Bike ride across U.S. honors fallen troops, benefits families

Two Seattle businessmen biking across country to raise money for families of fallen soldiers rode into Charlottesville on Saturday.

Longtime friends Kevin Mincio and Matt Sauri have spent the last three months biking from California to New York City. Their goal is to arrive in New York by the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The ride is also a continuation of a promise Mincio made to an Army buddy, Staff Sgt. Jessie L. Williams, who was killed in 2007 in Iraq.

“This ride has given me the opportunity to continue to make a difference in a way besides myself,” Mincio said Saturday. “When I joined the Army, I felt it was my duty to serve my country and now I feel like I’m taking it a step further to help other families on behalf of their loved ones who lost their lives in service.”

Mincio, Sauri and members of their support team arrived in Charlottesville on Saturday for a two-day layover.

The group will be honored at a fundraiser today and will meet with members of the University of Virginia football team before continuing their ride on Tuesday.

Sauri, who never met Williams in life, has come to know all about him and other military families through his fundraising efforts. He took the summer off to bike with Mincio, who was originally planning to bike on his own.

“It’s been great to have the opportunity to make some sacrifices and create opportunities for some families who deserve more than they get because their loved ones have paid the ultimate sacrifice,” Sauri said.

The bike trip grew out of the two men’s work with the Team Jesse Foundation, an organization Mincio created to honor Williams and to benefit the families of fallen soldiers.

Mincio met Williams while the two men were in the Army and the two were close despite their 10-year age difference.

In May 2006, Williams asked Mincio to look after finances for his wife and infant daughter, Amaya, if he didn’t make it back from his second tour of duty.

Williams was killed by sniper fire on April 8, 2007 in Baqubah, Iraq. He was 25.

“We heard a lot about Jesse through the years,” said Karen Mincio, Kevin’s mother. Karen and her husband, Ron, have spent the last month traveling with their son on his bike journey across country. “We know how much Jesse meant to him and how much all of this means to him.”

The biking duo started their cross-country journey in June at Williams’ gravesite in Santa Rosa, Calif.

They have just passed the 3,500-mile mark on their journey and have raised more than $100,000, Sauri said.

The team hopes to raise $5,000 this weekend through the fundraiser, with all the money going to organizations that assist military families, Mincio said.

“This is about paying back a debt and honoring our fallen by helping out their families,” Mincio said. “We’re funding the bike ride ourselves so every dime we raise will go to military families.”

Mincio, who has ties with the Charlottesville area through his friendship with former UVa head football coach Al Groh and his family, said they have had a lot of support throughout their journey.

“[Coach Groh] told me to just take it one day at a time and that has been our motto, to take it one day at time,” Mincio said. “Things can go really bad on a bike very quickly so we’ve just been taking it one day at a time.”

“I think this has all been a healing process for Kevin and that has been a good thing,” Karen Mincio said. “I don’t think you ever get closure, but this has helped him heal and that is a good thing.”

The fundraiser for Team Jesse Foundation will be held at 5:30 p.m. today at Mono Loco on West Water Street in Charlottesville. The event is open to the public.