Northport Native Travels Across U.S. On Bike Performing Good Deeds

Northport native Cheryl Davies is a member of the Green Riders, a bicycle group traveling across the United States and performing service projects along the way.

Davies, 35, a 2000 graduate of Northport High School, is all about sustainability and a volunteer lifestyle.

That’s why she and her boyfriend Rob Greenfield organized a bike trip from New York to Seattle. The 3,700-mile trip that follows along the American Cycling Association’s northern tier route is expected to take them 82 days. About 35 people decided to join them at their starting point in New York City on May 29.

And they're almost done; the Green Riders are expected to complete their trip in Seattle on Friday, Aug. 18.

“Traveling by bike is really a nice way to see the country,” Davies told Patch.

Each week, the Green Riders have a new destination. Once at their stop, they perform some type of community service.

The first stop for the Green Riders was Youngstown, Ohio, a community that lives in a “food desert.” A food desert is an urban area that doesn’t have any grocery stores in their immediate vicinity, said Davies. In Youngstown, Davies and the Green Riders helped build a community garden where people can come and get free fresh food.

After a week, the bikers moved on to their next destination, Bad River Indian Reservation in Wisconsin.

At the reservation, they planted fruit trees and vegetables. “[The Native Americans] brought us in and had a ceremony with us,” Davies said. “They had us stay on their sacred grounds and we worked in exchange.”

Davies said she carries her possessions on her bike and typically sleeps outside in a tent. “We want to be an example of sustainability by living with few possessions and living outside mostly,” she said. “What we have on our bike is what we have.”

The group makes one stop per week on the 11.5 week journey. Once the Green Riders make it to Seattle, they will all split up and do their own thing.

As for Davies, she will be flying back to Northport to witness her nephew's birth.

Images via Davies