‘It's not about the bike’

By Candy Doyle

Aaron Coenen's not sure what to do when he graduates from college in December: He may get a master's in architecture, teach high school math or go to med school.

"It's still slightly up in the air," said the 22-year-old civil engineering major from the Appleton area.

But the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee senior does know how he'll spend his summer vacation: He'll be biking from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Key West, Fla.

"A lot of things will be determined on this bike ride," Coenen said. "It's three months of doing nothing but thinking and pedaling."

With good cause. Coenen is organizing this 6,302-mile, cross-country trek to raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, created in 1997 by the six-time, Trek-riding, Tour de France champion and cancer survivor.

Coenen's goal is ambitious, too — $100,000.

"Obviously, I like to set goals a little high," he said.

High indeed. So far, Coenen's the only one registered to ride.

"It's an individual effort," he said. "The ball is very, very slowly rolling up to this point."

Yet he's optimistic.

"I just hope that, if I donate three months of my time, there are others out there who will make a contribution, and, together, we can make a difference," Coenen said.

"On June 1, I hope to be on the bike."

The ride ends the first week of September "if all goes well," he said, and Coenen and — we hope — an entourage will bike through Milwaukee Aug. 14. It's a ride he's been planning for several years but only recently chose a cause to benefit from his efforts.

"There's an additional motivation," he said. "There's a little bit of cancer in my family."

Since deciding to organize the benefit, Coenen said he's been riding two to three hours a day indoors to train.

"I hope it gets nice out, because it goes a lot faster," he said.

But whether inside or outside, you won't find Coenen on a Trek.

"I ride a LeMond — it's manufactured by Trek," said Coenen, noting the irony of riding a Greg LeMond-inspired bike for an Armstrong benefit.

Coenen's been contacting schools along the route, hoping they will be willing to set up tents for riders; he's also actively soliciting funds for riders' expenses. He figures his expense alone, with a vehicle following along just in case, will be $3,000.

And, of course, he's soliciting donations to the Lance Armstrong Foundation using an account at www.xanga.com/Coenen that he's created for the ride.

Because as Armstrong says, "It's not about the bike."

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