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LARCHMONT, N.Y. - Their friends may think they're crazy, but Larchmont's Alexandre and Lucas Zabotin will touch both coast lines on a 42-day, 2,500 mile cross-country bike ride for charity that begins Sunday.
The two brothers, who attend Mamaroneck's French American School of New York, want to see the country, challenge themselves and raise money for charity.
"The main thing is just the ride," said 15-year-old Lucas, who biked from Freeport, Maine to Quebec City, Canada last summer. "To bike across the country is just such a great accomplishment and raising money just makes it so much better."
This year Lucas' older brother Alexandre, who likes to be called Sacha, will travel with him from Charelston, South Carolina all the way to San Diego.
"That was really the point for me, to do it with him," said 17-year-old Sacha, who will be a senior next year.
To get to the start line, they will catch a 7 a.m. flight Saturday and camp out for the night with the ten other students participating in the trip, organized by Apogee Adventures. The company, based in Maine, organizes trips like this for students 11 to18 year old during the summer, including Lucas's trip last summer.
Students who participate must make their trip a community service effort. The Zabotin's family dog Lolli and two cats came from Larchmont Pet Rescue, which made that an easy choice. Lucas found the other charity while doing a one-day internship at the Westchester Food Bank in Millwood.
Sacha is most looking forward to seeing San Diego at the end of the trip, where the group will relax for three days, before flying back. Sacha hopes to surf before they leave. One thing they will do before they leave has been an Apogee tradition for years.
"They take one of their bike tires and dip them into the Atlantic, and at the end of the trip they dip them into the Pacific," Lucas said.
When the Zabotin brothers return home in August, they will, almost immediately, fly to France with their parents to visit family for the rest of the summer.
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