“The idea for this ride arose while hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2021. My wife was section-hiking the whole thing and I join occasionally for a week or so (I am not a long-distance hiker - much prefer riding!). One night at a shelter we got to talking with “Potato Chip” (her trail name); she was maybe mid-60 years old. We asked why she was hiking this entire trail. “Potato Chip” said she was raising money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to honor her husband, who had died of the disease a few years prior. Wow, that was pretty cool.
My friend, Doug, has ALS.
Later at home I started thinking about riding the Ohio-to-Erie trail across Ohio - what the heck, could it be an ALS fundraiser? Maybe we’d go all the way from Oxford, OH, (where Doug and I both attended college) to Boxford, MA (where Doug resides).”
— From Ride for Hope Blog Anthology