CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – For the past decade, Lawrence Chase – also known as the Bicycling Friar – has biked across the country, attempting to unify churches against what he sees as a left-wing “juggernaut” passing policies he believes are damaging the U.S.

“You need to take your commitment to your faith seriously,” Chase told Cville Right Now. “You can’t just sit back and think that a supernatural power is going to solve everything. You have to be partners in fixing things, being involved in kids’ lives.”

Chase spent three days last week in the Charlottesville area, which he described as “a liberal town” where many of his views receive “a visceral negative reaction.”

“I’ve learned how to adjust my message to each community,” Chase said. “Like when I talk here, Charlottesville, because the (University of Virginia’s) here, I present myself in a different manner than in Culpeper or Orange. But the message is the same. You just have to communicate in a way that people can relate to.”

Chase engages people he meets as he travels, talking about policies he opposes and sharing a suggested reading and internet viewing list that supports his positions.

Chase is fervently anti-Islam, opposed the Democratic redistricting effort earlier this year, and thinks college students who protest in defense of Palestine don’t understand the situation in the Middle East or the reality of atrocities committed by Hamas.

“I don’t have any problems with Muslims, but I have a serious problem with Islam,” Chase said.

He views the current state of the United Kingdom as a cautionary tale for the U.S. and believes Fairfax, where he is originally from, should become part of Washington D.C.

Chase, 71, who served as a jet mechanic in the Navy and went to Old Dominion, spent three decades working as a builder in northern Virginia.

He calls Fredericksburg home now and said he had planned to bike north, through upstate New York and onto Maine, but now believes he needs to spend his time spreading his message in his home state.

“Just like in the Civil War, it’s between the Blue and the Red, between the urban and the rural,” Chase said. “It’s a bellwether state. And it’s on the frontlines of all the stuff that is happening with all these policies.”

Chase, who spent part of 2016 at Christ in the Desert, a Benedictine monastery in New Mexico, returned to Northern Virginia late that year following the death of his mother.

He said he felt a call to action after the 2017 shooting at the Congressional baseball game in Arlington, an incident that seriously injured Rep. Steve Scalise.

At that point, he took his old 1970s Raleigh bicycle and began a trek across the country. Chase began his travels at Pohick Episcopal Church in Lorton. He made his way to Charlottesville that August, to hear an Episcopalian minister speak in opposition to the Unite the Right Rally.

In Roanoke, a supporter he met donated him a Cannondale bicycle, which he used during his seven-day pass through the Appalachian Mountains.

He biked through Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Mississippi, Louisiana and then headed west through Texas. He made his way to Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, stopping his travels before reaching California, because of that state’s political leanings.

Chase returned to Virginia during COVID, then resumed his travels.

“Once you start touring on the bike, it gets in your blood,” he said.

Chase usually camps during his trips, though sometimes he will stay with friends, family or supporters. He gets most of his food from local food pantries, though sometimes he’s invited for home-cooked meals or to restaurants. His bicycle has a trailer behind it that carries his possessions, including a waterproof tube to protect his research.

He gets up around 4 a.m., a habit he picked up during his time in the monastery.

“I really prefer being outdoors,” he said. “It’s just really nice waking up to the sounds, when the robins start singing at 4 in the morning.”

Chase said he’s in good health, aside from some nagging dental issues, and plans to continue making his rides as long as he’s able.

He’s especially focused on spreading his message to the younger generations, especially those from 18-32.

“I go to as many different churches and talk to them as possible, the whole spectrum. And I say, ‘You have to know what’s going on here, know the policies,’” Chase said. “I have seen the younger kids kind of know what’s going on. They’re starting to question a lot of what they’re taught from the education industry. All these churches, whether you’re to the left, the Unitarians, or the far right, the fundamentalists, ignore these doctrinal differences because there are some serious issues that are happening.”