New York

New Yorkers Return Home After Biking Over 3,000 Miles for Charity

Two friends, two bikes, one month and 3,484 miles.

Doug Forsyth and Doug Sawyer, both New York residents, started their journey on July 9 in Portland, Oregon, and arrived in New York’s Battery Park on August 10 after cycling for nearly 241 hours during the month-long ride for charity.

Sawyer’s goal was to raise $5,000 and awareness for traumatic brain injuries and the Brain Injury Association of New York.

His passion for this charity stems from his work as an athletic trainer, where he evaluates and helps many athletes that have suffered from concussions. You can find Sawyer's Crowdrise page here

Sawyer crashed a few times along they way and said in a video on his Facebook page, 'Always ride with a helmet. It is probably the only reason I am sitting here in a hotel room tonight, instead of the hospital' after a particularly scary wreck. 

The charity that Forsyth raised money for is Claire's Place Foundation, an organization that helps families who have children with cystic fibrosis. Forsyth said his inspiration for this cross-country trek is Connor Fink, a first grader living with the disease. You can find out more about Forsyth's cause at his GoFundMe page. 

The friends' plan was to camp along the way, but on occasion they were met with kind, generous strangers that gave them food and sometimes even a place to stay for the night.

Sawyer posted on his Facebook page a story about a woman and her grandson bringing Forsyth and him fruit from her trees when they were accidentally trespassing on her land.

There were many stories of kind strangers like this on both of their Facebook pages, which definitely helped them along their trip.

Both Sawyer and Forsyth left their families at home during their charitable trek.

Their wives, Jessica and Krystal, respectively, are proud of their husbands and ultimately happy that they made the cross-country journey safely and without serious injury. 

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