Silverdale father and twins return safely from 3,965-mile journey.
The summer of 2009 will forever be in the minds of retired Navy Cmdr. David Mackovjak and his 17-year-old twin sons John and James.
After all, it’s not every summer you hop on your bicycle and ride across the United States.
The Mackovjaks’ cross-country experience had an important two-pronged mission: to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project and the Boys and Girls Club of South Puget Sound as they cycled from Silverdale to Virginia Beach, Va.
Departing Silverdale on June 28, the team averaged 100 miles a day, on a trip that had been in the planning mode for a couple of years. The team completed their 3,965-mile, 11-state journey, 43 days later on Aug. 9.
At just after 6 p.m., they rolled up Virginia Beach’s Atlantic Avenue in the midst of a heat advisory, en route to the boardwalk and the Atlantic Ocean where they ceremonially dipped their bikes’ front wheels in the water after initially doing the same with their rear wheels in Puget Sound prior to leaving.
They were greeted by well wishers, tourists, relatives, media and a couple dozen children with huge welcome signs from NAS Oceana’s Boys and Girls Club and director Kathy Mead who had been in touch earlier on the phone with David Mackovjak.
“It just sounded like too much fun for the kids. It was very exciting to know they were going to come all the way over here,” Mead said about the cycling team.
When asked about whether he or his sons ever reached a point on the long expanse of American highways that maybe they had taken on too much of a challenge, David Mackovjak quickly recalled that moment and they were still in Washington.
“When we came out of Lake Chelan, there was a 5-mile, 12 percent grade we had to contend with. By the time we got to the top of that, we said, ‘Holy smokes, what did we sign up for?’ Then, it ended up being the steepest grade that we did the entire trip and we used that as a reference point that nothing could be worse than that and honestly that was true,” he said.
Cycling 100 miles a day was the goal for the team, although Mother Nature threw a curveball at them occasionally.
“There was one really, really windy day in Kansas when we were going into Hutchinson and that ended up being a 12-hour day of biking into the wind. That was a tough day, but the kids didn’t once complain or say ‘we want to stop.’ They did a super job and I am really proud of them,” he said.
Along their route, they stopped at Fairchild and Peterson Air Force Bases, Fort Knox in Kentucky and NAS Oceana in Virginia in support of the Wounded Warrior Project and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America where they received enthusiastic welcomes.
While at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, Mackovjak said he and his sons ended up putting on a three-hour bicycle fix-it seminar.
“And while we were giving our presentation, a young boy came up and said he had a flat tire and we said ‘bring it over, we will take care of it’ and after that the flood gates were opened for repairs. But we have a lot of folks that are deployed and so broken bikes were sitting in garages, so we were fixing chains and tires and so I thought the kids really enjoyed that and it was a great positive reinforcement and doing something good for those kids,” Mackovjak said.
The Riding4Hope cycling team started training back in January and set a goal of $10,000 to support both organizations. As of Monday, during a welcome home gathering at Silver City Restaurant and Brewery, they had met their goal and more.
“Our many thanks to family, friends, sponsors, donors and the great folks across America who made this charity bike ride a complete success for meeting our goal and raising monies and awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Thank you all for your support and generosity,” Mackovjak said.
