ST PETER — The spring semester was coming to an end at Gustavus Adolphus College last May, and Ross Ring-Jarvi told his hockey coach, Brett Petersen, what he had planned for the summer.

As soon as his last final was done, Ring-Jarvi said, he was taking off for Oregon where he would be begin a bicycle ride across the United States.

“I said, ‘How much training have you done?’” Petersen recalled. “He said, ‘I rode down to the grocery store yesterday.’ Well the grocery store is six blocks from campus. So that was the extent of it.”

With his parents (both two-time cross-country biking veterans) working as his support team, Ring-Jarvi made it, pedaling more than 3,100 miles from Newport, Ore., to Stamford, Conn., via Yellowstone National Park, his home state of Minnesota and Niagara Falls. And he did it in just 22 1⁄2 days — less than half the recommended time.  

“It was one of those things that was on my bucket list,” said Ring-Jarvi, a senior captain for the Gusties. “I averaged about 140 miles a day. I just kind of got in shape as I went.”

Said Petersen: “It’s just not normal.”

At the same time, however, the coach wasn’t surprised with the feat — coming from Ring-Jarvi, the same kid who played most of his freshman season, the year Gustavus advanced all the way to the national-championship game, with a broken kneecap.

“He didn’t get it fixed until after the season got over,” Petersen said. “But we couldn’t take him out. He didn’t even want to miss a day of practice because he’s just wired that way.”

With one regular-season series remaining in his hockey career, Ring-Jarvi has never missed a game at Gustavus, playing in 109 so far. Over that time, the Anoka native has 122 points (44 goals, 78 assists) with his 25 points this season leading the Gusties and ranking fourth in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

“He’s a real special athlete,” Petersen said. “I’ve seen a few of them but not many. He among a handful in 20 years of doing this that just have that gift.”

Asked to name another, Petersen mentioned Matt Cullen, whom Petersen coached while he as an assistant at St. Cloud State. Cullen is now in his 14th season in the National Hockey League and second with the Minnesota Wild.  

“Cully never got beat in a wind sprint,” Petersen said. “Ringo’s never been beat in a wind sprint here in four years. … Obviously they are different settings (Division I vs. Division III), but there a lot of similarities with how passionate they are and how hard they work at it. Gifted players but unbelievable drive.”

That drive has been passed down a couple of generations.

His grandmother, Jane Ring, first began playing hockey when she was 47 and rented ice time to celebrate her 80th birthday. She and Ross’ mother, Sue Ring-Jarvi, have been well-known advocates for women’s and girls hockey for more than 30 years.

Off the ice, Sue and her husband, Roland, biked across the country on their honeymoon in 1982 and did it again in 2006 with Ross joining them for a portion of the trip. Roland said their first trip took 55 days and their second 35.

“Ross pushed the pace,” Roland said. “But he was up and going at 5:45 every morning.”

Said Ross: “I had a drive to do it. I wanted to do it.”

Ring-Jarvi, a physics major carrying a 3.5 GPA, said there are other adventures on his bucket list, including climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. Right now, however, he is nearing the end of another long journey — his college-hockey career.

The lone senior and leftover from the national runner-up team helped the Gusties move into a three-way tie for second place in the MIAC standings over the weekend, with a goal and three assists in a tie and win against St. Mary’s.

With two games against St. Olaf remaining, Gustavus still needs one point to secure a spot in the conference’s postseason tournament.

“I’ve had a blessed career here,” Ring-Jarvi said. “I couldn’t have wished for anything else. And I hope it continues to go well.”