Port Washington resident Jonathan Davis is preparing for an over two-month-long solo bike ride across America to raise money to fight blindness.
Davis said he hopes to raise at least $20,000 for the Foundation Fighting Blindness because the inherited retinal disease Retinitis Pigmentosa is causing his sister Davida and niece Rachel to lose their vision.
“Riding my bike across the country is something I have always wanted to do, but I wanted this ride to have a larger purpose,” Davis said.
The Foundation Fighting Blindness has raised nearly $1 billion since 1971 to find treatments and research for people affected by blinding retinal diseases.
On Friday, April 25, Davis will start his 4,200-mile journey at the Seastreak Ferry on East 35th in Manhattan and sail to New Jersey to begin biking toward Philadelphia.
From there, Davis will pedal through Pennsylvania’s Appalachian Mountains, the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains with a Foundation Fighting Blindness flag flying behind him until he reaches the Pacific Ocean at Astoria, Or.
Throughout the expected 72-day journey, Davis said he’ll gain over 135,000 feet in elevation and will face some of his steepest elevation changes while passing through Idaho, climbing around 20,000 feet in that state alone.
Davis said he wants to ride alone without anyone carrying his gear or directly supporting him. He also said he’s following the words of fellow cross-continental bike-rider Bond Almand of being “prepared to be unprepared.”
While nobody will directly support him on his ride, Davis said he will make pit stops at Foundation Fighting Blindness chapters to raise awareness for his cause. Davis also said he’d like the organization’s flag flying behind his bike to be a conversation starter as he meets with and rides past passersby.
Davis’s route will take him along sections of the Adventure Cycling Association’s TransAmerican Bicycle Trail, which has provided a stable cross-country trail for countless bikers since its establishment in 1976.
In the weeks leading up to his launch, Davis said he will continue riding across Long Island and raising money for the Foundation Fighting Blindness, for which he’s already contributed $7,000.
To read more about Davis’s journey, track his location along his route, and read his blog posts, visit his website www.jdridesforvision.com. People can also donate to Davis’s fund-raiser at the website give.fightingblindness.org/fundraiser/5985637.
