SHERMAN, TX - Summer usually means a chance for a vacation or a summer job for many college students. But one group of young men won't be relaxing over the next two months, instead they'll be working to raise awareness, in a very unique way.

Wednesday night, final preparations are made for their trip. The young men’s bikes are getting tuned up and ready to go for a long trip.

"We want to go through and make sure that everything's going to be good for the long haul. It's different than making sure it's going to get you 20 miles, I mean we're talking 3,000 miles,” said Jenkins, manager of the Nautilus Bike Shop in Sherman.

Jenkins has been working on bikes for 30 years, and knows firsthand how tough a long cycling trip can be. That's why he's sponsoring these five riders.

"Everybody can relate to riding a bicycle but when you tell them we're going to ride ours 3,000 miles, that's an attention getter,” he said.

21-year-old Will Watson is one member of the group. He said they know the trip will be tough, but are excited for the challenge.

"On the road we're going to have to remember that the reason that we're doing this is not for ourselves but is for other people. That the reason that we're riding 3,200 miles across the country is because 1,500 people today will die in Congo and we want that war to end and we think that that's wrong,” said Watson.

Watson and his younger brother David, will pedal alongside Andrew Childress, Connor Myers and Justin Zhao from the east coast to the west coast. All but Zhao are from Sherman.

The friends will stop in 60 cities to speak and raise awareness and money to help victims of the war in Congo. They’re working through an organization called Falling Whistles.

"The whistle is a symbol of protest, a symbol of protest of the world’s largest war,” said Will about the whistle hanging around his neck.

The story is of young boys in Congo forced to be rebel soldiers. The ones who are too little to carry a gun are put on the front lines to blow whistles to distract the enemy. They usually die in the first round of gunfire.

"I think that a story like that, that affects you in that sort of way, is the reason why five guys are giving up their summer to bike across the country and raise money and awareness about an organization,” said Watson.

So while most college students will spend their summers relaxing, these five young men will do what they're best at - pedaling on to bring peace.

"Those memories and the knowledge that we've helped, that we have worked in this war, are the reasons why we're going to keep pedaling every day, keep going,” said Watson.

The five students leave early Thursday morning to drive out to North Carolina where they’ll begin their journey. If you’d like to follow along, they’ll be posting daily updates on their blog: http://fallingwhistlesretour2010.wordpress.com/