The 44th Agony Ride: Staff riders
- Zoya Lee
- Apr 29
- 3 min read
Our annual Agony Ride bike-a-thon is coming up quickly! Last year’s ride brought in just over $450,000 for student scholarships thanks to your astounding generosity! We think hitting half a million might be within reach this year. Will you help us get there? Our team of staff riders is featured below. To sponsor them or another rider, visit agonyride.org. We hope you join us again this year! July 24-25, 2026
Pictured (clockwise): Nate Boyd, Executive Director; Suzanne Hartley, School Principal; Zoya Lee, Communications Coordinator; Austin Sather, Facilities Director; Jensen Near, Director of Student Life
Nate Boyd, Executive Director
Mileage goal: 325 miles
My eight-year-old daughter has been planning for years to ride with me as soon as she turns 16. At her age she doesn’t understand the full significance of the Ranch and the Ride, but she knows the Ranch students, and she loves them. That’s enough for her. And that’s enough for me too. As soon as you know just one student, you understand the immense importance of this bike ride. The amount of money we raise will determine how well we can care for them.
Suzanne Hartley, School Principal
Mileage goal: 325 miles
I see students every day who step into hard things and leave their comforts behind in order to heal relationships and hurts. I have the privilege of walking alongside them, often awestruck at what God is doing. I have seen that it is the hard times when the most growth occurs. I love the Agony as an analogy for that- people choosing to do hard things for a greater good. They endure the struggle in order to receive the fruit.
Zoya Lee, Communications Coordinator
Mileage goal: 250 miles
Mother Teresa once said, “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” I thought of this quote after I got to spend some time with a couple of former students from over a decade ago. They each shared new and exciting chapters in their healing journeys, and I got to share mine. The beauty of where stories interweave and how the Lord allows that is a tremendous gift. My healing isn’t just for me. Nor is our students’ healing just about them. The Agony is, to me, a picture of us belonging to each other.
Jensen Near, Director of Student Life
Mileage goal: 250 miles
After each Agony Ride I get off my bike swearing it will be my last time on a bike. Yet after the swelling subsides, the thought sneaks in: “The next time I ride the Agony....” I’m riding again, because every time I show up in the Sierra Valley, I know I will tangibly experience the love of Christ through riders and saggers, and that I will see students experiencing that for the first time. I wouldn’t miss out on that for the world!
Austin Sather, Facilities Director
Mileage goal: 350 miles
Something that students can struggle with as they arrive here is wondering if God really cares about them. The Agony Ride highlights God’s love for them. It is a tangible event of what the body of Christ looks like. Riders laying down their comforts to keep riding, saggers serving the riders and encouraging them to keep going, trackers and rovers making sure the stations have what they need. All of this so students can be at the Ranch and know just how deep the Father’s love is for each of them.
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