ALL ARE HEROES ON THIS BIKE TREK

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 14, 1993                   TAG: 9302120041
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-6   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: CHERYL HAAS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
ALL ARE HEROES ON THIS BIKE TREK
Virginia Tech student John Yochim, a junior studying math education, will test his endurance and determination this summer in a 3,500-mile trip across the United States.
Yochim, along with 60 national members of his fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi, will take the sixth annual bicycle trek, "The Journey of Hope," to help raise awareness of the handicapped and get people involved in volunteer work.
The 62-day trip, beginning in San Francisco and ending in Charleston, S.C., is part of the fraternity's service project called People Understanding the Severely Handicapped, or "PUSH America."
In an effort to raise $250,000, PUSH America hopes to improve the lives of the disabled by donating specially designed recreational equipment and by creating educational programs.
The cyclists will split into two groups of 30. Yochim's team will take a southern route while the other team takes a northern path. Along the journey, the teams will spend time with disabled people and will visit churches and civic groups.
Yochim, the vice president of Pi Kappa Phi, already has begun his training. He works out with weights and rides a stationary bike to prepare his body for the 75 miles a day he will ride this summer.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I'm not sure what I can expect from it, but if I can get as much out of it as people in the past, then it will be worth it to me," Yochim said.
The story can be traced back to Brian Treichoer, Yochim's fraternity brother at Tech, who made the 3,500-mile journey last summer and suggested it to Yochim.
Treichoer, in turn, had been inspired by Jim Hess and wanted to pass it along.
"I wanted someone else to experience it. I learned something and wanted other people to do it, too," Treichoer said.
"I expected to teach them [people with disabilities] and they taught us. They gave us an inner strength to rely on ourselves," he said.
"A lot of children thought we were heroes. That's not something I consider myself to be. I think they were the real heroes."
Yochim is trying to raise $4,000 so he will qualify for the Journey of Hope. He has raised $3,000 from family, friends, professors and businesses. Anyone interested in supporting Yochim can call him at 953-2075.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB