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 BU student to participate in 7,395-mile ride across two continents
BOSTON, Jan. 30 – This summer, 35 bicyclists, including a graduate student at Boston University, will travel more than 7,000 miles across Asia and Europe to raise money for the eradication of polio.
Boston University doctoral student David Montgomery, 34, has helped organize the ride, which will begin in Vladivostok, Russia, May 25 and end in Scheveningen, Netherlands, Aug. 31. Of the 35 bicyclists, 19 will complete the entire 7,395-mile ride, including Montgomery as the only American, along with riders from the Netherlands, France, Germany and Russia. The trip will take 91 days, cycling about 95 miles per day on paved roads and about 60 miles per day on unpaved roads.
Originally from Watseka, Ill., Montgomery moved to Boston in September 2001 to begin a doctorate degree at Boston University in religion and international relations. Before moving to Boston, Montgomery served two years in Kyrgyzstan with the Peace Corps. He completed his bachelor’s degree in pre-medicine and ethics from Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind., and his master’s degree in medical ethics from Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.
Organizers of the Polio Ride hope to raise $500,000 to aid in the last stages
of polio eradication. Established in 1985, the Rotary International
PolioPlus Program has been integral in bringing about the reduction
of polio by 99 percent, with the number of infected countries dropping
from 125 to seven. While the bicyclists have organized the Polio
Ride independently, they have chosen the Rotary International PolioPlus
Program to be the recipient of raised funds. Those willing to contribute
to the Polio Ride can make tax-deductible donations to the Boston
Rotary Foundation PolioPlus Ride Fund and send them to David Montgomery,
39 Wolcott St., #3, Malden, MA 02148. Credit card donations can
be sent online at http://www.polioride.org/sponsors
with “Boston Rotary Foundation PolioPlus Ride Fund” written in the
“payment for” field.
David Montgomery
Originally from Watseka, Illinois, David Montgomery, 34, moved to Boston in 2001 to work on his doctorate in religion and society at Boston University. He completed his bachelor’s degree in pre-medicine and ethics from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana; a master’s degree in medical ethics from Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan; and a second master’s degree in international relations and religion from Boston University. A fellow at the Institute on Religion and World Affairs, his current research centers on the conflict between religion and politics, with topical foci on anthropology/sociology of religious knowledge, problems of tolerance, and religious/political means of legitimating power and action. His regional focus is Central Asia, on which he is a regular contributor to The NIS Observed.
Before moving to Boston, he spent two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Kyrgyz Republic, where he worked in the Sustainable Economic Development program. He has also worked for the U.S. House of Representatives as well as the National Conference of State Legislators. He has traveled extensively, spending time in Asia, Europe, Africa, and Latin America. His last long bicycle trip was a solo ride across the U.S.
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