Photos and article courtesy of Erskine College Public Affairs Office
Student to bike 3,500 miles this summer to promote healthy living
Erskine College rising junior Alex Gleason will have an interesting story to relate about "What I Did On My Summer Vacation."
Gleason, who lives in Calhoun Falls, will embark on a 3,500-mile bicycle ride across America this summer in an effort to promote awareness of the need for proper consumption of agricultural products to improve the quality of life and health of the American people.
"If you look at our country as a whole, we have an epidemic on our hands — we eat fast food, we vegetate on the couch," he said. "No other country in the world has this problem except ours. So why aren't we doing something about it?"
Gleason is planning to do just that.
"My goal is to call attention to the impeding risks of obesity, the importance of proper nutrition and an active lifestyle," he said.
Gleason said he plans to accomplish that goal by scheduling several media events to communicate the purpose of his campaign.
"Maybe I can reach people," he said. "Maybe they'll see that this young guy cares so much about this that he's riding across America on a bike."
The Erskine student said he started thinking about the idea when he was in Alaska last summer. Gleason, an active member of Future Farmers of America (FFA) who served as national spokesman for South Carolina, said he began considering the trip in conjunction with his ties to the FFA.
"I have been a highly active FFA member for the past four years, including serving as state vice president of the South Carolina FFA Association," he said. "This leadership position, along with other unique opportunities has allowed me to establish national communications among other state FFA Associations and their leadership."
Gleason said he plans to target FFA members throughout the nation during this trip, which he has named "Expedition Nutrition." Another Erskine student, Kevin Handell, designed the logo.
Next month, Gleason begins his quest. He'll fly out June 20 to Seattle, Wash., will probably depart that week from Aberdeen, Wash., and nine weeks later, expects to arrive in Charleston.
He said he plans to "stick the front wheel of my bicycle in the Pacific" before he leaves and put his back wheel in the Atlantic Ocean when he arrives in Charleston.
Gleason said the route from coast to coast is "relatively easy." He plans to ride about 80 miles per day, which should burn up between 8,000 and 10,000 calories per day. He estimates he will have to eat between six and eight times each day. 
He'll have a cooking stove in his 30-pound trailer that he'll carry with him and has been practicing with carrying a 25-pound bag of charcoal in his trailer.
Gleason will travel mostly secondary roads through Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and across South Carolina until he reaches Charleston. Since he plans to follow a route through the northern Rockies, he'll have a tailwind for the entire trip.
A press conference is planned for Indianapolis, home of the FFA national headquarters and another press conference will take place at the culmination of his journey.
Visit
www.erskine.edu/netnews/index.html to view the Erskine College press release.
