LANSING | A swarm of bicyclists rode a path through Lansing, Highland and other areas of the region Wednesday as part of the Sea to Sea Bike Tour aimed to end poverty.

Bethel Christian Reformed Church of Lansing volunteers welcomed riders on their way from Palos Heights to Chesterton on Wednesday morning with granola bars and bottles of water.

In the crowd of people wearing green-yellow vests and helmets and straddling bicycles, Ryan Bruxvoort was easy to spot wearing a red and white Indiana Hoosiers jersey. Bruxvoort, a 24-year-old Highland resident and a former paper carrier for The Times, has been on the tour since it started in Seattle in June. He plans to ride all the way to New Jersey.

As the trip has gone on, it has gotten easier to ride 50 miles a day, Bruxvoort said. It has been smooth cycling except for a left pedal that keeps falling off, he said.

This year, 218 cyclist registered for the journey, with 127 going the full distance. The trek began in Seattle and will end in Jersey City, N.J., according to the event's Web page.

"I've been lucky," Bruxvoort said. "I just had one flat tire in Salt Lake City. A few people are getting close to 20 flat tires."

Bruxvoort said he quit his job at the Field Museum to participate and has raised more than $12,000 on his trip. Together, the riders have raised almost $2 million, he said.

"(I've learned) if you put a lot of people together with a common goal, it's very easy to achieve that goal," Bruxvoort said.

Volunteers from the Bethel Christian Reformed Church in Lansing were especially rooting for rider Mark Deckinga, 50, who grew up in Lansing and has family in the congregation.

The Kokomo resident spoke via cell phone in Highland after riding on an alternate route through Roseland and Pullman neighborhoods in Chicago. Deckinga started his ride in Denver and plans to finish in Grand Rapids, Mich. Biking through the region he was from held special meaning, he said.

"It was choking me up when I rode by my elementary school and I took a picture in front of it," Deckinga said. "There are a lot of good people here who know me, and I've appreciated their prayers and support and encouragement."

Munster residents Dirk and Jill Feikema also are riding in portions of the trip.

Riders range from age 18 to senior citizens, are from all over the United States and Canada, and have varying levels of fitness, Bruxvoort said.

"This trip has really proven to them that they can do what they thought was impossible," Bruxvoort said.