Summer trip on two wheels

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July 30, 2008

<a href="mailto:kdedam@pressrepublican.com">By KIM SMITH DEDAM</a> The Press Republican Wed Jul 30, 2008, 09:16 PM EDT

LAKE PLACID — With each push of a pedal, the wheels turned — and Tom Monks celebrated his brother Jimmy’s life in every gear.

For five days and 350 miles, from sea level on Jones Beach, Long Island, to the highest mountain in the state, this trip marked adventure with remembrance.

Establishing a course he named the “Cloud Splitter Bike Ride” straight up Route 22, Monks covered about 75 miles a day, earning more than $6,500 — and still counting — for the Center for AIDS Research and Treatment on Long Island.

He wheeled into Lake Placid just after noon Wednesday.

It’s a novel way for a self-described “average guy” from Long Island to get to his summer place.

SUMMER RESIDENTS

The Monks clan — with nine children altogether — have maintained a summer residence at Sekon on Upper Saranac Lake for more than 40 years.

Remembering Jimmy set the pace.

“He was the best man at my wedding,” Monks, 44, said as his legs cooled off from the push through the Cascade pass.

“He loved the beach, and he loved the Adirondack Mountains, so I wanted to touch both. I could see him everywhere in the way the wind blows.”

It’s a good ride, too, he said, for a novice cyclist who started training about six months ago.

“Your senses become alive on this ride.”

STORMS AND SMILES

Monks, who owns and operates a title-search company in his day job, found himself on a mountain top some 225 miles north of Wantagh two days ago, with lightning striking all around.

The thunderstorm didn’t stop the wheels.

“I rode in it for a while,” he said.

At the snow pile in front of the Olympic Center, Monks was met with cheers and jubilation.

“Good job, Dad!” read his daughter Becca’s sign.

“How are you doing?” Monks asked his children.

“How does your seat feel?” asked his son Tommy, 16.

Monks’s sister Marie Wood drove the “supplies and gear” vehicle for the past day and a half, traveling ahead of her brother.

Another sister, Madeline Richez, held down the welcome party, keeping spirits high at the finish line.

The trip isn’t over yet.

Today, Monks is climbing to the 5,344-foot summit of Mount Marcy.

SILENT BATTLE

The ascent marks a journey that began in 1985 after Jimmy Monks was diagnosed with AIDS.

When Jimmy died in 1991, there were fewer treatment options, and little was known about HIV, Monks said.

The Center for AIDS Research and Treatment on the North Shore is part of the Long Island Jewish Health System and a state-designated AIDS center providing primary care to more than 800 people living with HIV.

The battle is far from over and sometimes rages in silence, Monks said.

“I think sometimes people don’t think about AIDS very much anymore. A big part of the Cloud Splitter ride is to raise awareness, so people don’t forget.”

Ginny Cudahy, administrative director at the Center on the North Shore, said Monks’s whole Cloud Splitter plan is fantastic.

“We’re going to use the money for patients who have stayed at the hospital, to get them gift certificates so they can have groceries delivered when they get home,” she said by phone Wednesday.

All proceeds are sent directly to the center.

Cudahy was thrilled that Monks made it safely to Lake Placid.

“I’m so impressed with him; he’s just a very uplifting guy.”

The ride next year could grow to include up to 50 cyclists, Monks said.

“It really wasn’t as tough as I thought it would be. The route is beautiful. It’s an amazing adventure.”

E-mail Kim Smith Dedam at:

kdedam@pressrepublican.com