Freddie Hoffman (c. 1959) is an American disabled sportsman. He has ridden his bicycle in the cause of the leukemia research and raised more than 3.82 million dollars.
Early life
He is from River Edge, New Jersey. He has profound learning disabilities. As a child Hoffman had few if any friends and was attracted to bicycle riding as his escape from loneliness. His heroes were the astronauts who had been to the Moon and his goal was to pedal his bicycle the distance to the Moon and back. He describes his childhood bicycle as being his "rocket ship".
Bicycling
Hoffman keeps mileage logs. He has ridden across the United States and has visited every one of the contiguous 48 states and been honored by more than 30 state governors. Every Spring Hoffman calls on his friends and supporters, now numbering in the hundreds, to get pledges to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Foundation for his upcoming ride that summer. As of 05/24/2023 Freddie has logged 1,932,000 miles. He is still adding to his milage daily.
Personal life
Hoffman's mother died of leukemia in 1986. In addition to naming his bicycles "Ruth E." after her, he has focused on raising money in her memory to support leukemia research.
He is a part-time janitor at a church in New Jersey.
References
- ^ Carl Sommer (27 April 1997). "His Million-Mile Journey Began on a Tricycle". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
- Reardon, Patricia; and Collina, Helen Lippman. "BICYCLISTS HEADING FOR THE OPEN ROAD", The New York Times, April 26, 1987. Accessed May 28, 2008. "SINCE 1965, says Freddie Hoffman of River Edge, he has bicycled more than 600,000 miles, or more than enough to go to the moon, orbit twice and come back."
- ^ "The Free Lance-Star - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved 19 August 2016 – via Google News Archive.
- Ann Piccirillo (3 October 2013). "A Million Miles for Charity, River Edge Man Pedals On". patch.com. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
- Hari Sreenivasan (18 September 2006). "How to Bike Over a Million Miles". abcnews.go.com. ABC News. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
- Copy of article from Bicycling
- posterous.com profiled Freddie Hoffman in issue 42, published in March 2010 by Gary J. Boulanger.