KC man bikes to Chicago to promote literacy

It'd be cool if Oprah is at work at her Chicago studios July 30, because Vincent Alexandria is heading her way.

Alexandria, a Kansas City author, is a self-made crusader for literacy, especially among young African-American men. He left on his bicycle Monday to ride 560 miles to Chi-town, a trip to raise awareness, and money, for his national literacy and reading campaign. . . .

He dreamt up the bike ride to inspire the local GED students he has been teaching for eight months. “What can I do to inspire them, to show self-sacrifice, and I thought it had to be something that everybody would say, ‘You're crazy,' ” said Alexandria, 44, a writer of murder mysteries, including If Walls Could Talk, Postal Blues and the new Black Rain.

The money he raises in pledges and donations along the way will support the Brother 2 Brother Literary Symposium, a non-profit organization Alexandria founded to promote reading and literacy across the country.