Gary Valerio '72 Completes X-Country Bike Trip
Gary Valerio '72 completed his 3400 mile cross country bike ride from Longbeach, CA to Fairhaven, MA in time for his 50 year Class of 1972 reunion on June 25th. In the photo (courtesy of Bev Tabet '72) Gary is seen dipping his front wheel in the Atlantic Ocean along the beach at West Island on Friday, June 24th. The trip took Gary and his fiance Darla 100 days, of which he rode his bicycle for 70 days, averaging a little under 50 miles a day. They built in some days for rest, mechanical repairs, stops for fundraising and bad weather. Their primary motivation was to raise money for the fight against Cystic Fibrosis, and to date they have raised just over $20,000 for that cause.
When asked about the toughest part of the adventure, Gary replied that "it was a tossup between Missouri and Connecticut....in one 47 mile stretch within Connecticut we had an elevation gain of 4,000 feet over the course of one day". Overall Gary and Darla were elated with their cross country adventure. They viewed it as a "once in a lifetime journey/mission, and overall it reaffirmed their belief that PEOPLE ARE GOOD! There is a lot of good in this world that gets overshadowed by the small percentage of bad". Gary added that he and Darla were "inspired by the generous and encouraging people that they met along the way".
Donations to fight Cystic Fibrosis can still by made in Gary's name by going to: https://p2p.onecause.com/fight...