Charity bicyclists will ride through Peekskill Thursday

Twenty-five years after their original trip, a group of bicyclists raising money for charity will pass through Peekskill this Thursday as they finish their original journey.

In 1986, four men decided to bicycle 8,100 miles around the perimeter of the United States in 100 days to raise money for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

They left Buffalo, New York in May of 1986 to help improve the lives of children in their impoverished neighborhood by using the trip to raise money for a worthy cause.

Former Babcock Boys and Girls Club Director and bicyclist Robert Kurtz left the original Bike Trip early in Los Angeles to support his wife and newborn daughter.

However, bicyclists Dr. Dave Cywinski and Tony Glosek were critically injured when hit by a truck on a long stretch of a hot Texas Highway. Only Dr. Dan Alexander finished the original Bike Trip in 1986.

This summer marks the 25th anniversary of original Bike Trip in 1986. Robert Kurtz passed away recently. The three surviving cyclists, all lifelong friends who work together at their private medical practice, the Finger Lakes Bone and Joint Center, have decided to give it one more shot.

Together they will "finish what they started" and complete the remaining 2,504-mile trip this summer. The cyclists will arrive in Peekskill at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday August 18 and will depart the morning of Friday August 19

This adventure began at the same hospital outside San Antonio where they were treated, and end in Buffalo, New York. All money raised for this capital campaign will build a brand new Seneca Babcock Community Center in their old neighborhood, and support the Boys and Girls Clubs of America  (Geneva branch).

The "Bike Trip for Kids" will go through 23 cities throughout the Southern, Southeastern, and Northeastern United States.

Finger Lakes Bone and Joint Center donated $250,000 to kick start fundraising efforts, and a number of prominent business and political leaders from Western New York have joined the effort to build a new Seneca Babcock Community Center and to support the Boys and Girls Clubs of America (Geneva branch).

You can follow their trip at www.biketripforkids.com