By Marley Seaman
Together, the trio comprises Team Pedal Pushers, and that weekend they will ride bikes 275 miles in three days to raise money for charity. They will pass through Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. For months they have trained together for the ordeal, working hard to raise money and prepare their bodies.
"I'll ride to [Neuberger's] house" every day, said Orbeta, an architectural designer. "We'll do two, three hours in the morning, and then I'll ride straight to work."
The Pedal Pushers are among 35 to 40 people who will ride to benefit New York Scores, a charity that benefits elementary school students in Harlem and Washington Heights. The money the riders raise will go to an unusual after-school program that combines soccer and poetry. "On Mondays and Wednesdays, the kids play soccer," said Blake Strasser, a rider coach with New York Scores. "On Tuesdays and Thursdays, they do creative writing and poetry."
Friday is game day, and also the day the students present their work in the form of a poetry slam. Strasser says that the programs fight childhood obesity, and because most of the students are not native English speakers, it also helps them communicate.
"Little things like after-school programs - it really makes a difference," said Orbeta, who remembers seeing similar neighborhoods during his childhood in the Bronx.
Neuberger learned about New York Scores, which is part of a nationwide group, by working on its Web site. He has been riding for charity for three years, and he quickly decided he needed to get involved. He recruited Orbeta, a designer for People magazine. The two are long-time riding partners. But Corrado, a fourth-grade teacher at Cornwell Elementary in Malverne, is a newer convert: This will be her first charity ride.
"He said, 'I'm doing this insane bike ride,'" said Corrado, who has known Neuberger since the two were in college. "He spoke of it with such confidence and joy."
Corrado needed two days to think about what she was doing. But she decided to go for it.
The ride is a major commitment, and not only because of the training involved. Every rider has to raise $2,400 in order to participate, and it takes an enormous amount of effort to gather that many donations. According to New York Scores, each $2,400 puts two students through the program, giving them 160 hours of after-school activities.
"Last week we had a block party, and since I'm teaching yoga, I donated an hour of my time for a private session," said Corrado. The hour was raffled off and raised $400. She also recently held a wine and cheese fondue dinner for friends - for a fee, of course.
The trip begins on the upper Chesapeake Bay on Oct. 8, and by the end of the first day, the riders will be in Pennsylvania. Neuberger estimates it will take him some six hours each day to cover 90 miles. Others will take longer; the event is not a race.
After spending the first night in Valley Forge, Pa., the group will continue on scenic trails and highway shoulders to Lebanon, N.J., where they will finish the second day. The trip concludes on Oct. 10, with a lap around the soccer field where the children will play.
All three riders said the preparations for the event have changed their lives, making them more aware of ways to help others and giving them more energy. "I tell people that I work with that I get up at five in the morning and I'm on the road by six o'clock," says Neuberger. "They're like, 'Wow, I'm sleeping for another two hours after that.' By the time I get to work I've done 50 miles."
