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New Senior Star
Bill Anderson, 78, Starts Quest to Bicycle Across
Nation Both Directions
Sept. 15, 2004 – W.J. “Bill” Anderson, 78 years
young, will jump on his bicycle and leave San Diego, California, on
September 25 and head for Jacksonville Beach, Florida. His goal is to
become the oldest person to ride a bike across the
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Crossroads Mission's Charlie Allen
congratulates Anderson on his Canada-to-Mexico ride. |
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See below story:
About Bill Anderson
About Crossroads Mission |
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U.S. from north to south and west to east - and to
raise money for Crossroads Mission in his hometown, Yuma, Arizona. He
may actually be the only one to ever accomplish this fete at any age.
In June the World War II paratrooper became the
oldest bicyclist to ride from Canada to Mexico – a trip that took him
only 10 days and 15 hours. In this effort he raised $6,000 for the
homeless people served by Crossroads. The funds are raised through
people donating per mile traveled by Anderson and matching funds given
by corporations and businesses.
The coast-to-coast ride begins at Fiesta Island and
is a 3,000 mile trek. He expects to be at the Atlantic coast by Oct. 10.
The Master Cyclist says he will make it back to Yuma on the same day he
leaves the Pacific coast – September 25 – to attend a rally supporting
his trip at the Ocean-to-Ocean Bridge.
"I'm going to be out on Fiesta Island, and I'm
going to dip the front wheel into the Pacific and then go," Anderson
said at a news conference last week. "We're going to be racing. We're
not going to be touring."
Anderson said he chose this time of the year
because the winds predominantly blow from the west to east. South winds
slowed him down on his trek from Canada to Mexico. He will ride 16 hours
a day, hopes to cover 200 miles a day with about five or six hours sleep
per night.
Crossroads Mission Executive Director Charlie Allen
said there will be a group driving ahead of Anderson to organize rallies
and drum up support and donations. "This is really a historic journey
and a national event," Allen said. "We're getting support from across
the nation."
Anderson’s desire to help the mission is based on
his own suffering as a child in the depression.
"I know what it is to be hungry," Anderson said.
"My dad lost everything in the '29 crash. We had nothing. We had to
steal watermelons to eat. I don't like for those women and children and
men to be hungry. Of all the things that happened to me, I wouldn't like
to be hungry and homeless."
Anderson’s journey will be updated daily on
Crossroads Mission’s website. (Click
to site). Crossroad Mission is Yuma County’s only Homeless Shelter,
offering free meals, clothing, case management, substance abuse
treatment, vocational training, transitional housing and Christian
ministry.
Anderson will be using the interstate from
California to Texas and then highways the rest of the way from Louisiana
to Florida.
Tentative Schedule Subject to Weather and
Conditions
9/25 Fiesta Island (San Diego)
9/26 Yuma AZ
9/27 Casa Grande / Toltec AZ
9/28 Lordburg, NM
9/29 El Paso, TX
9/30 Van Horn, TX
10/1 Fort Stockton, TX
10/2 Sonora, TX
10/3 Austin, TX
10/4 Houston, TX
10/5 Beaumont, TX
10/6 Baton Rouge, LA
10/7 Mobile, AL
10/8 Marianna, FL
10/9 Lake City, FL
10/10 Jacksonville Beach, FL
Information for this story came from
Rick Ploski of Crossroads Mission and the YumaSun.com -
http://www.yumasun.com/artman/publish/articles/story_13075.shtml
About Bill
Anderson
W.J. “Bill” Anderson was born June 25, 1926, in
Yuma, Arizona as the son of a carpenter. His parents moved to Arizona
from Alabama for the therapeutic benefits of the dry heat.
At the age of eight, Bill started working with his
father to support their family. Bill’s first job was digging ditches
with the construction crew. He continued working with the construction
crew to the age of 17.
After five years of digging ditches, at the age of
13, Bill got into his first fight. This fight involved his
18-year old stepbrother. Bill proved to his stepbrother, overwhelmingly,
that he had no fear. It was at this time that Bill, a
reserved and quiet youth, found he was a fighter, in more ways than one.
Bill started boxing at this age and added a daily weight routine to his
already physical job. Bill’s first weight set was created out of two
five-gallon buckets filled with concrete and wired to a bar. Daily, Bill
would dig, move concrete, load dump trucks with shovels (including
weekends), attend school and also lift weights.
Bill continued to prove himself a fighter, in all
aspects of his life. At the age of 17 Bill enlisted in the army when the
country needed him for World Ware II. He trained at Fort Bragg as an
infantryman until a call was made for special troops. His troop was
approached for volunteers to join the paratroopers, out of 60 men, three
stepped forward to the challenge. Bill was one of those three.
Bill served in numerous airborne divisions
including the 17th, 101st and the 82nd
during the War. He made numerous drops into war zones.
Following the end of the war, Bill was singled out
for his fitness, strength and boxing abilities to become a needed member
of the military police. It was with this calling that Bill was sent to
Paris, France to help maintain peace to a then sometimes riotous post
war Paris. During Bill’s military police career, Bill continued boxing,
studying judo and running 20 miles every other day.
When Bill arrived back home to Yuma, AZ, he went
back to high school and finished his education. It was at this time that
Bill decided to turn his back on a professional boxing opportunity. Bill
turned down the advancements of a national boxing promoter to go to
college.
With the assistance of the G.I. Bill, he then went
to Arizona State University at Tempe to earn his college degree in engineering. During
college Bill continued daily weight lifting, boxing, wrestling and
football.
Upon earning his engineering degree, Bill started
work on his masters degree.
However, Bill was called upon again - this time as
an inactive reservist to serve in the Korean War.
Bill again fulfilled his duty for his country and
returned home. This time Bill, utilizing his experiences of military
police, decided to become a Phoenix Police Officer.
It was when Bill was serving as a police officer
that his father called upon him. His father asked Bill to help him in
the family construction business. Bill honored his father’s wishes and
went back to the business. As history would repeat itself for Bill, he
started from the ground up in the business. He started with those
digging ditches, and all jobs before becoming the overseer of the entire
operation.
All this time Bills workouts remained a daily part
of his existence along with boxing.
As he grew his families construction business to
great heights, Bill found himself getting a pilots license, becoming a
learned navigator, a yachtsmen and a bicyclist.
Bill would take his bicycle with him on business
and pleasure trips. Bill proceeded with his cycling to achieve a
“Masters” cycling status and numerous awards.
To this day, Bill lifts weights one hour daily and
bicycles up to 100 miles daily.
Bill’s diet has consisted of mainly of vegetables
and fruit for the better part of his life. He supplements his diet with
various vitamins, minerals, nutrients and botanicals. He has never
smoked or drank alcohol.
Bill is a retired veteran, boxer, pilot, navigator,
police officer, engineer, and a carpenter. He is a husband, a father,
and grandfather.
Now Bill has found himself yet another calling as a
Master Cyclist dedicated to helping those in need at Crossroads Mission.
Anderson Cycling History
Arizona State Road Champ- 1984 -55+ -USCF
Arizona State Road Champ- 1988 -55+USCF
Arizona State Time Trial Camp -1984 -55+ USCF
Arizona State Biathlon Champ- 1988 -60+ -Senior Olympic
Wyoming State Time Trial Champ- 1988 -60+ Senior Olympics
Wyoming State Road Race Champ- 1988 -60+ Senior Olympics
Prescott, Arizona- Skull Valley Road Race- 45 Miles, 1st
Place- Master Division- 1988
Brawley, California- Triathlon- 1st Place
Corporation Team 1988
United States National Senior Olympics in St. Louis,
Missouri- 1989 Placed (2) Third places, (1) fourth place and (1) sixth
place, out of 4 races.
World Games in Saint George, UT- 1989. Placed 2nd
in Time Trial, 3rd in Criterium and 5th in Road
Race.
Oklahoma State Senior Games 1989 Concord/San Francisco,
CA 1st Place Gold Medal in time trial- 2nd Place
Silver.
World Corporate Games 1989 Concord/San Francisco, CA 1st
Place Gold Medal in time trial, 2nd place Silver Medal in
road race.
USCF District Championship time trials in Wilcox,
Arizona. Won Silver Medal- 1989
San Diego Senior Olympics- Gold Medalist in time trial-
1990
Arizona State Senior Olympics- Gold Medalist in Phoenix,
AZ, 1990, 20 mile bicycle race.
. Arizona State Senior Olympics- Gold Medalist in
Phoenix, AZ ,1991, 10 mile bicycle race.
World Games in Utah took 1st place six (6)
times in Mountain Biking
World Games in San Francisco took 1st place
Breaking national record by 9 seconds.
San Diego to Yuma Race, 45 yrs- 12 hours and 13 minutes.
(Record has not been broken since 1991)
Other Races Include;
Master National in Pensacola, FL (Time trial and road
race.)
Spenco 500 in Waco, Texas
Arizona Challenge, Scottsdale AZ, 325 mile race.
Casa Grande, Arizona Classic, 60 mile race 20th
place out of 400 in All Ages.
Tucson Double Century, All Ages, 7th place
100 Mile Time Trial, Yuma AZ, All Ages, 4th
place.
Yuma Loop Race 200 Miles, All Ages, 4th place.
Others too numerous to list.
About
Crossroads Mission
Crossroads Mission,
944 S. Arizona Avenue,
Yuma AZ 85364 - 928-783-9362
www.Crossroadsmission.org
Crossroads Mission
is a Christian organization dedicated to helping individuals who find
themselves at a "crossroads" in their lives. Our goal is to help them
make that turn that will bring them to a personal encounter with God,
and to help them make changes that will result in better lives.
We offer
life-changing, individualized programs leading to stable employment and
independent living. With the help of caring donors like yourself, we are
able to reach out to the chemically dependent, the needy, and the
homeless of Yuma County and its surroundings.
Crossroads Mission
is a tax deductible 501(c)3, private nonprofit organization serving the
homeless, needy and poor of Yuma County without regard to race, color,
national origin, religious background, age, sex or handicap (alternative
accommodations available upon request).
Our funding depends
on the contributions of concerned individuals and organizations. All
contributions are tax-deductible.
Member in good
standing of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions.
We do not solicit in
front of stores or door to door. Please report any imposters to us
immediately.
Partners with the
State of Arizona, DES, Yuma Community Food Bank and FEMA.
This year we are
celebrating our 45th Anniversary!
Since 1959, we have
been serving the Yuma community sharing our services to the homeless and
the needy.
We are declaring
2004 the year to "Share the Love".
There are many
things that we have accomplished in 45 years. We have grown into a
multifaceted organization with many volunteers and more than 50 paid
employees. Our focus, however, is still the same - to reach out to the
less fortunate and share with them.
There are many more
things to accomplish yet. Until there is no more homelessness and no
more poverty, we will continue to Share the Love.
> Crossroads Mission
is utilized as shelter to individuals in need. This accounts to a
combined total of over 3000 sheltered evenings for people in the past
year.
> Clothing and/or
furniture (more than 21,000 items) have been provided to over 4100
people in need in the past year.
> Meals are provided
to the hungry, amounting to over 91,000 meals in the past year.
> Education
assistance with GED training has been provided to over 700 people in the
past year, amounting to over 7,300 hours of assistance.
> Still others have
come to Crossroads for Substance Abuse Treatment with 40% successfully
completing!
> And others have
come to learn Life Skills necessary for them to move forward with life.
Some treatment
service costs are covered by State Insurance and The Department of
Health and Human Services. All others are provided for FREE, no one is
turned away for financial reasons.
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