Planned stops in Baraga, Ishpeming, & Marquette
Read more: Local
HOUGHTON -- The sun was shining this morning at the start of a remarkable 100-mile unicycle trip from Houghton to Marquette.
A crowd of supporters sent off the three young men, who are riding "100 Miles for 2 Big Smiles" to raise money for eight-year-old David Gockenbach of Houghton, and nine-year-old Dustin Bukman of Marquette, who both have leukemia.
Jason Cattelino, Ben Bachran and Bob Evans plan to do juggling shows along the way to raise money.
"No one's ever done this for me," said Dustin. "Well, except for my mom and dad."
Dustin and his parents, Richard and Corinna, were at the kick-off Wednesday morning at Evangel Baptist Church.
Dustin's cancer came back last February after three years of remission. He's currently undergoing chemotherapy. That means a lot of travel and additional expenses.
"We have to be very flexible," said Corinna. "We're back and forth to Green Bay every week; sometimes for the whole week, sometimes for a day."
Bachran, Cattelino and Evans hope to raise $20,000 to split between Dustin and David. Wednesday morning they were at $7,000. A car wash/bake sale at Evangel raised an additional $1,900.
Gockenbach couldn't be at the kick-off, because he's currently undergoing a bone marrow transplant in Ann Arbor.
"He felt better a week ago," said David's brother, Nate. "I went down to visit him. But now that I'm not there, he just feels sick."
The men are planning to ride 23 miles a day, an average pace of six minute miles. That should get them to Marquette by Sunday. Click here for the week's schedule.
They're planning a party in the Lower Harbor around 2 p.m. and invite people to join them to donate and celebrate with Dustin's and David's families.
