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

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Fort St. John welcomed a couple of visitors on Wednesday who had traveled a long way to get here.

That’s because Laura Möller and Antonia Staucke have journeyed by bike, beginning in the fall of 2022 in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in Argentina, with an end goal of arriving in Anchorage by August of this year as part of fundraising efforts for a non-profit organization World Bicycle Relief.

World Bicycle Relief is an organization partnering with individuals in rural communities around the globe by giving them access to purpose-designed bicycles courtesy of Buffalo Bicycles, thus giving people in poorer countries more 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 they wanted to test their physical and mental limits. 

According to Staucke, they often rode their bikes in their home country, adding they only took up road cycling as college students for exercise.

“We did smaller trips,” said Staucke.  “To France or Italy from Germany.  But never something as far as this.”

The ladies told energeticcity.ca that the motivation to travel throughout South and North America was partially because of the COVID pandemic, where some borders were closed around Asia and Europe.

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

So far, the pair have raised over €16,000 Euros ($23,419.17 CAD) for their campaign.  

Möller says they have ridden an average of between four and eight hours per day, although some days may be longer than others. One journey took them 212 kilometres. 

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

Möller and Staucke said traveling by bike has cut their travel expenses. While both had jobs back home, it certainly wasn’t enough to stay in hotels night after night. 

“We’re going with a low budget,” said Möller. “We’ll eat oatmeal for breakfast and ramen for dinner.”

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

Shelter has come from networking with people via various forms of social media.  While in Fort St. John, they’ll be staying with residents.

Although their international adventure has been fun, Möller says they’ll be happy to head back home.

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

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