ANNAPOLIS, Md. — 15 members of the U.S. Naval Academy's Class of 1975 crossed the finish line at their alma mater Wednesday, completing a grueling 1,200-mile charity bike ride that took them 22 days to complete.
The Gulf to Goats charity bike ride began October 1 in Apalachicola, Florida, and ended at the Naval Academy campus in Annapolis just in time for the class's 50th reunion celebration.
"Pretty emotional, I didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into. My buddies and I had this dream a couple years ago and we said 'hey why don't we start from the gulf and call it Gulf to Goat? It sounds good,'" Michael Meier said.
Naval Academy Class of 1975 completes 1,200-mile charity bike ride from the Gulf to Annapolis
The 15 men, all around 72 years old, traveled roughly 40 to 70 miles each day while braving challenging weather conditions, including a nor'easter as they traveled through the Carolinas.
"We pedaled through the rain, the only threat that we were going to be afraid of was lightning or really really heavy winds that would blow us off the road. It got up to probably 35 miles per hour and hit us right in the face so it was tough," Meier said.
While the physical challenge was significant for the septuagenarian cyclists, the ride served a greater purpose: raising money for five charities including the Emily Whitehead Foundation and the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation. The group raised more than $160,000 total.
"I had no clue how much we were going to get and in the last month, it has quadrupled almost. Its really exciting that we can help them out and every one is tied to a classmate of ours so its really great," Daniel Murphy said.
Murphy said he's proud the men were able to complete the bike ride and represent their class just in time for their 50th reunion.
"That's what we wanted to do in this thing and show it can be done a bunch of 72-year-old men can do this. So like I said, it's hard to explain but its really a great feeling," Murphy said.
Now that the ride is complete, the Class of 1975 will continue celebrating their reunion the rest of the week with various activities.
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