Byram man to cycle across US to raise funds for cancer victim

By Laurie Gordon
BYRAM — Josh Johannessen is a 25-year-old Byram resident who worked with a fellow Byram resident named Robin Reed at Applebees. Working together for a number of years saw the two become friends and now, Johannessen will be biking across the entire United States to raise money for Reed and her family.
"When I found out she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and all of the money her family would have to come up with to cover the expenses, it was a natural thing to do to help in any way I could," Johannessen said. And so his journey, which he had planned before he learned of his friend's distress, suddenly had a very compelling purpose.
Johannessen set up a GoFundMe account and has the goal of raising $25,000 with all proceeds going directly to Reed and her family to help cover the exponential medical costs. Reed is 42-years-old and was recently diagnosed with a metastatic ductal carcinoma — that is, breast cancer.
"This was a huge surprise to me since there is no known breast cancer (or any cancer) in my family," she said.
Reed has been married to her husband, John, for almost 16 years and they have two girls, Chloe and Mackenzie. They have lived in Sussex County for 16 years, but because of the cancer, Reed had to quit the two jobs that she had due to risk of infection.
"We have chosen to live and raise our children in this area because we love the area — great things to do and you can get to a mall, a hiking trail, the shore or a city in just a short drive," Reed said. "We feel the schools meet and exceed the academic needs of our children. We enjoy a life with a great church, many friends and lots to do. Living in this area can be a bit costly. I recently left two jobs in order to get through chemotherapy, surgery and eventually radiation. With help from disability we will be able to keep our home, pay basic household bills and buy groceries. Our biggest concern is the hospital and doctors’ bills which have already started to come in. It costs $50 a visit to my oncologist office and I go three times for each chemo treatment. That averages about $300 a month for the next five months. As they say – 'That’s just the tip of the iceberg.'"
Reed said that Johannessen came to her and told her of his extreme and enthusiastic idea to bike cross-country. "This did not surprise me," she said, "Ever since I’ve known Josh he has always liked to challenge himself. What did surprise me was when he said he was going to add my cause to his trip. He truly is an angel to me and my family and I hope he knows it."
Johannessen plans to leave from his house on May 26 and arrive in Santa Monica by July 31. He's training for the adventure by biking daily, including to and from work each day from Byram to his job in the Rockaway Mall, which is 12.5 miles each way. During the cross-country ride, Johannessen will camp mostly, stay with friends and stay in motels along the way. He said the timing is very much up in the air, contingent on how far he's able to cycle each day, weather factors and other unforseen variables.
Being a big baseball fan, he said he planned on stopping at at least 12 different stadiums along the way, including the parks for the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Anaheim Angels, and Los Angeles Dodgers.
"I am going to start from my house on May 26 and bike into New York City for the Yankees and Mets games on the 26th and 27th, then head back home for a day," he said. "Then I'm going to make my way down to Seaside Heights, New Jersey for a big send-off from the east coast on June 1st. Next I am going to travel across the country all the way to Santa Monica, California. The journey up to this point is going to be roughly 3,500 miles. If my body allows me to do so, I am then going to bike up to the Oakland and San Francisco area, possibly going all the way up to Seattle. This would make the trip just over 5,000 miles."
He hopes to complete the journay by August 24.
Johannessen said running cross-country in high school, at Mount Olive High School, taught him about endurance events. But he knows biking and running are different. He is avoiding having to traverse the Rocky Mountains by mapping his course south through Phoenix.
"I would like to extend the trip as long as possible because along the way I will be selling rubber bracelets, pins, and shirts that I designed to raise additional funds for Robin," Johannessen said. "I am planning on camping along the way to save money whenever possible. This whole journey across the country is going to be both physically and mentally tough for me, especially doing it alone, but the pain I will endure doesn't even come close to the battle that Robin is currently facing as she battles breast cancer. That is going to be my motivation to keep going throughout the trip."
Meanwhile, back in New Jersey, Reed had her last chemo treatment on Monday and is scheduled for surgery on June 7. She said, "I have a half a year of work to do now starting with the surgery then radiation then another surgery." All are being done through Morristown Memorial. "I'm hoping the last surgery will be in December."
To donate to the Ride for Robin, visit: http://www.gofundme.com/robinreedfund. Also, on Thursday, May 19, the Applebees in the Mt. Olive Trade Zone where Johannessen and Reed met (50 International Drive South, Flanders) will donate 10 percent of your bill to the Ride for Robin between the hours of 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. Shirts, pins and bracelets in support of the cause can be purchased via the facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/RideforRobin. You will also be able to follow Johannessen's journey there.