On Faber's trip, the riders stopped at a pizza place and asked for and received 8 pizzas. "Almost every time we asked for food, they would say `sure,'" she says.

The rides are also educational in other ways. Some cyclists on last year's San Francisco ride rode 250 miles out of their way to visit a survival center funded by the 1987 trip. The $5000 donation helped found the center, which provides food, clothing and shelter to people in Harlan County, Ken.

"We stayed for a weekend and did community service there. I worked 10-hour days actually doing some of the carpentry on the shelter," Collins says.

"It was an eye-opening experience to see how our money was actually being used," Collins says. "It is hard to understand when everything is abstract, but we got to see an actual project."

Kahrl, who will bike the Seattle route next summer as a leader, says that no particular physical training is required for the trips, and on his trip, "only one person out of 16 was a cyclist."

"The main emphasis is on mental preparation," Collins agrees. "One girl's physical training consisted of quitting smoking."

Faber says that before her trip, she didn't have any conception of what 80 miles was, and that at times, during 11-mile climbs in the Rockies, she didn't think she would make it. "People did walk at times, and some people would ride in the SAG, but with 18 gears, you can really make it, even if you have to go very slowly," she says.

And on the other side of every hill is a downhill slope. "When you do get to the top, it is beautiful," Collins says. "The sign that says `Trucks Check Brakes' is heaven for a biker."