Abuse survivor makes Morristown stop in X-country bike tour

Washington State resident David Higgins believes a 2,200-mile bicycle trip is a small feat compared to the daily work of advocates who help children who have been physically or sexually abused.

The affable 21-year-old, with a bright smile and sun-bleached hair, decided to bring recognition to those workers by riding across the country on his Kona 21-speed bicycle and stopping at as many child advocacy centers as he could during his trek.

On Monday morning, Higgins showed up at Deirdre’s House, the esteemed child advocacy center on Court Street in Morristown that is named for murder victim Deirdre O’Brien. Higgins said he expects his “Ride2Recover” journey that he started on June 21 in Neah Bay, Washington, to end Tuesday at the Statue of Liberty in New York.

Before heading home, he plans to travel to Washington, D.C. to tell Congress his personal story of why advocacy centers are dear to him and appeal for continued funding of services for abused children.

Higgins said he was abused when he was 11 years-old in Northport, Wash. -- a community with a population of about 300 -- and the services he received from a child advocacy center in Colville, Wash. gave him the strength to get through the trial of his abuser.

“Its easy to ride a bicycle but it’s hard to maintain the grind, to put your heart and soul on the line on a day to day basis. To really invest in the kids is not an easy thing. That’s ultimately what this bike ride is all about,” Higgins said, during his welcome by Deirdre’s House program Director Anthony DeVincenzo, child advocate Mirella Suarez and therapist Nancy Begin.

“It’s fantastic,” DeVincenzo said. “What he’s doing personally is really inspiring.”

Higgins said he rode between 60 and 80 miles a day, usually camping outdoors but occasionally meeting people who let him sleep and shower in their homes. He endured a tremendous rainstorm as soon as he pedaled into Chicago. One of the toughest but most enthralling legs of his trip was his climb up Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park in Montana.

“There’s no shoulder and it honestly feels like you’re riding up a cliff,” Higgins said.

Higgins said he paid for the trip by saving about $4,000 he earned shearing sheep, an unusual skill he is happy he learned. But he said he also learned to be exceptionally thrifty. He has multiple lightweight bags attached to his bicycle that are loaded with a tent, hammock, extra socks and bicycle shorts and a sleeping bag. He charges his cell phone with a solar panel that charges the battery stick.

For showering in the great outdoors, he has a bag with a nozzle attached that holds 10 liters of water. He hangs the bag from a tree and lets the water flow. He stops at stores or gas stations to shave and brush his teeth, he said.

“It’s a good thing I was a Boy Scout when I was a kid. You have to be thrifty on the road,” he said.

He planned his trip by consulting the National Children’s Alliance, which lists child advocacy centers across the country. He estimated he stopped at 10 to 18 centers during his expedition. Some were tiny and the largest was in Chicago, he said.

Higgins’ high school graduating class in Northport, Wash. had 14 students. He realized as he pedaled east how temperaments changed, from easy-going in Seattle to a “go, go, go” mentality in people by the time he reached New Jersey.

“I’ve definitely been stretching my comfort zone in different interactions. But it’s all worked out. The best advice anyone ever gave me about traveling was ‘Don’t worry, it’s all going to work out.’”

Higgins has maintained a diary of his travels that can on viewed at https://www.facebook.com/Ride2Recover. The site also has a link to a GoFundMe account he has established to raise money for the child advocacy center that assisted him a decade ago.

For more information on Deirdre’s House, visit www.deirdreshouse.org.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.