Andy Ritchie, a 62-year-old city administrator for Litchfield, Ill., will begin his 2,300-mile cycling quest on Route 66 in early May to raise funds for a history and Route 66 museum in Litchfield, reported The Journal-News in nearby Hillsboro.
The newspaper reported:
Ritchie will be accompanied by his wife, Pam, who will fly to California to meet him as he arrives with their van loaded with 30 days of supplies, his recumbent bicycle, and a cache of spare parts. He plans to leave Litchfield on May 2, and arrive in Santa Monica on May 4. He hopes to have one day, Saturday, to relax and prepare for the upcoming marathon event.
Mark Stieren of Litchfield is also flying to California and will accompany Ritchie for the first 13 days of the trip. The duo hopes to make it as far as Albuquerque, NM, (about 904 miles) before Ritchie is left to go the remainder of the trip on his own (although he hopes to have other riders accompany him along the way.) […]
“I get up by 5 a.m. each morning,” Ritchie said. “I usually spend one and one-half to two hours on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday spinning on my bicycle in the basement. An additional day is spent doing push-ups and pull-ups for an hour, while another day focuses on strengthening hands, arms, and shoulders. I also run four miles per day when possible and do additional spinning on weekends.
Ritchie hopes to reach Litchfield by June 3, then finish his journey at Route 66’s eastern end in Chicago after a three-day layover.
He aims to use his journey as a partial fundraiser for the Litchfield Museum and Route 66 Welcome Center, which has a site directly across the street from the historic Ariston Cafe. About $500,000 is needed.
The museum’s association will gain federal nonprofit status shortly, said one of its volunteers.
The newspaper said the progress of Ritchie’s quest will be kept at Litchfieldmuseum.org, but the website was not operating as of Monday evening.