Triathlete attempts 50 states in 50 days by bicycle

How many bike rides are you going to get in during the next 50 days?

Triathlete Max McManus, right, is banking on 50 bike rides, averaging 150 miles a day.

That frenetic pace will enable him to visit all 50 states during that period. What's more, he'll arrive in New York City on Sept. 11 to deliver funds he has raised on the road for survivors and families of the the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

You can follow his progress at the Freedom 50/50 website or his Freedom 50/50 Facebook page. He's hoping to raise an average 1-cent per US citizen along the way for  the 9-11 Help America Foundation.

Follow this link to donate.

The 47-year-old runs the ForMax Results fitness and training center in Reno. He's completed several Ironman challenges and most recently competed in the 125-mile, one-day Death Ride into the Sierra Nevada.

The route

The Reno, Nevada man already checked off Alaska and Hawaii this past weekend. He flew into Anchorage for a ride around the airport on a rented bike then arrived in Honolulu on Sunday for a similar ride and a newspaper interview.

Then he took off for Las Vegas, where he was whisked to a point just over the California border on Interstate 15 and he began his trek in the continental US. After riding through Nevada, he's now in Arizona heading east on I-40 to Flagstaff then more or less northeast on US 160 to the Four Corners region.

McManus is doing the trek on a Trek 6.9 Madone. He's being followed by a support vehicle and a documentary film crew; film clips of his training in available online at Freedom 50/50 on YouTube.

Guinness record?

At the conclusion of the ride, he'll submit paperwork to the Guinness Book of World Records, which reported that the current record is 48 states in 60 days.

The Honolulu Star Advertiser reported that sponsors in Reno are covering some of the costs, but McManus said he is paying most of the $50,000 expense for the trip.

McManus said he got the idea for the tour while recovering from knee surgery in March.

Here's a PSA about the bike tour. We wish him a safe trip.