Everyday is a winding road for Flynn Donoho and his dog, Diva, yet it has been in these wide, open spaces where he has found his purpose.
On the rear of his three-wheel bike, which carries everything he owns, is a sign, “Cycling For Cancer.”
Donoho, a resident of Huntington Beach, Calif., recounted how losing family and friends to cancer inspired him to fight back by dedicating this latest cross-country bike run to his sister-in-law who just marked her fifth year of being in remission.
“It blows me away about all these different kinds of cancer,” he said of meeting so many people who have been affected directly or indirectly by cancer. They have all told him their story.
Donoho said a donation can be made by visiting www.acsevents.org, click on “donate,” click on “Search for a participant,” type in “Flynn Donoho” in the form and clicking on “search.” His name appears and clicking on it opens a page to make a donation in his “Cycling for Cancer” campaign.
Since January 2013, he has been traveling on America’s roads raising awareness about cancer and generating some donations for the American Cancer Society (ACS). He started his latest journey with a hike on the Pacific Crest Trail in California and outlines his many adventures along the way on his web page with the ACS website.
Life has been basic yet arduous for this man and his dog, whose eyes remained fixed on Donoho’s every move. Bearing a rich, brown coat, her sleek and muscular frame reflects her mix of Chow and blue heeler.
A bedroll, mat and bag of dog food on the back of his bike marks a life dedicated to a cause and little more.“I don’t have money to do this, I ride on the faith of God,” he said, pointing out the cross on his Christian T-shirt. “I let the Lord know what I need and it just happens.”
From town to town, Donoho and Diva, have lived on the generosity of others. And many along the way have given to them, including food, money and a place to pitch his tent for a night. On Thursday, he said he was flat broke, but he got $20 and a place to sleep at Luling’s Bible Center Church.
Finding shelter had become especially important for the two with more than a week of spring rains deluging the South.“They let me sleep on their property,” he said of finding a place to get out of the rain in Luling.
But, after riding 31,000 miles in the U.S., the 56-year-old traveler has decided its time to return home. He’s met his goals of raising awareness about cancer by being in more than 100 newspapers and 56 television stations.
This ride has convinced Donoho it’s time to settle into his life again.
“It’s hard to find a place to sleep,” he said, also recounting times of being confronted by the police.He said he’s taken nearly 3,000 photographs of people and places encountered along the way, which he dreams of publishing in books. One of them may be a children’s book about a frog named Flynn who, after many trials, finally finds his life.
Donoho is a man clearly humbled by a tragic past.He readily admits to having been a longtime drug addict that cost him his family, a wife and two children, but he proclaimed he’d been clean nearly 10 years. He “gave his life to Christ” after he fell off a cliff nearly 3-1/2 stories down and sustained only a broken bone in his wrist.“God’s been good to me,” he said. “I pray to him and it just happens.”
Rebuilding his life is his goal now. He wants to work, pay child support and see his children again. Life on the streets has become too trying, where he can leave nothing from stop to stop.
“You get in a night, make your camp and get out,” he said. “No fires or flashlights. My dream is to get off the streets and make some books.”
Under Diva’s watchful gaze, Donoho grabbed his helmet and sat on his bicycle headed for a Seventh Day Adventist Church in Houma, where he hoped to camp for the night.
“I hope to get off the streets after all this and have my own place,” he said looking down the road. But when those along the way ask him what’s coming next in his life, Donoho said he just points upward.
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