Cancer survivor chalks up miles on bike

Goal of 65-year-old is 6,500 miles to raise funds for three non-profits

By CONSTANCE SEE

Whitefish Pilot

Sixty-five year old Bob Lee dropped by the Pilot on Friday on his way to biking 6,500 miles across the United States.

Lee hopes to raise $500,000 for the National Hospice Foundation, the Les Turner ALS Foundation and the American Cancer Society. Nearly 1,500 contributors have helped him meet half his goal.

A colon cancer survivor from Barrington, Ill., Lee began his marathon ride on March 29 when he received an offer of a $65,000 donation if he could find 650 donors. He found 1,000 donors in 45 days. His first ride took him 2,165 miles from a cancer hospital in Jacksonville, Fla., to Bar Harbor, Maine.

Continuing to chalk up the miles last Friday, his West Coast bike ride took him along U.S. Highway 93 from Eureka to Whitefish.

In Eureka, Lee met up with eight teenagers from St. Paul's School in Concord, N.H., who are biking 3,900 miles from coast to coast to raise money for pediatric cancer research. They started near Seattle and hope to complete their journey to Northeast Harbor, Maine, by July 29.

Battling head winds outside of Whitefish, Lee noticed a man who stopped by a creek for a smoke while delivering oxygen to his medical supply customers.

"That guy is dealing with people who have cancer every day and still has the addiction," Lee said. "I've talked to editors at newspapers who tell me this isn't a local story, but cancer is local. It's everywhere."

Before arriving in Montana, Lee stopped in Sandpoint, Idaho, and Twisp, Wash. In Twisp, he met the owner of an organic bed-and-breakfast who was diagnosed with breast cancer. She shared her concern that a cancer cluster might be forming in Twisp because she knew so many people who had the disease. Lee said he'd heard the same comment back in his hometown.

A week ago, Lee said out of the blue, he felt motivated to blow a kiss to a friend named Terri in Illinois who was struggling against ovarian cancer for nine years. He found out that night, she died about the same time he tossed a kiss into the clouds.

"One of every two men and one out of every three women will have cancer," Lee said. "We lose the equivalent amount of people every two days from cancer that we lost in 9/11. Why can't we wage a war on cancer like we waged a war on the terrorists?"

Lee attributes his own cancer survival to early detection. His uses his Web site www.3reasons.org to promote cancer screenings and to share the stories and photos he's collecting along his journey. Lee said he rides for three reasons — to inspire understanding, activate fundraising and jump-start cures.

On his last ride along the southern states, Lee met Rich and Lisa Crane. The two men started an e-mail friendship. Rich sent words of encouragement to Lee everyday as his own body deteriorated from ALS.

Lee spoke at his friend's funeral, and last Christmas as a gift from Lisa, received some of Rich's ashes enclosed in a silver-heart necklace.

"Rich and I talked today," Lee said. "He's dead, yes, but he's up here in my head. When it's hot, I unzip my shirt, and he gets to swing and see the pretty country."

As Lee prepared to leave Whitefish last Saturday, heading to East Glacier, he received an e-mail notifying him a friend and neighbor, Janice Clarke, had just died from melanoma cancer, another reminder of the purpose of his ride.

"When I look at how many crosses I went by today, I would venture to say half of those crosses are because of substance abuse," said Lee. "Why? When I watch people fighting for their lives and I see other people messing up their lives, it's nuts. Right now, if I end up being road kill, I'm doing it for the right reasons, and I feel good about it."