Tuesday, December 12, 2000
BY JOHN CAMPBELL
KALAMAZOO GAZETTE
Motivational speaker Nancy Stevens is a woman of many talents - athlete, singer, and most recently a cross-country cyclist - and she's also blind.
Stevens, 40, a former resident of Kalamazoo who graduated from Portage Northern High School in 1979, recently took part in Ralph Lauren Girls' "Girls on the Move" cross-country cycling journey.
Girls on the Move was a 10-week, 3,865-mile journey that started in Portland, Ore., on Sept. 9, and wound up in New York City on Nov. 16.
During the journey, Stevens and 20 other women in the team stopped in communities throughout the nation and performed educational outreach while hosting Girls Festivals in an effort to provide role models for younger girls.
Stevens, who lives in Summit County, Colo., was born three months premature and given too much oxygen, which damaged her retinas and left her without sight. But being blind never slowed Stevens down - among other accomplishments, she has participated in the 1998 Paralympic Games in Nagano, Japan, and recently recorded her own inspirational CD, "And I'll Sing Everyday of My Life."
Three of Stevens' teammates who also overcame physical challenges to participate in the cycling journey included a deaf woman from Gunnison, Colo., a paraplegic woman from Truckee, Calif., and a 72-year-old woman from Roseland, N.J.
Stevens peddled in the rear of a 2-seater tandem bike during the journey and had the shifting controls put in the back so she would have more to do. Typically, the person in the front of a tandem bike steers and has brake control.
"I told everyone I was the automatic transmission and the motor," she said with a laugh.
Stevens said the purpose of Girls on the Move is to inspire girls to follow their dreams.
"You can accomplish your dreams - and you can't always do it alone," she said.
Stevens said one of the most memorable parts of the journey was when the team stopped in Iowa and met 12 kids from an alternative high school's "youth-at-risk" program.
Stevens said the kids were learning about bikes and had to ride 12 miles alongside the Girls on the Move team for a final exam project.
She said one young woman in particular kept pushing herself to go the full 12 miles, and seemed more like a role model at the time than an "at-risk" youth.
Another memorable time for Stevens during the journey was a night in Pennsylvania when a Girl Scout troop reversed roles with the team and provided an inspirational program for them.
"I was particularly moved by that," she said.
Long rides and decent weather met the Girls on the Move team through much of the journey.
"We rode about 70 miles a day," Stevens said.
Stevens said the team rode through only five days of rain during its trek across the country.
"We were actually super-lucky with the weather," she said.
"Probably our biggest challenges were riding on two-lane roads with no shoulders."Stevens advises anyone with goals and dreams to be patient and seek out mentors, role models and supports.
"You just never know when things might happen," she said.