At first, it was just a 16-year-old girl's daydream.

Then it was a house. And another house.

Alexandra Orvis was staring out the car window a couple of years ago during a trip from Las Vegas to Utah, wondering how a cyclist could possibly ride on the shoulder of Interstate 15. Would it even be possible to ride from Vegas to Salt Lake City?

She didn't even have a bike. Neither did her dad, Jayson Orvis. But just last week, Alex was making final preparations for a 500-mile group ride from Bozeman, Mont., to her home in Bountiful.

It was to be her second big ride, the second time she turned a personal achievement into a charity event and the second time she donated the proceeds to build homes on the Navajo Nation.

Last year, Alex and her father rode all 565 miles from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City. It took them six days.

"I agreed to buy Alex a bike if she'd commit to ride at least 40 miles per week," Orvis said. "Little did we know that riding multiple centuries [100-mile distances] would require that we ride much, much more than that."

Alex rode 1,000 training miles before the Las Vegas big ride. "I'm not an athletic girl," she said. "It was a big, big challenge for me to hop on a bike and experience pain."

As she trained, word spread about Alex's plans. More people signed on. An experienced triathlete, Michael Conti, who has ridden the Lotoja — Logan, Utah, to Jackson, Wyo. — became a training mentor.

Alex decided the effort deserved an outcome beyond just a summer joyride. Thus was born Hearts and Bikes, a charity event that raised $16,000 for Hearts and Hands, a nonprofit group that builds homes and water systems on the Navajo Nation's Utah-Arizona border.

"If you're going to put that much energy in," she said, "it's got the potential to affect a lot more lives than yours."

Her dad, however, was freaking out after seeing fit, grown men unable to complete their training rides. Alex had staked her sense of self on a successful outcome, and Orvis didn't want her to feel she'd failed if she didn't cycle the whole way.

Orvis, an entrepreneur, micro-business consultant and an official with the nonprofit Great Life Foundation, decided to let go and let Alex do it her way.

"This was the ultimate parenting Hail Mary," he said. "My daughter was on the cusp of growing up and I knew that this was my last shot at making a substantial impression as a parent."

Of the 13 who started the Las Vegas ride, only two experienced Lotoja riders, Orvis and Alex, rode every mile.

With the $16,000 raised, Alex helped Hearts and Hands build the new home for a Navajo grandmother.

This time, she wanted to raise $25,000 with the Bozeman to Bountiful ride she's calling to BoToBo, a much larger enterprise with more than 100 people involved. Alex also hopes this time, she can help build two houses.

The experience of sharing her family's bounty with others started early for Alex. Her family founded The Living Christmas, a holiday charity for hundreds of people in need each year along the Wasatch Front; Alex and her siblings work for the organization.

The rides, she said, clarify her desire to do good. "It's just amazing how blessed I am in my life," she said. "If you have it, why not share it?" —

Bountiful girl rides for charity

Alexandra Orvis of Bountiful has twice helped organize big charity rides for cyclists. Last year she raised $16,000 for Hearts and Hands, a nonprofit organization that builds homes and water systems in the Navajo Nation. This year she expects to raise $25,000 with a ride from Bozeman, Mont., to Bountiful that started Sunday. Read about the effort at heartsandbikes.com.