DESPERATE NEED

Overstreet hopes to raise $1 million or more with Coast to Coast that will expand and better equip the hospital.

The need is desperate, he said.

Conditions in Mali are so poor that often parents have to choose between feeding their family and seeking medical treatment to save a child’s life.

And so children die.

As well, statistics show that one in four little ones in Mali don’t reach age 5, and one of every 10 women dies in childbirth.

“I’m a father; I’ve got four kids,” Overstreet said. “From that aspect, it’s real easy to develop an interest in that need.”

His own children are pitching in to make the ride possible. Christina, 17, will update the Web site, posting her father’s progress along the route. Isaac, 21, will drive the RV that will be Overstreet’s rolling headquarters. Jeremy, a seventh-grader, is often his dad’s riding partner as he trains for the trip and will pedal along part of the ride itself. And Joshua will join the whole family for a week or two before keeping a date for U.S. Army officers training.

Overstreet’s wife, Sheryl, works on publicity, and she’ll also travel some of the route in the RV.

“We’ve had a goal for years, at least 15, to see the Grand Canyon as a family,” the pastor said. “This is our last chance to do that.”

DAUNTING RIDE

Overstreet, 52, has been a biker since childhood; he’s done some amateur racing and rides with the Adirondack Cycling Team.

“I’ve always liked to do long-distance rides,” he said.

He came up with Coast to Coast last summer, when it occurred to him that all the mileage he puts on a bike could benefit more than his own health.