Steve Hurd, Steve Leibovic and Doug Wayne, from left, on their 3,000-mile ride from California to Florida. (Images courtesy Doug Wayne)
Continuing what’s become a sort of annual tradition for Richmond nonprofit Sportable, a group that includes two local retired physicians is entering the final stretch of a cross-country bike ride to raise money for the adaptive sports club.
Doug Wayne, formerly with OrthoVirginia, and Steve Leibovic, a retired hand surgeon and active real estate developer, are five weeks into a 45-day, 3,000-mile ride from California to Florida with fellow cycling enthusiast Steve Hurd, an electrical engineer who lives in Fishersville.
The trio arriving at one of their lodgings.
The longtime friends are traversing what’s known as the 3,000-mile Southern Tier route that’s taking them from San Diego, where they set out from March 12, to St. Augustine, Florida, where they’re scheduled to arrive April 25.
The group is aiming to raise $10,000 for Sportable, which provides sports opportunities for people with physical disabilities. Wayne started volunteering with Sportable’s cycling and archery programs last year after retiring from OrthoVirginia, where his focus was physical medicine and rehabilitation.
Wayne and Leibovic, who both now teach at Virginia Commonwealth University, previously completed a 13-day, 1,100-mile ride from Richmond to Wayne’s sister’s house in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when Wayne turned 60 years old. For his 65th birthday, Wayne and the two Steves rode the rest of the East Coast, from Richmond to Portland, Maine.
Now, with more free time in his retirement, Wayne is days away from completing a full cross-country ride to mark his 70th birthday, which he celebrated in Texas last month with a 106-mile ride on Day 14 of their trek.
“I had always aspired to go cross-country, and now that I’m retired from OrthoVirginia, I have the time to do that,” Wayne said by phone the following day during one of the group’s rest days.
Hurd, Wayne and Leibovic, from left.
“When we did our other two rides, I didn’t do them for any charity purpose, but I really love doing this for the charity component of it,” he said. “I’m doing it because it’s our birthday ride and it’s a challenge, but I love also the challenge of also trying to help out Sportable.”
In doing so, the group is following the leads of former HHHunt executive Dan Schmitt, Sportable CEO Hunter Leemon and retired CapTech exec Kevin McQueen, who completed their own fundraising rides for Sportable the past three years.
Dubbed “Doug & Steves’ Southern Tier Ride to Benefit Sportable,” this year’s ride was 35% toward their $10,000 goal as of Thursday. Donations can be made through the rest of their ride at their fundraising site, and supporters can follow the group’s ride with daily updates and photos that Wayne is posting on his blog.
Doug and the two Steves in front of their Sportable-decaled support RV.
The group is spending nights at hotels along the way that Wayne mapped out and booked ahead of time. Along for the ride are Wayne’s and Leibovic’s wives, Carol Wayne and Julie Sidharta, who are piloting an RV decked out with Sportable’s logo and carrying their luggage, spare bike parts and other equipment.
Wayne said Leibovic’s skills with his hands have come in handy along the way.
“He did minor surgery on one of my bike tires the other day,” Wayne said, laughing. “Those guys are the mechanics of the group; I’m the logistics person. I do all the planning and organizing and strategizing. That’s what I like to do. It works out really good; we’re a good team.”
Noting the Sportable decals on the RV, Wayne added: “It’s been nice: people along the way have asked what Sportable was or asked what we’re doing, and I’ve been able to hand out my Sportable card, which takes people to the site so they can make donations.”
Wayne at Sportable’s offices. The retired OrthoVirginia physician volunteers with the nonprofit’s cycling and archery programs.
An affiliate professor at the VCU School of Medicine’s Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Wayne said he volunteered with youth golf group First Tee before starting with Sportable, which he said has been a good fit.
“I really love Sportable because my medical specialty is physical medicine and rehabilitation, so over the years I’ve taken care of all the kinds of people that Sportable works with, and I thought that would be a great organization for me to do volunteer work with,” he said.
Wayne is riding a Lynskey titanium gravel bike, which he said is lightweight and designed for endurance rides. He’s using 35-millimeter tires, which he said are slightly bigger than typical road bike tires and can handle dirt roads as well as pavement.
A cyclist for 25 years, Wayne said he also owns road bikes and two tandem bikes that he and Carol ride with RATS – the Richmond Area Tandem Society.
In his retirement, he’s also picked up archery, tai chi and other hobbies including painting, which has led to an unexpected side business. A cousin alerted him to a Montreal company, Le Galeriste, that takes art pieces and applies their image to clothing to create so-called “wearable art.”
One of Wayne’s “wearable art” designs. (Image courtesy LeGaleriste.com)
Wayne now has an online store called Pop Doc Art – named after his grandchildren’s nickname for him – where clothing and apparel featuring his art can be purchased. Items range from about $35 to over $200, and Wayne said he’s sold about 70 so far, though he added that he’s not doing it for money.
“I’m not looking to make a lot of money in that kind of business. I think it’s fun if people take pleasure in your art that you produce, whether they wear it or whether they hang it on their walls,” he said.
As for the Doug & Steves ride, Wayne acknowledged the physical challenge of riding long distances day-to-day, all day, but said the sense of accomplishment makes the pain worth it.
“Your legs get tired, but you get really strong,” he said. “That’s the hard part: it’s just day after day. Three days ago, we did 101 miles, then we had an easy day; I think it was like 70. On this kind of a trip, we call an easy day anything less than 80 miles, which is crazy. But your legs just get so strong.
“I rode 106 miles on my 70th birthday. I’m pretty proud that I can do something like that, and I felt good and strong when I finished.”
This is the latest installment in our Downtime series, which focuses on businesspeople’s pursuits outside of the office. If you, a co-worker or someone you know around town has a unique way of passing time off the clock, submit suggestions to Jonathan@RichmondBizSense.com. For previous installments of Downtime, click here.
As a daily bike rider in/around Richmond, all i can say is “WOW” to their efforts (100 miles a day, my gosh).
Now THAT’s a retirement … go as long as you can to keep yourselves young.