I would like to thank all my classmates that supported me with donations to Hospice and prayers for my safety. 

I don’t think I had even heard of Covid. It was February 8th, 2020, my 73rd birthday. About 25 friends had gathered with my wife, Carole, and me, to see me off to ride my bicycle from St. Augustine, FL to Coronado Beach, CA. I was fundraising in memory of our daughter Tania for Hospice.

You may recognize a couple PHM Class of 65 members in the picture below. Dennis Velte, Ed Bessinger, and Randi Souza were among the friends that came to wish me well and see me off.

All was going well except for too many flat tires until the middle of March and somewhere in Mississippi. There was talk about this virus called Covid.

It wasn’t always smooth. Our goal was to travel 50 miles a day. But, there were two modes of transportation, i.e., one person driving a motorhome while pulling a car and the second riding a bike, making it complicated. Specifically, we couldn’t always find appropriate accommodations. So we improvised. Our longest day was 78 miles, the shortest was 13 miles.

One of the things on our bucket list is to tour all the State Capitol Buildings of the US. We could do Mississippi and Louisiana before Covid shut them all down. 

We met many great people along the way, including campground owners who would donate a campsite to our cause, but once Covid set in, that came to a screeching halt. We then stayed in Church parking lots, Walmart, and Cracker Barrel lots. Since Walmart was starting to close at 7 PM, the lot was empty. There were also very few cars on the road. We would see about 15 trucks for every car. 

About halfway through Texas, everything was shutting down, but I was able to get new tires for my bike that eliminated flat tires, except for one, for the remainder of the trip. The campgrounds where we had reservations were canceling them.

At one point in Texas, we stopped for three days to evaluate if we should continue or not. We decided The Lord had led us to do this, and He would get us through it, so let’s keep going. 

My decision to go east to west was based on my concern about Texas Hill County and the mountains. A big mistake! My biggest physical challenge was the wind in west Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. There were days with 35 mph headwinds. On one day, I had to call Carole halfway through the ride to come and get me. I wanted to say that I had ridden my bike the entire distance, so I left the car where we spent the night and went forward in the motorhome with Carole. Then I rode my bike “with the wind at my back” to the car and rejoined Carole and the motorhome later.

Here we are in New Mexico, and Carole gets an infected tooth. Because her top teeth were horrible, she decided she would eventually get implants. The dentists were all closed. By now, New Mexico was utterly shut down. We couldn’t even find anyone to work on the motorhome. 

I made a call to our dentist in Mexico, and they said that they could see her since it was an emergency. She could get her implants, and we only lost a week. 

The next obstacle was, are we going to be able to get into California? Since I had started with my rear wheel in the Atlantic, I wanted to end with my front wheel in the Pacific. No problem there, but as we approached San Diego, we were told the beaches were closed, and there was a one thousand dollar fine if caught. 

After a call to the Coronado Beach Police Chief, I was good to go. I was to call when I got there, receiving an escort to the beach. That was on Friday. On Monday, when I was to hit the beach, I received a call from him saying that there had been problems over the weekend, and he could not approve of my going onto the beach. After realizing I would do it anyway, he assured me I would be approached but not given a ticket. I was invited to his office, where I was given a memento to the city. 

The trip was good for me. I had plenty of alone time to remember our beautiful daughter. Between her and the Lord pushing me, I was able to make it over the mountains and through the headwinds. 

My granddaughter, Abby, asked us to make this trip to thank Hospice. Hospice had been very helpful for her. We did not know that Hospice gave service to the dying, AND they are there for those left behind. Their counseling services made all the difference in Abby’s grieving process. So we made the trip; it resulted in $25,000.00 for Hospice.

I could go on and on about the experiences we had and the wonderful people we met along the way.

The one question I could answer for anyone wanting to know. Would you do it again? I would love to repeat the experience but only on an E-bike!

A special thank you goes out to Spin Zone Cycling and Fitness and Cannondale for their sponsorship of clothing and a beautiful carbon fiber bicycle for the trip. 

This was our mission! Mission accomplished! You will be remembered, Tania!