Somebody giving a fleeting glance while passing room G22 in Jamesville-DeWitt High School around 2:30 p.m. earlier this week might think that second-year teacher Kristin Hardy had invited a student up front for an English class presentation.
The young-looking guy in a long-sleeved neon green T certainly fit in with the prevailing end-of-year shorts and flip-flop attire. But there was nothing get-me-out-of-here-to-summer about the mood in the full room as guest Brian D'Apice spoke to the attentive couple dozen teens and a handful of teachers about his yearlong Bicycle around America journey.
D'Apice is a native of Pennsylvania more than a decade the senior to the kids hanging on his every word, sentence, thought. Yes, they were interested that less than a month in, he's some 825 miles into the 10,000-mile bicycle trip that will self-propel his lonesome self through two mountain ranges and the Great Plains, from sea to shining sea.
He starts with a slide show, photos from his youth, leaves turning fall colors, a pretty body of water, two Husky dogs.
"I had a great childhood," D'Apice says. "I enjoyed life, what I thought was a normal life. It wasn't until the last couple of years I found out this wasn't normal. That we, you, I, are so lucky to be where we are.
"Then Sept. 11, 2001 came," he continues. "Do you remember where you were? People always ask that. I remember where I was. I was in the 10th grade, much like you all now. A teacher leaned in and said the Trade Towers were hit."
This man had these teens in the middle of his tale.
"I was physically fit. I loved sports. And I knew on this day I was going to join the group to protect America," he said. "I joined at the end of 2003 and I started in 2004. There are 212 jobs in the Army. I picked the one job up front, up top. Airborne, infantry. Nobody would kill 3,000 Americans without me having a say about it," D'Apice said.
"Mom was a wreck."
Yeah, he had them, all right, as he proceeded to show slides of his time spent in Iraq, Vietnam and Indonesia, mingling with the poor people, calling the children in Baghdad "little dude" as he described how they were deaf from the relentless bombing of their homes, and explaining how he had few slides of the people of Indonesia because they believed being photographed robbed them of their spirit, and pointing to Sapa in the northwest of Vietnam as he detailed the cascading hills that inspired this very bicycle trip across the United States.
What Brian D'Apice brought to the teenagers of Jamesville-DeWitt High School was his vision of the poverty in these parts of the world, the knowledge of what he could do about it that he'd picked up while earning a marketing degree at York College courtesy of Uncle Sam after leaving the military.
BicycleAroundAmerica.com is designed to raise funds and awareness for two charities: Connecting Families and Pencils of Promise. He's researched both well, he told the students. The latter has built 300 schools in East Asia, Latin America and Africa. Connecting Families steps in when the poor in Jakarta, Indonesia, need help with medical emergencies and daily health care.
And D'Apice talked about this ride of his.
It started May 4 in the Big Apple. He had hoped to get on "Today," but that did not work out.
He's been to Portland, Maine. He's spent time in Syracuse because his younger brother attended Ohio State with Chuck McKeever, who offered the home of his father, Jim, as a base of operations here for a few days as Brian spoke in Albany and other upstate locations.
He plans to make it to Seattle and end up back in New York City next spring.
But he's got make sure he can beat the weather. He's got a great rain jacket and a tarp and a sleeping bag. A small solar panel charges a battery, which powers his cell phone as he pedals.
He's got to eat. Peanut butter is a staple along with energy bars, but a J-D teacher convinced him to ditch PB's companion Fluff as empty carbs. So far, he says, he's eaten 3 1/2 pound of peanut butter. He carries his own water, and that's heavy, so it's a balancing act. He boils some of that water with a little metal kit and pours it into dehydrated meals.
"Many people who do this sort of thing have what they call a SAG wagon trailing behind them," D'Apice says. "Not me. I'm carrying my stuff."
He asked the students to volunteer their worries.
• Terrain. The Appalachians are steep, the Rockies are wide, and the Great Plains are vast, windy and desolate, he agrees.
• Solitude. Yes, he's bound to get lonely.
• Animals. He's got mace for mean dogs, but he's unsure what to do but run if a bear comes at him in Yellowstone.
•Robbers. "I'm tough," he says.
Still, nobody's mentioned his No. 1 fear of being on the road for a year on a bicycle.
He gives a hint, beep beep.
• Cars. Yes. Trucks, too. "I have these reflectors, and flashing lights," he says.
Nothing is going to stop Brian D'Apice. Except for the bell to end the class period. First, his closing thoughts, on the screen:
"Be appreciative of what you have."
"Find ways to give to those in need."
"You can do anything as long as you put your mind to it."
You can find more information about his journey and the links to give to Brian D'Apice's charities by clicking his site here.
You can find information about how to purchase a T-shirt to support his journey by clicking his site here.