The ride of a lifetime
By Staff
Jonathan Willis
Hewitt Johnston will spend this weekend celebrating his 70th birthday with family and friends.
By Monday morning he will have put all the parties aside and embarked on a 444-mile bicycle ride.
Johnston, a cycling enthusiast, will be joined by his pastor at Spruce Pine Baptist Church, Jim Poss, and his grandson from Kentucky, Tony Dell-Orfano, as they travel the Natchez Trace on bikes.
"We will drive up to Nashville (Tenn.) on June 2 and leave from there," Johnston said. "We plan on being in Natchez, Miss., by mid-afternoon on June 6."
The group plans to average about 90 miles a day during the trip, although the days will vary a little in length.
To get ready for the trip, the men began riding together each day several weeks ago.
"We challenged ourselves by riding some good hills to build our strength and endurance," said Johnston, who began cycling on a regular basis about 35 years ago.
He has been riding the same bike since 1986.
"It is a great way to keep healthy," he said.
Poss, however, just got back on a bike about six weeks ago.
"I hadn't rode in a bike in years until we started training for this," he said.
In fact, he borrowed a bike from Alan Beasley, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Russellville.
"That was the Lord answering a prayer," Poss said.
All of the hard work and training has not been just for a long bike ride, however.
Spruce Pine Baptist Church members and friends of Johnston's will pledge a donation per each mile of the ride. The money will be used to complete areas of the church's new sanctuary.
They hope to raise about $10,000.
Johnston made the ride alone three years ago and raised more than $2,500 for the church.
"Everyone has been great about supporting it," Johnston said. "We won't know how much we raised for a couple of weeks."
Church members will make pledges Sunday.
The church began working on a new sanctuary last year after experiencing quite a growth in the five years since Poss became pastor. They hope the money raised from the bike ride will allow them to complete the project.
But until they return, all they can do is prepare for the ride.
"At my age you don't get ready," Johnston said.
"You either stay ready or you hang it up.
