With temperatures reaching as high as 107 degrees, Meridian cyclist Ed Abdella left California and crossed the Colorado River into Arizona Wednesday afternoon in his bid to become the first Mississippian to conquer the ultra-distance Race Across America.

Leaving from Oceanside, California, at 12:50 p.m. Pacific time Tuesday, Abdella had biked more than 280 miles by 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, including a brief stop for a nap in the desert heat, before continuing on his journey through the Colorado River Indian Reservation.

Race Across America, or RAAM, will take the high school history teacher through the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts, Monument Valley, over three mountain ranges (the Sierra Nevada, Colorado Rockies and the Appalachians), across four of America’s longest rivers and through the Great Plains to end on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on June 23.

Labeled as one of the toughest endurance sporting events in the world, RAAM spans more than 3,000 miles, climbs 175,000 feet and crosses 13 states.

Abdella, 60, is the first Mississippian to compete in the race and hopes to be the first one to cross the finish line in the 12 days allotted for solo riders. Having trained and prepared for the race for the past six years, he was excited to finally get the chance to compete.

“All these years of training and all these years of praying and it’s finally come to fruition,” Abdella said in a Meridian Life interview earlier this spring. “It’s finally here, and I am actually excited.”

There is no prize money for the overall winner; most riders use the race as a platform to raise money for a charity of their choice.

Abdella is raising money for Hope Village for Children, a nonprofit group home in Meridian that is licensed to provide residential care and services to foster children from all over the state.

On Wednesday, the Jimmie Rodgers Foundation and SuperTalk Mississippi-Meridian station hosted a pop-up lemonade stand and T-shirt sale in support of Abdella’s Race for Hope.

“The Jimmie Rodgers Foundation has been leading songwriting workshops with the children of Hope Village for the past year,” said Alana Sparrow-Broughton in a press release from the Jimmie Rodgers Foundation. “Their recent songwriting project has been to write a song to encourage Ed on his Race Across America. The song is titled ‘Go Ed, Go.’”

She said the foundation and the children of Hope Village are working with The Governor’s Studio at the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience to professionally record and produce the song.

Anyone interested in making a donation to Abdella’s Race for Hope 2024 campaign, can text “race2024” to 243725 or visit the Hope Village for Children website at hopevillagems.org and click on the “Race Across America for Hope 2024” tab.

Updates on Abdella’s progress are being posted on the Race for Hope 2024 Facebook page and for those interested in following Abdella’s journey through live tracking, visit raceacrossamerica.org and scroll over to the “Follow the Race” tab and click on “Live Tracking” in the dropdown menu.