Pedaling across the U.S.A.
Foreign firefighter gets help from local brethren
WOONSOCKET – Like a lot of people his age, Jorg Richter of Germany reached a watershed moment when events in his life about four years ago prompted him to consider doing something great.
Unlike most others, however, the now 58-year-old former firefighter in Cologne, Germany, and a more recent physical education therapist for the disabled went a bit overboard in his response – bicycling across America to raise money and awareness for the Care-for-Rare Foundation for children with rare diseases.
His current campaign, the fourth fundraising endeavor for the Care-for-Rare Foundation, brought him to Woonsocket on Thursday for a stay at Station 2, fire department headquarters, and a meal with the station’s on-duty firefighters.
He also spent the night in a station bunk before heading out for the last part of his trip Friday morning.
It was the death of three of his good friends in the course of a year that got Richter moving, and the experience of seeing the son of another friend battling a rare disease that gave him his purpose.
“That was the motivation for me to say I am going to complete my old dream of bicycling across the United States, combined with helping a good cause,” Richter said.
The result was his first journey across the United States by bicycle three years ago on behalf of the Care-forRare Foundation.
The trip, from Seattle, Washington to New York City, totaled 4,500 miles while he completed his goal of stopping in at hospitals providing care to children.
He made a second tour the following year, a shorter trip from San Francisco to Las Vegas, and last year he traveled from Munich, Germany, to Madrid, Spain, during a European tour.
Then this past April, Richter was back in the U.S. and set out from the west coast in San Francisco on a “crazy” route with turns and detours to allow him stops at 13 children’s hospitals across the country, the final one, Morgan’s Children’s Hospital in New York, where the trip will soon end.
When he does cross the finish line, Richter will have traveled a total of about 7,200 miles by bike through parts of the U.S. and Canada to carry out his mission.
Throughout the journey, he has been helped by firefighters at the local departments he passed, and often stayed with as he stopped for the night, fit and toned from his physical exertion but also tired.
“I stayed mostly with firefighters, or camped, or stayed with friends,” Richter said while explaining his bicycle was set up for touring with cargo compartments for his camping gear, clothing and supplies.
The route he chose was a challenging one with stops in Palo Alto, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Denver, Minneapolis, Iowa City, Kansas City, Toronto, Rochester, and Boston, but also a rewarding one, too.
Richter dodged two tornadoes along the way, one in Julesberg, Colorado, and the other in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with the help of local firefighters, and also sandstorms in Death Valley and wildfires in Colorado.
“That was just part of the experience,” he said while noting none of those events stopped his trip.
The best experiences were the scenery he encountered cross the United States and in particular the vistas of the west.
“It was gorgeous, the landscapes, and there was the support of the fire departments all along the way,” he said.
Richter remembers looking out at the Rocky Mountains on the horizon and crossing over the Continental Divide at Loveland Pass at 12,000 feet altitude.
Then there were all the national parks along the way, Bryce Canyon, Zion, and Death Valley.
“In all I visited 21 states, that is more than a lot of Americans see in a lifetime,” he said.
After arriving in Boston this week, Richter visited the patients and staff at Boston’s Children’s Hospital and talked with them about the Carefor-Rare Foundation’s goal of raising awareness about the need to do research on the rare disorders that may not bring in as much revenue as treatments for more common disorders.
“The more people that know about it, the greater the chance the pharmaceutical industry will invest more in research and care for such illnesses,” he said.
While there are many rare disorders that need more study, Richter said some are being more common with time as more children and their parents are exposed to environmental stresses that may trigger them.
As he made his way into Rhode Island from Bellingham, Richter said he stopped in at the Bellingham Fire Department’s headquarters and had coffee with department members there. After telling them that he was heading to Woonsocket for supper and to stay the night, the Bellingham crew told him he would likely enjoy his stay.
“They said you are in for the best meal because they have the best chefs,” Richter said.
It turns out the Bellingham firefighters were right, as Richter sat down to a hearty meal of meatloaf, Brussels sprouts, and rice pilaf.
Capt. David Cote said the bicyclist also got a hot shower, some comfortable station clothes and a bunk for the night as a result of his visit.
“I think it is an awesome thing that he is doing for the Foundation,” Cote said. “It is amazing that someone can ride a bicycle from one side of the country to another and raise money along the way for the kids,” Cote added.
Richter said he was heading off to Griswold, Conn., on Friday where he would meet some friends before riding over to the Children’s Hospital in Hartford. From there, it would be the final leg to New York City and then he would finish the tour.
“It really is the dream of a lifetime,” he said of his fundraising and awareness trip. “It is the perfect combination of passion and charity,” he said. Best of all, he also received the support from fellow firefighters, who he called the best people of all.
For more information on the Care-for-Rare Foundation visit, www.care-for-rare.org/en. To follow Jorg Richter on his tour visit www.facebook.com/CareforRareFoundation.