Mark Junge wants to prove that he can go on bike tours too, even though he's a daily supplemental oxygen user.
Junge, a retired historian, photographer and writer from Wyoming, is leaving New York City this week for a 816-mile bike tour to Charleston, South Carolina. He expects the bike ride to take about two weeks.
The bike traveler suffers from blood clots in the lungs, a Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease that makes it difficult for him to breath. Instead becoming inactive because of the disorder, however, Junge gets on his bike to motivate others with the condition to go out and live a full life.
Junge's bike tour down the East Coast is being sponsored by Invacare, a maker of medical products. He'll be carrying and using the XPO2 Portable Oxygen Concentrator on his bike tour. The Invacare oxygen machine weighs 6 pounds and can offer 2 1/2 hours of oxygen at the #2 setting (double that with a supplemental battery).
While Junge's trip does draw attention to his sponsor's products, it also serves to inspire people with certain lung diseases that they don't have to curtail their activities. In a press release, Junge says:
“I hope this trip will encourage those in need of supplementary oxygen to strive for mobility and achieve more fulfilling lives.This bicycle tour will not only help educate the public about respiratory problems, but also demonstrate possible solutions such as the XPO2 Concentrator.”
Junge will pass through New York, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina on his bike tour. He'll post Twitter tweets at o2biketour on this bike tour, which leaves Thursday and rolls through Nov. 2.
We wish him good health on this trip.
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