Cyclists ride in Bucket 100 to raise money for Habitat for Humanity

The journey to the football game next month between the Hoosiers and Boilermakers will not be the only trip IU students will be making to West Lafayette this season.  

The third annual Bucket 100 Bike Tour, sponsored by the IU and Purdue University Habitat for Humanity chapters, is an event where cyclists from both schools travel from Bloomington to West Lafayette in hopes of raising awareness and money for their local chapters.     

The 122-mile expedition will begin at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the Genesis Church across from Memorial Stadium.

Both the IU and Purdue chapters will compete to see who can recruit the most riders. All of the funds will go toward rebuilding a Habitat for Humanity home.

The registration fee to compete in the Bucket 100 is $45 per rider, with each participant separately collecting donations for the fundraiser.  

Riders will begin in Bloomington and pedal to Danville Community High School in Danville, Ind., for an overnight stay. At this location, about halfway through the trip, participants will be provided with food and will have the opportunity to relax and interact with other riders and event organizers.

They will finish the ride to West Lafayette the next morning. At the finish line, there will be a large tailgate for the riders to celebrate their success.

Junior Adair Ahlers, director of major events publicity for Habitat, said the fundraiser is a good way to raise money for those in need.

“Bloomington is such a physically active community with events such as the Little 500 each year,” Ahlers said. “Riding a bike is something that everyone has in common, and it’s great to be able to give back to Monroe County.”

But while the event is a contest between the two rival schools, senior Meghann Horton said the meaning behind the Bucket 100 is much more than that.

“This event is a competition between the two schools to see who can raise more money,” Horton said in an e-mail.

“The ride itself is not a race, but simply a group ride about raising awareness of the Chapters, both Indiana University and Purdue University of Habitat for Humanity.”

During last year’s Bucket 100 Bike Tour, the IU chapter raised more than $4,000 after registering about 15 riders.  

One of those riders was Jessica Donaldson, an IU alumna who last year was president of IU’s Habitat for Humanity chapter. Donaldson said the feeling of riding for such a worthwhile cause was like no other.

“This was my first time on a road bike and it was so much fun,” Donaldson said in an e-mail. “I enjoyed every minute, especially meeting the other riders and hanging out at our overnight location.”

The IU Habitat for Humanity works each year to eliminate substandard housing in Monroe County. For more information about the cause, visit www.iuhabitat.org.