By Jonathan Smith, Staff Writer
Finishing a day and a half ahead of schedule, 17 members of Gamma Sigma Phi completed an almost 1,400-mile, three-and-a-half day bicycle ride from the ACU campus to Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., over spring break.
GSP did the bike ride as a fund-raiser for Habitat for Humanity.
The club estimates that once all the pledges and donations have been collected they will have raised between $5,000 and $6,000 for one of the homes that has been built that GSP helped work on.
The 17 participants set out from ACU’s circle drive at about 12:30 p.m. March 7 with four bicycles, two vans, a Ford Explorer and about $1,000 worth of food supplies donated from ARAMARK.
One member would ride at a time, while the Explorer rode behind him and the two vans would move ahead to the next spot where drivers would change.
Each rider had shifts of five miles, but Jason Gibson, junior biochemistry major from Jasper who went on the ride, said most people did consecutive shifts going 10 miles.
The 10-mile shifts took anywhere from 14-50 minutes in uphill stretches.
Gibson said it took riders about 20-25 minutes to complete a stretch, on average.
The most memorable stretch for Gibson was one completed by Hayden Reid, junior history major from Austin.
Riding what Gibson said was “pretty much straight up a mountain” somewhere in New Mexico or Arizona, Reid took 50 minutes to complete his 10 miles.
“I could see the pain on his face and we offered over and over, ‘Do you want to stop and let someone else take over?'” Gibson said. “He wouldn’t do it. That was kind of a turning point in the trip. It helped us realize that we were going to get through this; we’re going to do it.”
GSP allowed five days to complete the ride, but they pulled into Malibu at about 1 a.m. March 11.
“The trip itself worked very well,” Gibson said. “We were blessed with great weather and there were no safety issues.”
This is the first year GSP has done the bike ride, but it was inspired by GSP’s run to Harding University in Searcy, Ark., which took place in the 1970s and again in 2001.
“The bike ride won’t be done every year, as far as I know,” Gibson said. “It’s kind of an individual class decision from year-to-year.
“We try to think of ways to give back to the community, and this is just what we came up with.”
unknown
posted 3/22/03 @ 4:30 AM CST
Congrats guys! I wish we’d have known about this at the time, we’d have been waiting at your “finish line” here in California to cheer you on!!! Well done, Gamma Sigma Phi!
Janet–class of 1990, family support worker
Tehachapi, California
hotwheelqt@aol.com
douch
posted 6/27/07 @ 11:21 PM CST
i want to see the other seal of my loving fraternity 18GAMMA SIGMA PHI48
eddie b teniz,jr
posted 8/17/07 @ 6:31 AM CST
i want to see other member otside the philippines. I am a member of this prestigious fraternity since 1986. I belong to Notre Dame of Midsayap College Chapter, Midsayap, North Cotabato, Philippines. Long live 18GAMMA SIGMA PHI48
Josephine Tayo
posted 2/02/09 @ 11:44 AM CST
Originally posted by
eddie b teniz,jr
i want to see other member otside the philippines. I am a member of this prestigious fraternity since 1986. I belong to Notre Dame of Midsayap College Chapter, Midsayap, North Cotabato, Philippines. Long live 18GAMMA SIGMA PHI48
Hello gamman, I wanna meet/see you too. I’m from Tacurong but presently live in Finland. Keeping in touch with brods and sis is always interesting. Regards
george m. madera
posted 6/10/08 @ 1:50 AM CST
i am a member of this prestigious fraternity since 1992, survived at Alpha Tau chapter-MSU-IIT Iligan City, Philippines. Just want know who now our National President…..just want an update of our beloved fraternity………i love gamma sigma phi.
Josephine Tayo
posted 2/02/09 @ 11:10 AM CST
Hello brods & sis out there. I’m forever Gamman. (batch 84′ QCSP Tacurong) A soro master initiator way back home. Long Live Gamma Sigma Phi 1848. Greetings from Finland:D
Post a reply to this comment
Ian Villanueva
posted 3/06/09 @ 10:01 PM CST
Hi to all brods and sis..I’m a member of this fraternity since 2000 from Notre Dame University, Cotabato City.
Thanks.
Jake Tipton
posted 3/09/09 @ 1:29 AM CST
To clarify:
Gamma Sigma Phi at Abilene Christian University is unaffiliated with any other organizations of the same name. GSP is an independent, Christian social club that exists only at ACU. Gamma Sigma Phi is not a fraternity.
