City of Tonawanda resident Andrew Carter has quite a few reasons to jump on his bike and join the Ride for Roswell on June 25.
You see, of his six siblings, two brothers battled skin cancer while two sisters have survived skin cancer. A cousin, Tim, died a year ago of the disease, while a close friend, Ken, lost his fight with lung cancer in 2007. Another friend, Greg, died at the age of 32 from melanoma, an aggressive skin cancer.
“I have a lot of motivation to do this kind of work,” Carter said.
Other than riding a bicycle as a kid, Carter said he never spent much time on two wheels before last year. A longtime listener of WEDG The Edge, he first got the idea to join the Ride for Roswell after listening to Rich Gaenzler (aka, the Morning Bull) promote the station’s 2010 team.
Tom Ragan (of Shredd and Ragan fame) and Tom Kurdziel, also of the Edge, also take part in the ride along with a few other friends and listeners.
“When I saw Bull’s page last year for joining the team for Ride for Roswell it was really more of an instinct to join than actually thinking about it,” Carter said.
Ragan said the Edge has participated in the event for three years now and each person on the team was compelled to join for different reasons.
“I think we’ve all had cancer in our lives, either personally or through a sick relative or friend. For me it was a beloved grandmother who died a few years ago from the disease,” Ragan said.
For his first Ride for Roswell, Carter was able to raise $1,600 after an anonymous donation of $1,000 in honor of his cousin Tim. By hitting that $1,000 mark, Carter was automatically allowed to ride Peloton, meaning he was part of the select group of 200 riders who kicked off the event, police escort and all. He’s hoping to do the same again this year.
“I have nothing but respect for Andy. He’s had a tough couple of breaks and he just makes the best of it. He’s driven. Give him a goal and he goes for it: rehabbing an injury, Peloton in his first year, our own contests on the show like The Barbaric Cup,” Ragan said.
“Andy doesn’t give up. Which, I guess, is in the spirit of the ride. So can he do (peloton) in the second year? If it’s Andy, I’d put money on it.”
It hasn’t been all that easy though, Carter admits. Since he hadn’t been on a bicycle in years, he had to do a fair amount of training leading up to his first Ride for Roswell. He spent time cycling around Delaware Park in Buffalo, but said his biggest hurdle was trying to keep pace.
As a peloton rider, he has to keep up with the group speed, which is set at 8 mph. Before he was allowed to be a part of that select group, he had to pass a test to prove his ability.
“I thought I was going to die ... I had old people passing me,” Carter laughed. “I didn’t have the right kind of bike. It was embarrassing because I hit the rails and fell and scraped my arm. But I made it through.”
Carter says participating in events like Ride for Roswell gives him a sense of purpose since he was forced into early retirement after a work injury. With the extra time on his hands, he says he plans to ride for years to come and perhaps take part in similar events like the Hospice Buffalo Memorial Walk that takes place today.
“We have had other listener riders, all great, but none as diligent as Andy,” Gaenzler said.
To support Carter and the Edge team in the Ride for Roswell, visit http://giving.roswellpark.org/kingzombie.
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Andrew Carter is preparing for the Ride for Roswell.
Ride for Roswell has special meaning for City man
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