Biking Bowmans Will Travel ‘From Tennessee to Texas’
By Martha Slater

RHS freshman Montana Bowman and his mom, Ginny, are biking from Tennessee to Texas to raise funds for diabetes research. (Provided)

Rochester residents Ginny Scott Bowman and her son, Montana, will head out April 11 on another bike trip to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

Following up on the success of their 3,000 mile, coast-to-coast bike trip in summer 2006 for the same cause, the two will display "From Tennessee to Texas" signs on their bikes this time. They plan to travel the roughly 800 miles in about 13 days, and will pack a tent and cookstove on their bikes to camp out along the way.

"Our coast-to-coast trip was such an incredible experience that Montana suggested we do another trip," Ginny explained. "When people saw our signs, that was such a great ice-breaker. People would stop and tell us stories about relatives, or sometimes themselves, with diabetes, and often gave us donations. Diabetes is becoming an epidemic and there were all kinds of reasons why people connected with us."

Following that trip, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation invited mother and son to a thank you reception in Boston.

"It was so nice to meet other people who had organized their own events to raise funds," recalled Ginny, who was diagnosed with diabetes 39 years ago, when she was just 12. Her sister is also a diabetic.

Asked if she was concerned about the weather they might encounter this time, Ginny said, "Tornadoes and hail can happen at this time of year, but we’re just hoping for the best." She added that, "Things we learned from our coast-to-coast trip will help us this time. For example, we’re taking two-way radios with a 16-mile range (as opposed to the two-mile range we had before), and we’ll also each have a ‘Tracfone’ in case we get separated."

Montana, who is a freshman at Rochester High School, will take a second week off, in addition to his spring vacation week from school, to go on the trip with his mom.

"I think it will be a very educational experience," Ginny said. "We’re going through prime Civil War and Underground Railroad historic sites." The two said they were both curious about the area and looking forward to meeting new and interesting people along the way.

The Bowmans will fly to Nashville, Tenn. this Friday, and stay with an old friend of Ginny and her husband, Eric. They will pick up their bikes, which were shipped ahead to a shop nearby, and begin their ride the morning of April 13.

Heading northwest into Kentucky, they’ll go over the Mississippi River into Missouri, crossing that state parallel to its southern border, and making a stop in Marshfield, Mo. to visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum. From there, they’ll head south into Arkansas, cutting across the northwestern part of that state and into Oklahoma, then south to Arlington, Texas, where they plan to stay with a former co-worker of Ginny’s. Doing about 50-60 miles per day, they hope to get to Arlington by April 25.

Anyone who would like to make a donation to the Bowman’s fundraising effort, should send a check made out to the "JDRF" to Ginny Scott Bowman, P.O. Box 179, Rochester, Vt. 05767.

____________