Pedal the Pacific's 2023 team meets for first time in Austin before seven-week bike tour

AUSTIN, Texas - Pedal the Pacific, a nonprofit group raising awareness about sex trafficking, is getting ready for its 1700-mile bike ride down the Pacific Coast.

"We thought why we don't we do something when we graduate to spread awareness about this subject, so our friends and family have to ask us why are we doing what we're doing," says Savannah Lovelace, co-founder of Pedal the Pacific.

With no cycling experience, Savannah and two other friends decided to ride their bikes down Seattle to San Diego.

Savannah brought the idea to the owner of Cycleast if they could help them out and they said yes.

This weekend, the team of ten female-identifying members from nine different cities across the United States will meet for the first time in Austin before their seven-week bike tour.

"It's really cool to see a map of where our alumni are, we have 60 alumni now," says Lovelace.

This is Rachel Newton's first bike tour and she is super excited about the journey and spreading awareness.

"I felt like I knew about the fight against human trafficking beforehand, but I didn't really know the details and I knew there was a lot of misconceptions about it," says Newton.

Now until summer, the team will be training in their community and raising funds for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

"It's cool for me to see these folks who weren't familiar with bikes didn't really know what they're getting into but have a strong passion for this cause," says Hannah Simmons, manager at Cycleast.

If you want to take part or donate you can click here.