Claremont resident Nick Guido and the rest of the Ride for Water team completed their cross-country bicycle ride, arriving in New York City last Wednesday.

The crew of seven Azusa Pacific University riders, two drivers and one support staff member completed 3,437 miles over the course of 52 days, and visited 12 states while raising money for New York-based Charity: Water.

“It’s been absolutely weird not being on the bike the last couple of days. It’s such a simple way to live and I grew so close to the others on the trip,” Mr. Guido said.

The Ride for Water team spent several days in the city, touring the Charity: Water headquarters and going on other sightseeing excursions.

Now Mr. Guido is back in California and will be attending his graduation party, along with some of the Ride for Water riders, this Saturday at his parents’ Claremont home. By the end of the month he will start a systems engineering job at Raytheon.

As of Thursday, Ride for Water had raised $26,710 of their $80,000 goal, however, the campaign continues for another 70 days. To help the team reach their goal, Mr. Guido plans to visit area churches and make the case for supporting clean water.

Nearly 663 million people worldwide do not have access to clean drinking water. Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80 percent of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.

Charity: Water is a non-profit organization working to bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.

In just 10 years, the organization has funded more than 38,000 water projects in 27 developing countries. When complete, these projects will provide clean, safe drinking water for more than 9.6 million people.

If COURIER readers wish to contribute to the Ride for Water campaign, please visit rideforwater.com for more information.

—Steven Felschundneff

steven@claremont-courier.com