Pawcatuck man riding his bike across the country in memory of his parents
Stonington — A Pawcatuck man currently is riding his bike 4,500 miles from California to Virginia to raise money and awareness of progressive supranuclear palsy, or PSP, and Alzheimer’s disease — the two diseases that caused the deaths of his parents.
Rob Wolfe, a 60-year-old driving instructor who lives on Lathrop Avenue, spoke Wednesday from Eureka, Nev., before he headed out on the next leg to Ely, Nev.
“For a long time I dreamed of biking across the country. When my mother died of PSP in 1996, I wanted to do something meaningful but I couldn’t come up with an idea. And I had family and a lot of responsibilities,” he said.
Then when his father, who lived in Stonington, died earlier this year after an eight-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease, Wolfe discovered he had some free time.
“I decided I could do the ride I always wanted to do,” he said.
When he made a trip to Mystic Cycle Centre to buy a new bike, he said employees asked him where he was going to ride.
“That's when I said, ‘I could do this.’ I’ll ride in my parents’ memory and raise funds and awareness of the two diseases,” he said.
In late July, Wolfe flew out to San Francisco to spend a few days with his daughter while his brother, Jim, drove their support vehicle — a pickup with a trailer attached — to San Francisco.
On July 26 Wolfe dipped his rear tire in the Pacific Ocean at Baker Beach and headed out on his journey east to Yorktown, Va., and then on to Mystic.
Wolfe said he’s been riding about 50 miles day except for a few days in the Sierra Nevada mountains, where the temperatures climbed over 100 degrees and he struggled a bit acclimating to the climbs, heat and altitude.
On Tuesday, he rode 67 miles. He expects to finish the trip in early October.
Wolfe is chronicling his ride with video shot with a GoPro camera and photographs shot by his brother. He posts the videos, photographs and daily updates online.
According to the organization CurePSP, progressive supranuclear palsy is “a neurodegenerative brain disease with no known cause, treatment, or cure and is often misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s disease because of the general slowing of movement.” Its symptoms and prevalence are much like that of better-known ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease.
Wolfe is trying to raise $8,000 to fight PSP and has so far raised $925. To donate go to http://www.psp.org/, and click on "Give Now" to make a donation. Include “supporting Robert Wolfe” in the comment section of the donation form.
Twitter: @joewojtas
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