Cyclist Arrives In D.C.
Wednesday September 1, 2010
Cyclist Frank Cavaluzzi has arrived in Washington, D.C.
The 42-year-old “standing cyclist” and promoter of special causes arrived in the Georgetown section of the nation’s capital on schedule late Tuesday morning.
It capped a trip of more than 300 miles that began a week ago today at the Marina at McKees Point in McKeesport. The aim was to raise awareness of the rare lung cancer mesothelioma.
Cavaluzzi suffered from an allergic asthma that forced him off bicycles for a time.
“I started riding standing up to open my diaphragm up,” Cavaluzzi said as he started his trek after breakfast Aug. 25 at McKees Cafe. “I started doing it for health. I use this to draw attention for special causes.”
He utilized a bicycle without a seat or gears, forcing him to continually stand and pedal.
“My body is adapted to it,” said Cavaluzzi, a project leader and trainer when he isn’t on the road. “I can’t coast. When it moves, I move. So it’s a little bit like running.”
His trip covered the Great Allegheny Passage in Pennsylvania and the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Towpath trail in Maryland and the District of Columbia.