Hap Eaton and his wife, Diane, are riding a yellow tandem bike 10,000 miles from their home in Centerville, Ohio, to the West Coast, through Tucson and back again.
Their mission: enjoy the sights, visit family and friends and spread the word about Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, a genetic condition that can cause significant lung and liver damage. According to the American Lung Association, 100,000 Americans were born with the condition.
Diane's brother in law, Dugan Reed, was diagnosed with Alpha-1 20 years ago and has 29 percent lung function remaining. The 49-year-old needs a lung transplant.
Hap, 61, and Diane, 51, have visited Alpha-1 Foundation support groups and patients and shared information about the disease during the trip, which began May 6. Their stops have included Indianapolis, Minneapolis to Glacier National Park, Mount Rushmore and San Diego. They arrived in Tucson on Wednesday evening after riding 5,700 miles.
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They will conclude their trip by May 9.
Q: How did you come up with this idea?
Diane: We were at a support group meeting right before we started this trip and I asked if there was anything I could do during this trip to help spread the word, and so what we came up with this.
It's a not very well known disease because it's not diagnosed (often). People have symptoms like (those for) asthma, chronic colds and have chronic lung infections, they go to their doctor, and unless the doctor knows to do a blood test for Alpha-1, they don't get diagnosed right.
Q: What was your previous longest trip?
Diane: Five weeks in New Zealand, 1,800 miles.
Q: What are some things you will remember about this trip?
Diane: We had one patient that came out and rode with us, and she's on oxygen in Malibu. That was really interesting to see. She's around 40.
Hap: The thing we enjoy the most is meeting different people. If you get off a bicycle wearing funny looking clothes (biking jerseys) and you've got this gigantic bike and you walk into a grocery store, restaurant, whatever, people just don't seem to be afraid to talk to you.
Q: How often do you stop?
Diane: We stop every night. We try to ride about 50 miles a day, which isn't a great distance. It's easy to do. When you're doing this for a year you don't want to burn out. We take Sundays off. We find a place to go to church. We bring a (laptop), so when we're going into town, we can Google the town.
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