The open-sided tent overhead was being pounded by a steady rain that made it a welcome refuge for Pepper and other cyclists participating in the 2003 Trek Across Maine. This was the Norridgewock rest stop, Day Two of the three-day event, and everyone was drenched.

For the 39-year-old Pepper, a Rhode Island resident who has been cycling in charity events for five years, it was his first Trek.

"It's a little hilly, but I think the rain's making it more challenging than the roads are," Pepper said. "It's not bad."

Like Pepper, most of the 1,500 riders strung out along roads from Farmington to Waterville's Colby College for the second leg of the Trek had a pretty wet day.

You could find them everywhere along U.S. Route 2 and the side roads marking the course to Colby, cyclists of all ages and abilities, grinding out the miles in the driving rain.

At the Norridgewock stop, the rain had turned the dirt parking lot surrounding the tent into a muddy mess. Water poured in under the tables piled with granola bars, cups of animal crackers and other snacks. Riders laughed together and eyed maps of the route, measuring the time left until their arrival at Colby by checking the topography and matching it against their own energy levels.

The challenging cycling event covers 180 miles across the middle of Maine, from Bethel to Belfast.

People from all walks of life participate in the Trek as sponsored riders to raise money for the American Lung Association. The riders have raised millions of dollars over the past two decades to support the association's efforts to combat asthma, smoking, and lung cancer.

Many people come back year after year.

Sandee Dethlefsen and Scott Hersey, two members of the Greenville-based Moosehead Manglers Trekking team, were among the veterans Saturday.

"I've done it for five years, and he's done it for 10," Dethlefsen, 37, said, pointing to 40-year-old Hersey as they took turns hosing mud off their bicycles at Colby. "It's such a blast — it's so well organized, and everyone has such a good time."

Day Two of the Trek is often the hardest one, with all the aches and pains from the first day beginning to be felt, and still no finish line in sight.

During some years the long ride from Farmington to Waterville has been a hot one, with riders guzzling gallons of water on the route. Other years have been cold, and riders have shivered at rest stops and blown on their fingers to warm them.

This year, riders said they will remember the rain, and the stripes painted on their backs by mud slung from their own bicycle tires.

"I like to ride in any weather," one young woman said as she examined a wobbly tire on her bicycle at the road side in Oakland, only a mile or two from Colby. "It might as well be for a good cause."

Trekkers will finish the ride Sunday at the Waterfront Park overlooking Belfast Harbor.
Copyright © 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.