OCEAN CITY – A man’s cross-country bicycle tour to benefit a nonprofit organization and raise awareness for homelessness ended in Ocean City this week.
On Tuesday, South Lake Tahoe, Calif., resident Daniel Deemer dipped his toes, and his bike, into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean after completing a 71-day journey from Big Sur, Calif., to Ocean City.
Deemer, a Cecil County native and former Salisbury University student, said he was inspired by two friends to complete a cross-country bicycle tour after hearing of their own experiences.
“It had always been something that I kind of wanted to do … but that was definitely an influencing factor,” he said.
Deemer said he decided to once again partner with Tahoe Youth & Family Services for his cross-country journey. Last year, Deemer completed a 211-mile thru-hike of the John Muir Trail in the Sierra Nevada mountain range to raise money for the nonprofit.
“I’ve done a little bit of work with this nonprofit in the past,” he said. “This was an adventure I would have inevitably been doing anyway, so it kind of made sense to pair the two.”
Deemer said his trek, entitled “Bike for the Homeless”, is a fundraising campaign to benefit Tahoe Youth & Family Services and raise awareness for homelessness and its root causes.
“It’s always been a social issue I have been particularly passionate about,” he said. “I live out in Lake Tahoe now and it’s definitely an issue there, as it is anyplace. Ocean City is no exception. I think it’s interesting and eye opening that you have really beautiful locations that are destinations for most people and then you have that starkly contrasted by an issue where there are people who don’t have a place to sleep at night that are sleeping in the streets and scrounging through dumpsters to eat.”
Deemer said he began his journey on May 22 and traveled an average of 80-85 miles a day to reach Ocean City.
While he mentioned notable experiences along his journey, including biking 109 miles in 109-degree weather and visiting eight national parks, Deemer said the people he met along the way were the most memorable part of the trek.
“That’s the reason a trip like this is fun and enjoyable,” he said, “and it’s the reason it’s even possible.”
In addition to receiving sponsorships and donations, Deemer said he experienced an outpouring of generosity from individuals along the way.
While he spent half of the journey camping in a tent, Deemer said apps like Warm Showers, a community of bicycle tour enthusiasts who open their homes to passing cyclists, offered him free lodging.
“I met so many people who were willing to open their homes for me,” he said. “It’s incredible to be treated like that.”
After completing his nearly 4,000-mile journey, Deemer expressed his enthusiasm for reaching Ocean City, a place where he spent many summers during his college years.
“It’s a bit of a coming home for me,” he said.
While he has no plans to bike back across the country, Deemer, who works in the ski industry, said he will use his down time to complete a three-month backpacking trip in South America.
Deemer said donations can still be made to the nonprofit by visiting http://igfn.us/form/3X43CA.
