Local woman rides her 15th year at Red Cross Rock 'N Ride

Photo by Jack Reynolds

Despite the gray sky and gusty wind that arrived on Sunday morning, nearly half of the participants who showed up at Sunset Park in Harvey Cedars for the 15th annual Red Cross Rock ’N Ride Bike Tour pedaled out of the courtyard, underneath a red-and-white balloon awning, and onto the Boulevard for the 40-mile bike route at 9 a.m. Yet not everyone who registered for the tour was as antsy as the others to get out on the road and go.

Trudy Gibson, a local resident in her 80s who has been participating in the South Jersey Region’s disaster relief fundraiser all 15 years, was content to catch up with volunteers and staff who were gearing up for crafts and games and, later, lunch catered by Got to Go Grilling and a musical concert led by Generation Next.

“Afterward, I’m going to have to ride my bike a mile-and-a-half back to my house, too,” said Gibson. “I usually ride the 40-mile route, but a couple of years ago I decided to stick with the 20-mile route because I’m getting old,” she added, before strapping on her helmet and hitting the pavement. Besides, she had just ridden her seven-speed Jamis cruiser a mile-and-a-half from her home to get to the park; she needed a breather.

The family-friendly event, originally set up as a fun way to raise funds for the Red Cross and bring people out to scenic LBI, also provided participants with the option of a 10-mile course. Rest stops were set up along all paths, administering water, sports drinks and protein bars. Support and gear wagons and road marshals followed behind riders on the road, in case of an emergency.

Before Gibson hopped on her bike to begin the adventure, Laura Steinmetz, community and government relations officer of the American Red Cross South Jersey chapter, presented her with a double-layered vanilla and chocolate cake in commemoration of her 15 years of participation. Shocked by the gesture, Gibson said she did not know what she was going to do with the pastry. On second thought, she decided she would drive her car back to the park at the end of the day to pick it up and share it later with her friends at the library.

“I just always rode my bike, especially during the gas shortage, back in the ’70s,” she said. “So I just continued riding my bike. And when I heard about (this event), I said, ‘Oh, boy. I’m going to do it.’ So I’ve done it for 15 years. I wanted to ride a bike and support the Red Cross because of what they do for everybody else. They help people all over the world.”

Gibson said it usually takes her a couple hours to complete the tour, depending on whether or not she stops to talk with friends she already knows or happens to meet along the way.

“I think Trudy is such a role model, such an example to all of us,” said Steinmetz. “She’s still riding, and she’s been here all 15 years. She’s amazing.”

Of course, Gibson wasn’t the only one enjoying the many festivities at the function. Attendees had full access to CPR demonstrations, an arts and crafts table donated by A.C. Moore in Manahawkin, a face painting station, and a hardware project table maintained by volunteers from Home Depot in Manahawkin.

“Last year, I made too many things; I had to get a box to bring it all home,” said Maddy Swift, 9, from Millstone. “I made literally everything they had. I’ll probably do the same thing again,” she added, pushing her just-crafted money bank to the side of the table before picking up a packaged goal post game.

Photo by Jack Reynolds

There was also a bloodmobile on site for those who wished to donate. By the time noon rolled around, 27 people had signed up to contribute a pint of blood to the Red Cross.

“We always need to raise money for disaster relief services and blood services that are here,” said Steinmetz. “We import blood here on the East Coast always, believe it or not, because we have so many research hospitals and the population is so dense that we always need to import blood from other areas of the country. So that’s the reason we have what we call the self-contained unit. But people commonly call it a bloodmobile. We usually make a goal of at least 30 units of blood (at each event),” she explained.

Later, Gibson arrived back at Sunset Park after cruising around LBI for nearly three hours. While the rest of the crowd was chowing down on hamburgers and hot dogs and jamming out to tunes played by Generation Next, Gibson said she was looking forward to having lunch at home.

“Going to Barnegat Light is tough for an old lady. The wind is strong,” she said. “I want to go home and sit down on anything other than a bike,” she added.


This article was published in The SandPaper.