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GRS student’s trans-Siberia trek turns into a megacycle tour for polio cure

By Tim Stoddard

David Montgomery wasn’t expecting to have company on his long ride across Russia. When the idea of riding his bike from one side of Russia to the other first came to the avid cyclist and Ph.D. candidate in religion and international relations, he thought he would be going it alone, practicing his Russian and exploring that vast and diverse country. But two years ago, Montgomery met a crew of ambitious Dutch cyclists, who helped turn his trans-Siberian trek into Polio Ride 2003, a 7,395-mile bicycling tour across Asia and Europe that will raise money for the eradication of poliomyelitis, the viral infection that still paralyzes children in seven developing countries.

After riding his cycle across the United States eight years ago, David Montgomery (GRS’05) is preparing for a new challenge. The 34-year-old Ph.D. student in religion and international relations will join 36 cyclists this summer in Polio Ride 2003, a 7,395-mile tour across Russia and Europe to raise money for polio eradication. Photo by Vernon Doucette

Since Montgomery (GRS’05) began his graduate studies at BU two years ago, he has been helping to organize Polio Ride 2003 with Rotary Clubs in the Netherlands. He is one of 37 cyclists from France, Germany, Russia, the Netherlands, and the United States participating in the ride, which begins in Vladivostok, Russia, on May 29 and ends in Scheveningen, the Netherlands, on August 30. Only 20 cyclists will complete all three legs of the “megacycling tour,” and Montgomery is the sole American.

Riding a bicycle across 13 time zones would be challenging enough on freshly paved, flat roads, but the actual route wends through thousands of miles of unpaved roads in unforgiving conditions. The first leg skirts the borders of China and Mongolia, Montgomery says, and then traverses some of the wildest and most inhospitable regions in Russia. The cyclists will cross rivers without the benefit of bridges and climb snowy 9,000-foot mountains before arriving in the Kazak steppe in July, where temperatures soar into the triple digits.

Each rider will bring along only one touring bike, popping off the slim road tires for knobbier ones when the pavement ends and the dirt begins. Most tires wear out after 1,500 miles, so the riders will bring along eight replacement sets. They’ll cover about 95 miles a day on the paved portions of the route, and about 60 miles a day on the unpaved roads. Russian guides will follow in a hulking Soviet-era truck packed with provisions, extra tires, and medical supplies.

Riding six hours each day for three months will be physically taxing, but Montgomery anticipates even greater psychological challenges. “After two months of riding, we’re still going to be in Russia,” he points out. “I think the hardest times are going to be in the middle of the tour, when the novelty of it has worn off and we still have a long way to go.” The route crosses through deserts, mountains, swamps, and the high steppes of central Asia. “We’re expecting pretty much everything in terms of weather,” he says.

At the end of each long day of riding, the cyclists will camp on whatever soft ground they can find. There are scheduled stops with hot showers and beds along the way, but they’ll be few and far between.

A forgotten disease
In the United States, fundraising races and rides for cancer and AIDS are common, but polio is a largely forgotten disease since the widespread vaccinations in the 1950s nearly eliminated the virus in developed countries. Montgomery admits that he never expected the tour to turn into a polio fundraiser. “It’s probably not a cause that I would have chosen on my own, because I wasn’t aware of the polio problem -- it’s not something that many people are aware of.”

Polio came onto Montgomery’s radar screen out of the blue two years ago. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Kyrgyzstan, where polio is not endemic, he met several Dutch bicyclists in a remote village and mentioned his dream of riding across Russia. “When I told these guys about my plans,” he says, “they wanted to come along and keep going all the way to Holland. ‘Once you cross Russia,’ they said, ‘it’s only a couple of weeks further.’”

Six months later his Dutch friends, members of Rotary Club Drechterland in north Holland, e-mailed him with a proposal. One of the major philanthropic goals of Rotary International is to eradicate polio by 2005, and the cyclists saw an opportunity to raise money for this effort. Montgomery began amassing maps of Russia, while the Dutch Rotarians launched
a foundation called Cycle Tour Vladivostok-Scheveningen and contacted Rotarians in Russia, who helped them locate suitable roads along the way.

Back in the saddle again
The Polio Ride won’t be Montgomery’s first transcontinental tour. In 1994, he rode over 3,000 miles across the United States, which he says was much easier to prepare for logistically. “I think my family would be happy if I stayed here in Boston over the summer,” he says. “They worry a bit, and they feel they have less control when I’m in the middle of Siberia. But as it gets closer, they’re getting more excited about it.” The riders will carry a satellite phone with them for emergencies and regular check-ins, but for much of the time, they’ll be in some of the most remote places on earth.

At 34, Montgomery is one of the youngest cyclists participating. The others are mainly European businessmen in their 40s and 50s who have been able to take time off for the tour. They all need to meet a set of physical requirements to participate, which amounts to sustaining 18 miles an hour on a bike for six hours a day.

	The three legs of the tour cross through deserts, mountains, swamps, and the high steppes of central Asia. Over 1,500 miles of the 7,395-mile tour will be on unpaved roads. The cyclists will cross rivers without bridges and climb snowy 9,000-foot mountains before arriving in the Kazak steppe in July.

Boston’s winter weather has made outdoor training difficult. With slippery road conditions, Montgomery has been doing most of his riding inside, clipping his bike to a stationary trainer that puts resistance on the back tire. He does about 30 to 35 miles a day, but he’ll steadily increase that as May approaches. “Distance is important,” he says, “but for now the main thing is being comfortable on the bike, making sure that your knees can handle it, and that you’re used to being in the saddle.”

Along with training and preparing for his comprehensive exams, Montgomery has also been organizing several fundraisers for the ride. On February 20, Pizzeria Uno in Kenmore Square sponsored a special dinner for the Polio Ride, donating 20 percent of its proceeds from patrons who presented fliers for the event. On March 27, the Burren, a pub in Davis Square, will donate its back room for a benefit concert, with all proceeds going to the ride. Inside Track Tours and the Ski Market have donated a 2003 Marin Bobcat Trail mountain bike worth $400 that will be raffled on March 27 at the Pizzeria Uno in Kenmore Squre. The $5 raffle tickets are now on sale at Pizzeria Uno and in the Link area of the GSU.

Polio Riders have raised $180,000 so far, with a goal of donating at least $500,000 to Rotary International’s PolioPlus program, which seeks to complete the final stages of polio eradication by 2005. PolioPlus has vaccinated nearly two billion children in the past 17 years, and the number of polio cases has declined by more than 99 percent. Stopping transmission of wild poliovirus in the seven countries where it is still prevalent will be challenging, Montgomery says, but entirely doable. “One of the neatest things about being involved with the polio eradication effort is that it is something that we can actually finish.”

For more information about the Polio Ride 2003 and about Rotary International’s polio eradication program, visit www.polioride.org or e-mail polioride@yahoo.com. Tax-deductible donations can be made out to Boston Rotary Foundation PolioPlus Ride Fund and sent to David Montgomery, 39 Wolcott Street, #3, Malden, MA 02148.

28 February 2003
Boston University
Office of University Relations