.com
Twitter: wilklogan