This ride is your ride
Student plans fundraising bike trip in Woody Guthrie's memory
8:55 a.m., March 7, 2012--When your average University of Delaware senior considers the summer after graduation, there may be thoughts of spending hours in the sun, seeing friends and finding the perfect job.
But senior Mike Fink is planning the opposite kind of summer—one spent biking across the country to help fight Huntington’s disease.
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Huntington’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that causes certain parts of the brain to deteriorate, resulting in loss of motor function and coordination. Fink’s inspiration for the trip is Woody Guthrie, an American folk singer who passed away from complications of Huntington’s disease in 1967.
As a history major with an American history concentration, Fink said he admires Guthrie because of his impact in the music world and on labor history. Probably best known today for writing and singing “This Land is Your Land,” Guthrie wrote songs about his experiences, including travels with migrant workers in the Dust Bowl era, and was an activist for such causes as labor unions as a member of the folk-protest group, the Almanac Singers.
Fink thought that there was no better way to honor Guthrie than to dedicate his next bike trip in his name.
“There are so many things that I admire about [Guthrie] and can commiserate with," Fink said. "His itinerant lifestyle, his penchant to wander, is something I inherited, as well.”
Fink’s love for cycling began in 2007 when he went on his first bike trip – a lengthy round trip in South Carolina and Georgia. He continued with rides to Maine in 2008, Charleston, S.C. in 2009, and New Orleans in 2010.
Fink hopes to begin his trip during the first week of April—he is now finishing the final credits needed for his degree—and plans on arriving in Oklahoma by mid-July for a celebration marking Guthrie's 100th birthday. Along the way, he plans on making a few stops to give back to charity.
“I plan to stop at Centers of Excellence run by the Huntington Disease Society of America and to meet with individuals and families who live with the realities of Huntington’s disease,” Fink said. “I’ve been waiting for this for a very long time."
Click here to find out more information about the trip and how to donate to the cause of Huntington's disease.
Article by Jennifer Kessman