Roy man taking 1,800-mile bike ride to thank firefighters across the US
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- Bob Quick, right, speaks with Jeremy Barker on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021, in Roy. Quick is planning to drive to Ogallala, Nebraska, then cycle to South Carolina, thanking firefighters all along the route.
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- Bob Quick is photographed Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021, in Roy. He’s planning to drive to Ogallala, Nebraska, then cycle to South Carolina, thanking firefighters all along the route. Robert Percival of the Roy Fire Department, right, signs his name on the vehicle.
Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner
Bob Quick, right, speaks with Jeremy Barker on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021, in Roy. Quick is planning to drive to Ogallala, Nebraska, then cycle to South Carolina, thanking firefighters all along the route.
ROY — Bob Quick has gotten plenty of help over the years from firefighters and other first responders.
Now the Roy man is hoping to say thanks with another bike ride across the country, his fourth. No matter that he has coronary heart disease and 23 stents in his heart or that he underwent triple heart bypass surgery in the last year. His doctors gave him the OK, he said, and he feels compelled and driven, particularly with the 20th anniversary of 9/11 here. Firefighters from New York City and across the country played a central role in responding to the terrorist attacks on the twin towers in 2001.
“The purpose is to give thanks to our first responders because they are our hometown heroes,” Quick said Thursday as he prepared to depart. “I’m just riding to give thanks and give everybody a hug. Don’t wait until you’re in the back of an ambulance to pay it forward.”
Using varied routes, Quick crossed the United States by bike in 2013, 2015 and 2016. He launched his fourth bid in 2019, making it to Ogallala, Nebraska, before the trip was cut short due to medical issues. Now he’s planning to finish the ride, driving with his support team to Ogallala before jumping on the bike and pedaling to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, by way of Lexington, Kentucky, a trip of about 1,800 miles.
A pair of Roy firefighters were on hand, among other supporters, to see Quick off on Thursday. One of them, Brandon Storey, said he responded to a cardiac arrest call a few years back involving Quick, which helps explain Quick’s affection for firefighters and first responders.
Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner
Bob Quick is photographed Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021, in Roy. He's planning to drive to Ogallala, Nebraska, then cycle to South Carolina, thanking firefighters all along the route. Robert Percival of the Roy Fire Department, right, signs his name on the vehicle.
“It’s a pretty big feat for him to ride across the United States,” Storey said.
Indeed, Quick offered thanks to the firefighters and others assembled for his sendoff in the parking lot of Les Schwab Tires in Roy, which helped with his support vehicle. “Without everyone standing here, I wouldn’t be alive,” he said.
Quick plans to make pit stops at a handful of fire departments on the drive between Ogden and Ogallala. After he gets on the bike on Saturday — Sept. 11 — in Nebraska, he plans to stop at pretty much every fire house he passes to greet, hug and thank the firefighters inside.
“Firefighters need a thank you,” he said, referencing his encounters with firefighters and paramedics over the years stemming from the varied medical emergencies that have befallen him. “I’ve been on those ambulances more than anybody.”
Quick said the trip should take around five weeks.
