Join Tony Hauser in Raising Funds for MANNA Food Bank with Cross-country Bicycle Ride
Tony Hauser is a long-time bicyclist and fellow CBI congregant who discovered his love for ultra-endurance bicycling just a few years ago. Unbeknownst to most, it’s called randonneuring, the desire to travel unending miles across the landscape on a bicycle, either solo or accompanied by similarly motivated friends.
For Tony, preparing for multi-state rides requires physical conditioning, extensive study and selection of low-volume routes, weather tracking, and mapping access points for food, water and lodging. He outfits his bike for safety, comfort and efficiency with GPS mapping, pedal-powered lighting, specialized frame packs, and much more. The set-up provides his home for long days of effort between brief pauses for sleep at motels, post offices, and once, on the steps of a high school.
In Summer 2023, Tony raced from Oregon to Virginia in the Transamerica Bike Race, a grueling, self-supported (no food, water or lodging provided) event drawing roughly 50 participants per year. He finished in 24 days, spending 6 days isolated in a motel room in remote Idaho with a serious case of Covid. With no doctor, pharmacy or food deliveries available in the town of Riggins, Idaho, kind strangers turned out to support him. Someone drove Paxlovid to him from an adjacent town, and the motel and next-door restaurant owners left groceries, fresh-cooked meals, and test kits at his door. In time, Tony eased back onto the bike, finishing the race at the Yorktown monument in Yorktown VA on the afternoon of the Fourth of July, surrounded by thousands of celebrants on picnic blankets who had gathered for festivity and fireworks.
At the end of March 2025, Tony begins his latest adventure, a cross-country ride of 15 days in length, traveling over 200 miles per day, from San Diego CA to St. Augustine FL. Tony and his wife, Danise, have been affected by and immersed in efforts to support the Western North Carolina region since hurricane Helene struck at the end of September 2024. Tony decided to make his upcoming ride a fundraiser to support MANNA Food Bank in its struggle to continue feeding our neighbors.
Danise is joining Tony’s adventure, but she isn’t traveling by bike. She will be delighted to see Tony pedal in each night and equally proud to see him off into the pre-dawn darkness the following morning. Always a fan, she’ll be providing behind-the-scenes updates on Facebook and Instagram at @danisehauser.
You are most welcome to donate to Tony’s fundraising ride and leave encouragement for him at the QR code shown or by entering 4agc.com/landing/tonysride into any browser. Thank you!
Here’s what Tony shared on his MANNA Food Bank fundraising page:
On March 31st, I will set off on the bicycle to ride from San Diego, CA to St. Augustine, FL. My ride will be largely self-supported (my wife will meet me at our motel at the end of each day), and I will be riding solo. My route is known as the Adventure Cycling Association’s Southern Tier and it will traverse California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas (one third of the distance), Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The mapped distance is approximately 3,100 miles but will likely creep up to closer to 3,200 miles as I make side trips to secure lodging and other needs.
My goal is to complete this distance at a pace of just over 200 miles per day, which, depending on weather, will amount to 13 to 18 hours in the saddle each day. While this sounds hard (and it is), it pales in comparison to the loss and struggle that many have experienced in Western North Carolina as a result of Hurricane Helene on September 27.
It is for this reason that I am hoping that you will give me mental support and our neighbors life support by donating to MANNA Food Bank. Despite the fact that their main facility was destroyed by the storm, they have continued to step up to support Asheville and our surrounding mountain communities. I have volunteered with them in the past and I can vouch for their organization and their tireless response to this disaster.
Please donate what you can, and volunteer if a donation doesn’t currently fit in your budget.
With Gratitude,
Tony Hauser