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Donna Toothman helps Evelyn Kaye clean her bicycle she s riding in a... (Benjamin Fisher/Sun-News)

SILVER CITY — Silver City is no stranger to bicyclists coming through, but a group of about 30 women, most over 50 years old, who stopped in Wednesday was a bit of a change.
The group is traveling from San Diego, Calif., to St. Augustine, Fla. — about 3,100 miles — and biking most the way. Some are determined to bike the entire way — what they call E.F.I, for "every freaking inch" — but there is a van in the event the journey becomes too much.
The riders come from all over the country and even the world, including England, Scotland, Australia, Brazil and New Zealand.
Aside from the challenging distance they are attempting to tackle, 10 of the women are raising money, mile-by-mile, for various charities.
Evelyn Kaye, for instance — a United Kingdom native and resident of Boulder, Colo. — is accepting donations for the ALS Association's Rocky Mountain Chapter.
More commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a devastating and always fatal neuromuscular disease. Unless a cure is found, more than 30,000 Americans living today will die from ALS.
Kaye's connection to the ALS Association is through her good friend Suzanne Venino. Venino had been very active before being struck by the disease, so Kaye thought nothing would be more appropriate.
"She used to go hiking, canoeing with a group of us," Kaye said. "Then, she couldn't do anything — now she can just about move her finger."
She

 
formed a committee called Friends of Suzanne.
According to her blog, Kaye trained for weeks at Boulder's YMCA gym to ready herself for the ride. Many on the trip are keeping online journals. It is through these blogs, many of the women announce the opportunity to donate to their cause of choice.
Dolly Craft of Carmel, Ind., is biking for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Carla Trouche de Souza of Brazil is raising money for Joni and Friends International Disability Center's Wheels for the World program, which provides wheelchairs to children who need them in her small Brazilian town.
"The group, these women, are really great. It makes the whole trip better," Trouche de Souza said.
That notion is widespread.
"You really do just become one big family," Kaye said.
A company called Woman Tours organizes the whole trip — the food, the packing, the accommodations — and drives along in the van to help tired riders.
The group came into Silver City after a ride through the Continental Divide. After that mountainous stretch, they took Thursday to rest and recover while taking advantage of Silver's bike shops and other shopping options downtown. They stayed at the Comfort Inn because, as Kaye says, "they've all been camping so they don't really need to do that anymore".
The women left Silver City early Friday morning with plans to head to Texas through Emory Pass, no easy feat for anyone of any age.