Indiana man bikes to Lynn in personal quest

LYNN – Rick Ruff rode a bicycle 1,000 miles from his home in Star City, Ind. to Lynn in seven weeks with just $100 in his pocket, a change of clothes, a blanket, a toothbrush, a cell phone and a map. Just to prove he could.In August, the divorced, unemployed, recovering alcoholic decided to take his 12 steps to the open road, picking Boston as his destination. Sleeping in cemeteries and living off of energy bars and cheese that patrons bought for him, Ruff said he rode about 50 to 80 miles a day when the weather and his body co-operated.?I kind of winged the whole trip. The Catskills almost killed me,” said Ruff, 49, recalling how he almost died of hypothermia one night, waking up in a hospital in Otis, N.Y.?When I got to Otis, I was completely broke, but the church let me stay in their parsonage,” he said. “It?s like God was working with me through the entire trip.”Since arriving in Lynn in October, Ruff has been living in a halfway house and working as a bell ringer for the Salvation Army, collecting donations from shoppers.His boss, Capt. David Payton, said he has no reason to doubt Ruff?s story.?A lot of times I hear stories like this and I roll my eyes,” Payton said. “But he seems like a man of integrity. I have no reason to doubt his character as I would others. He told me his biking was a sort of spiritual pilgrimage. He?s a delightful worker.”Ruff?s daughter, Jennifer Ledford, a seventh-grade English teacher in Hammond, Ind., had her students track Ruff on a map where he was each day, giving them daily “Dad updates.”In an email on Monday, Ledford wrote, “When my father finally reached Boston, they cheered and clapped so loud and energetically. It was as if they completed this feat alongside my dad. The students continue to ask about my dad and how he is doing.?They really feel connected to his story, and I truly believe that it has inspired many of them to do anything they have their heart set on and to never stop reaching for their goals.”Ruff said, “There were periods where I wanted to give up, but you know, this is the only thing I?ve ever completed ? It was such a wonderful moment when I got to Boston – it was late at night and the town was dead, so I just rode around.”Now Ruff is working five days a week for Payton to earn enough money to buy a plane ticket back to Indiana in time for the birth of his granddaughter in April. Although thieves stripped Ruff?s bicycle of its front tire the first night he spent in Lynn, he said he would never ride back anyway.?Sometimes I thought, ?What I fool I am,? but I kept going on because I wanted to complete it, so I did. Each day I met new people and saw new towns, and it was a wonderful experience,” said Ruff. “I wouldn?t trade anything for it, but I wouldn?t do it again, if that makes any sense.”Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].