Four years ago, Cindy Fuhs spent two and a half months bicycling from Key West, Florida, to Ellsworth. Now, she is completing the final leg of that trip by pedaling to the northern border in Fort Kent.
Fuhs is based in Massachusetts, but is no stranger to northern Maine. She is a longtime veterinarian and volunteer for the Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Races in Fort Kent.
Her rides have taken her across the country, raised money for Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and even helped her through grief. Her latest ride brought her to the Aroostook County origins of the cancer center’s famed Jimmy Fund.
When Fuhs isn’t helping out animals, she is raising money by cycling in the annual Pan-Mass challenge. She has raised more than $163,000 for Dana-Farber through that race, and is not planning to stop anytime soon. Through her travels, she has gained a new perspective on the country and on people in general.
“I’ve come to the place now where my experience is that most people are incredibly generous and kind, and just open themselves up to you,” she said. “I’m pretty non-threatening, so people will see the bicycle or see me, and I make these wonderful connections with people in five minutes. That just doesn’t happen in regular life, whatever ‘regular life’ is.”
For Fuhs, the experience is life affirming and addictive.chris
Fuhs has already cycled from the eastern and western edges of the country along the southern border, from San Diego, California, to St. Augustine, Florida.
Her cross-country treks have also helped her handle her own grief. She lost her father to prostate cancer in 2020, and riding helped her process that loss.
“Those tours helped me process my grief and find some measure of healing, and very much brought the work I do fundraising for cancer research home,” she said.
The long tour also gave her a unique perspective of the country. In West Texas she traveled through an area where the railroad once supported cattle ranchers and bustling, thriving towns were built around the stations. But after legislation was made to stop railroads from transporting cattle, the ranchers started using trucks and the towns shrunk down to nearly nothing.
“I was literally riding my bicycle through ghost towns,” she said of her time in Texas.
Fuhs carries everything she needs on her bicycle, from first aid and cooking materials to food, a tent and repair tools.
She commended Maine’s options when it comes to bike routes and resources. She took the Bold Coast National Scenic Byway, the East Coast Greenway and U.S. Bicycle Route 501, which connects from Bangor to Fort Kent and Allagash.
For this latest tour, she formed her own route based on these roads as well as the gravel trails in Aroostook County used for ATVs.
She started her trip on the Monday after Independence Day to ensure safer traffic. She arrived in central Aroostook County on July 13 and then stopped in New Sweden on Tuesday. Due to severe weather alerts that afternoon and evening, she finished the trip on Wednesday.
While in New Sweden, she touched on the importance of the northern Maine town to the Jimmy Fund. The fund and Pan-Mass Challenge are the two largest combined non-institutional sources of funding for cancer research at Dana-Farber.
Launched in 1948, the fund was named after Einar Gustafson of New Sweden, who was interviewed as a child with cancer and introduced as “Jimmy” to protect his identity. He joined a radio broadcast while in the hospital, which drew more than $200,000 donations from around the country, according to Dana-Farber.
Dr. Nick Pesut, the veterinary coordinator for the Can-Am, told her about this connection, she said, which inspired her to include New Sweden in her trip.
Pesut has worked with Fuhs at the Can-Am for more than two decades. She has been a great friend and veterinary colleague, he said.
“Her fundraising efforts on behalf of Dana Farber are an inspiration, and her writings about her cycling adventures are always fascinating reading,” Pesut said. “She lives the adventure.”
In just a few weeks, Fuhs will once again ride in the Pan-Mass Challenge, slated Aug. 1 and 2. For information, visit her profile on the official Pan-Mass website at pmc.org.
