Doctors' long bike ride a benefit for kids

CLEMSON - A group of bicyclists pedaled down U.S. 123 over the Seneca River on Wednesday to finish something they started 25 years ago.

They crossed the busy highway with a smooth turn and barely had to catch their breath once they stopped.

The four men steered through traffic and 100 percent humidity, but they never considered parking their bikes and flying home to upstate New York. That would be taking the easy way out.

During their trip they will cover more miles than bicyclists competing in the Tour de France.

In 1986, Dan Alexander, Dave Cywinski and Tony Glosek set out for an 8,141-mile cross-country trip across the U.S., but a truck hit Cywinski and Glosek in Seguin, Texas, and Alexander finished the trip alone.

This time around, they will pass through 23 cities in 25 days, biking 2,504 miles until they reach Buffalo, N.Y., on Aug. 22.

The men are biking to give back to a piece of their youth, the Babcock Street Boys & Girls Club in Buffalo, N.Y. The Seneca Babcock Community Center hosts the club, and its future building has a price tag of $2.5 million. Businesses and other sponsors have yielded $400,000.

They call their venture simply the Bike Trip for Kids.

They started their new journey at the Guadalupe Regional Medical Center in Seguin, where Cywinski and Glosek were treated for their severe injuries following the collision. Alexander's son, Joshua, joined in part of the ride.

Glosek urged the group to start over.

"One of the guys said, ‘You know it's 25 years later,' " Cywinski said. "Why don't we finish the trip?' We had families and none of us wanted to go on a 2,000-mile joyride, so we said we'll do it if we can raise money for a charity."

The friends grew up at the club and met while taking classes in woodworking and photography.

"There weren't a lot of positive role models in our lives, and the Boys and Girls Club gave us the motivation to succeed, character building integrity and perseverance," Alexander said.

On Wednesday morning, the group passed through Seneca and Clemson, on the way to Charlotte to lodge for the night. They average about 110 miles a day and will have pedaled 2,500 miles when they end Aug. 22 at the Buffalo City Hall.

Their most poignant memories came through their nostrils by way of fresh-cut grass, road kill and hay.

"We like farm smells," Alexander said, even manure.

Now in their 40s, the friends work together at Alexander's medical practice in Geneva and Newark, N.Y., where Cywinski is an orthopedist and Alexander is a surgeon. Glosek is in charge of billing. They all live in Canandaigua, N.Y.

On Monday they performed 17 surgeries from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., a tough day off from biking, but at least they were in air conditioning.

It's the heat that's getting to them.

After going through Montgomery, Ala., and Houston, Texas, where temperatures reached 115 degrees with 100 percent humidity, they welcomed the 89 -degree morning in Clemson.

"This is actually a little bit of a reprieve for us," Alexander said.

They drink many as six gallons of water a day and stop where they please for meals, including McDonald's.

Because they were burning thousands of calories in a matter of hours, they assumed they could eat anything.

They were wrong.

"It's funny because you'd think you'd lose weight, but we've actually gained with all the food we've taken in," Glosek said.

Though Cywinski and Alexander started biking again a few years ago, Glosek took his time and began six months ago.

He said he was scared considering the severe injuries he experienced 25 years ago.

It was his idea to complete the route with his friends, now in their 40s, but he said he was "terrified" of riding by himself.

"I'm at peace being back here," he said. "You need a sandblaster to get the grin off my face."