Published: July 02, 2009 09:37 am      

Bicyclist turns trip into benefit

A Goshen resident looking for a cheaper way to vacation is using his time off to help area children.

Jerry Pollock, a former employee of Keystone RV, who is currently unemployed, was considering taking a long-distance bicycle trip when he started researching online.

“I don’t know what got into my head. I just thought I’m going to start from here. I got on the Google map and thought Sandusky (Ohio) might be a good place for the Fourth of July,” Pollock said.

Eventually, he decided to go north from there along the Lake Erie and Lake Huron shorelines to the Mackinac Bridge, then south along Lake Michigan to New Buffalo, where he will turn east to complete his 1,300-mile “Great Adventure.” His original plan was to “just go,” before he came up with the idea to turn the trip into more than just a vacation.

Since then, Pollock and his oldest son put together a Web site, grandpascharity.com, where he will post pictures and blogs about the trip, and where people can donate money that will be distributed to the Riley Children’s Foundation, the DMC Children’s Hospital of Michigan and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

According to his Web site, part of his inspiration was his own experience after he and his wife were divorced in 1990.

“My whole idea of what fatherhood meant changed,” he said. “It went from solely putting food on our table to suddenly include bathing them and cooking for them. I went from having to keep a roof over our heads to also having to read bedtime stories to them, to making sure their homework was done, to even braiding my daughter’s hair.”

Pollock left on his bicycle this morning. His goal is to average at least 50 miles each day, but he hopes to reach 75 miles per day or more. He expects the trip to take about 30 days. Despite the charitable nature of the journey, he plans to stop a few times for a couple of days at different locations along the way, and he also plans to camp. He said the purpose for the journey, however, will keep him from staying in any one place for too long.

“Since I’m doing it for charity now, it’s probably going to put more drive in me to keep going,” Pollock said. “I’ll have to huff it and at the same time try to enjoy it. I want to be back in five weeks, maximum.”

Pollock has been looking forward to the trip, but is prepared for a long, hard slog.

“I’ve never gone on a long trip like this. The longest I’ve ever probably rode was 50 miles in a day, and that was just around here,” he said. “I figured I’m doing pretty good if I can get around the Great Lakes area.”