Sisters Joanne Mason and Diana LeRoux said it would take more than a little rain to stop them from participating in the Trek Across Maine this weekend.
Le Roux said Saturday after finishing the second leg of the 180 mile tour that she was participating in the trek for the first time in honor of a friend who died of lung cancer. The three-day bike ride raises money for the American Lung Association, and she felt motivated to come to Maine from Michigan so she could be part of the cause.
Mason, of Hanover, said it was her ninth year participating and she is a little faster than her sister, but she waited for LeRoux so they could ride across the second-leg finish with each other.
“We wanted to cross together,” she said.
The sisters were among 3,000 cyclists, volunteers and staff who came together for the 30th annual cross-Maine fundraiser that has raked in millions of donations for fighting lung disease and promote cleaner air.
While Friday and Saturday’s weather wasn’t good, Sunday is expected to be sunny and in the 70s for the final leg. This year’s event has had no reported accidents. Organizers redrew the route so bikers spent less time on busy U.S. Route 2 and more on back roads after a rider was killed in the first leg last year on Route 2 in Farmington when he swerved in the wake of a tractor-trailer.
Volunteers and bikers who had already finished the second leg Saturday gathered around the finish line to cheer on the finishing cyclists, while festive music played in the background.
The weekend long tour runs from Sunday River in Newry to University of Maine at Farmington on Friday, to Colby College on Saturday and to Belfast on Sunday.
Kaitlin Schroeder — 861-9252
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