By Reid Forgrave
Enquirer staff writer

These three cyclists are spending the summer crossing the United States and signing up young people to vote. They are, from left, Dawn Nilaya Curran, Kate Monroe and Gabe Westheimer, of Batavia. Thursday morning, the signup crew were on the Loveland bike trail, headed for Columbus. Their final destination is New York City on Aug. 23. The Enquirer/GLENN HARTONG

LOVELAND - Hey, Bush! Hey, Kerry! You think your cross-country campaign swings are exhausting?

You have nothing on these three cyclists.

Since June 20, Gabe Westheimer, 24, a Batavia native and graduate of Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., has been on the road nonstop with two classmates.

They are biking across the country in an effort to register young voters and encourage citizen participation in the presidential election.

This week, Westheimer and his cohorts, Kate Monroe, 22, of Wisconsin, and Dawn Nilaya Curran, a 21-year-old Maine native, stopped in southwest Ohio to rest up before finishing the final leg of their ambitious trip.

"We weren't big cyclists before this, but we are now," Westheimer said Thursday as he ate breakfast at a friend's house before heading out on the Little Miami Scenic Trail, bound for Columbus. "All those Tour de France guys, they're a bunch of lightweights. Our bikes are so much heavier!"

INFORMATION

Bikers Alliance for Active Democracy's Web site is www.baadride.net. Voter registration forms can be found at your local library. To request a voter registration form in Ohio, write to: The Secretary of State of Ohio, Elections Division, 180 East Broad St., 15th Floor, Columbus, OH 43215. To request a voter registration form in Kentucky, write to: State Board of Elections, 140 Walnut St., Frankfort, KY 40601.

So far they've registered more than 300 voters and have gotten young people talking politics.

"There's such low voter turnout, especially from our age group," Monroe said. "And this is such an important election. We need everyone voting that we can."

They try to visit events such as rock concerts that attract youth. They've set up their voter registration booths at concerts for folk guitarist Doc Watson, pop rocker John Mayer and for the Canadian rock band, Cowboy Junkies, among others.

Their political leanings are to the left, but the three cyclists say they don't foist their opinions on potential voters.

"When we go to register voters, we're not supporting any one candidate," Monroe said. "We're simply there to register voters and encourage dialogue. People are so polarized with this election. They have their opinions already. It's not our job to give them our political beliefs."

There are many miles to go - about 1,500 until New York City, to be exact - before the finish of a weaving 4,500-mile ride across the country that began nearly two months ago in Olympia and ends Aug. 23.

The most memorable part of the trip, they say, is the hospitality they've received.

People they've met on bike trails have offered them showers and put them up for a night.

A bicycle repairman in Indiana drove 50 miles to meet up with the group after Curran had an accident. He made the repairs and didn't charge them a cent.

E-mail rforgrave@enquirer.com