Nine Newton Countians biked nearly 4,000 miles in a little more than two months, bonding through Celebrate Recovery’s mission of healing, faith and togetherness during the Great American Ride.
Thirty-seven hundred miles in 62 days. Nine Newton Countians recently undertook the trip via bicycles. As members of Eastridge Church’s Celebrate Recovery program, they participated in the Great American Ride, a virtual team bike ride that stretches from the state of Washington to Washington, D.C. This was the first year the group participated in the ride, from April 5 to June 6.
Ali Houston, Celebrate Recovery’s worship leader, was not foreign to the excursion and initially introduced the idea. Houston’s aunt invited her to participate in the race two years ago, and she has done so twice since. However, the teams she was on never finished the race in those attempts. The 2025 team did.
“I knew that at Celebrate Recovery, there were a lot of people that rode on their own for their own reasons: health, mental health, all of that,” Houston said, “and so I thought that it would be a good way for us all to kind of get together and do it.”
While the ride was intended to be done remotely, all nine people were intentional about maintaining constant connection through the two-month ordeal. Everyone utilized a texting chain to keep in contact, while some rode together on the Cricket Frog Trail. Miles were logged on the Great American Ride’s official website, too.
“Every time we would reach a milestone and cross into another state, we would send a picture—like a postcard picture—of ‘Welcome to the state of Iowa.’”
Ali Houston
That togetherness brought about a memorable moment for Brian Ivey, a member of Celebrate Recovery’s leadership team. “I happened to be riding the day [one of the guys] hit his personal goal in the last week. We passed each other on the trail, and I got to give [him] a high five and holler ‘Congrats,’ Ivey said. “Made my day when he met his goal.” Many people broke personal records in speed and distance. Ivey even logged three consecutive days of 25-mile rides, which was the best for him.
The strength of the group’s network was put to the test in one major challenge they faced. A rider out on his own passed out from exhaustion. Two other individuals came to his rescue and helped get him back to his vehicle. That instance alone was a testament to the bond each rider shared.
“The other guys rallying, coming to get him and picking him up and getting him back to his car really just showed the team,” Houston said.
Taking part in the Great American Ride not only showcased the significance of working together but reinforced the core objective of Celebrate Recovery, a Christ-centered group built upon eight principles and 12 steps based on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes. Houston stressed that the overall mission extends beyond just addicts and alcoholics. It includes people searching for healing with mental health, anxiety, depression, anger, grief, trauma and sexual addiction. No event personified Celebrate Recovery’s main mission for Houston any better than the Great American Ride.
“It just confirmed community and bettering ourselves in all the aspects of our lives, like mental health and physical health and the correlation of the two—and really spiritual health, as well,” Houston said. “We had the community of each other working to get better individually but also as a group, as a whole. That’s a big part of Celebrate Recovery, really just having a community of people that you can struggle with and celebrate with all at the same time, and this race was like that. There were moments that we struggled, especially in the heat, but then [there was] also celebrating all the milestones of passing into new states and increasing speed and breaking records for ourselves.”
The Great American Ride’s route follows that of the Great American Rail-Trail—a project of Rails to Trails Conservancy, the event charity. Its goal is to build trails over thousands of miles across 12 states from Washington to Washington, D.C. Celebrate Recovery’s group already has plans to do the ride again in 2026. Though Ivey has enjoyed riding for fun since the race’s conclusion, he hopes that all of this year’s participants will want to rejoin for another go at it. He will probably get his wish. So many people have relayed their interest to Houston that Celebrate Recovery may need to field two rosters, with a limit of 12 riders per team.
Each turn of the bicycle pedals, every mile ridden and the journey itself made for a memorable 3,700-mile trip. The experience meant a great deal to Houston and to the entire Celebrate Recovery group. “Every time we would reach a milestone and cross into another state, we would send a picture—like a postcard picture—of ‘Welcome to the state of Iowa,’” she said. “That was encouragement in itself every time we would ride. It was a fun accomplishment.” Looking ahead, Houston cannot wait to see how the Great American Ride serves as a springboard for what comes next for Celebrate Recovery.
“To build momentum, we really just plan to keep riding solo, as well as together, and encouraging others to get out and do the same [and] to also continue to grow in our recovery, as well as grow closer to Jesus,” she said. “I think for many of us on our solo rides it’s an opportunity to pray and experience Him through nature.”
Click here to read more stories by Phillip B. Hubbard.
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