Cindy Norris rides into the Guinness record book
Cindy Norris was all smiles as she rode into Cape Henlopen State Park Oct. 28 to end her 3,328-mile cross-country Cycle for the Kids trek to raise awareness and funds for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.
Greeted by family members from Florida and volunteers, she completed a ride that started July 8 in Anacortes, Wash., when she dipped her tire into the Pacific Ocean. As she dipped her tire into a wind-driven Atlantic Ocean at the finish, she said, “Now it’s time to celebrate.”
At 67 years old, she is now a Guinness world record holder as the oldest female cyclist to complete a cross-country journey.
Her support person was her husband, Rick, who drove behind her the entire trip across the northern United States, including the states of Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Norris said she tried to average 40 to 60 miles per day. The couple stayed in motels each night.
Norris, who lives in Reno, Nev., said she was inspired to make the ride when she witnessed the tribulations that families, and particularly children, face when a loved one is killed in military action. “My goal was to raise enough money to put a kid through college, and we have done that,” she said.
She said the hills of Pennsylvania nearly did her in, and she had to fight a driving rain to complete a 95-mile ride as she entered into Delaware. “I was really tired, but I knew I had to finish and dug down as deep as I could,” she said.
The foundation provides college scholarships and educational counseling to surviving children of American special operations personnel killed in the line of duty.
