Laura Möller and Antonia Staucke’s epic bike fundraiser stops in Fort St. John

FORT ST. JOHN, BC — Fort St. John welcomed several visitors Wednesday who had traveled a long way to get here.

That’s because Laura Möller and Antonia Staucke have been traveling by bicycle to Ushuaia, Argentina’s southernmost city, starting in the fall of 2022, with the final goal of arriving in Anchorage in August this year as part of fundraising for a non-profit organization . organization World Bicycle Relief.

World Bicycle Relief is an organization that works with individuals in rural communities around the world by giving them access to specially designed bicycles courtesy of Buffalo Bicycles, giving people in poorer countries greater mobility, according to its website.

The organization currently has projects in Africa and South America.

Möller and Staucke met as university students in Germany and wanted to test their physical and mental limits.

According to Staucke, they cycled a lot in their home country and started cycling as students only as a sport of exercise.

“We’ve been on smaller trips,” Staucke said. “From Germany to France or Italy. But never anything as far as this.”

The ladies told it energycity.ca that the motivation to travel through South and North America was partly due to the COVID pandemic, with some borders around Asia and Europe closed.

“We wanted to go on an adventure and do something good,” Möller said. “We wanted to give something back, so we chose World Bicycle Relief.”

To date, the pair have raised more than €16,000 for their campaign.

Möller says they averaged four to eight hours of riding per day, although some days can be longer than others. One trip took them 212 kilometers.

She adds that one of the highlights of the trip was visiting World Bicycle Relief in Columbia and the work going on there. World Bicycle Relief has distributed 35,000 bicycles there since 2014.

Möller and Staucke said traveling by bike has reduced their travel costs. Although they both had jobs at home, staying in hotels night after night certainly wasn’t enough.

“We’re going on a low budget,” Möller said. “We’re having oatmeal for breakfast and ramen for dinner.”

The ladies have documented their travels via Instagram and their website, www.longest-ride.org.

Shelter was created through networking with people through various forms of social media. In Fort St. John they stay with residents.

Although their international adventure was fun, Möller says they are happy to return home.

“We booked a flight from Alaska to Germany on August 3,” says Möller. “It will be nice to see our friends and family again.”

To donate to the cause or for more information, visit www.longest-ride.org.